Application of refined plate theory to fracture and fatigue

Abstract

The work presented here is a compendium of theoretical results obtained by the authors between 2005 and 2009. Among these results are comprehensive analysis of the three-dimensional elastic stress and displacement fields near a tip of a through-the-thickness crack, generalization of the classical strip-yield model for plates having a finite thickness, and development of an analytical approach for calculating the plasticity-induced crack closure and crack growth rates at constant and variable amplitude loading. As an application of the developed approach, new predictive models of various non-linear fatigue crack growth phenomena in plates of finite thickness were developed. These include computational models of crack growth under small-scale yielding conditions and constant amplitude loading, growth of a fatigue crack emanating from a sharp notch, and crack growth retardation phenomenon following an overload cycle. All theoretical predictions were extensively compared with previous numerical and experimental studies demonstrating a great potential of the refined plate theory in the analysis of fracture and fatigue problems.