Crack link-up for multiple site damage using an energy density approach

An energy-based crack link-up criterion for multiple site damage conditions is proposed. It is based on the magnitude of strain energy increase during the fracture of the ligament between two adjacent cracks. For the application and verification of the methodology, experiments from the open literature are used. The energy of interest is calculated using elastic-plastic finite element analysis. Numerical results obtained by the proposed methodology are in correlation with experimental data. In all cases considered the present ligament failure criterion has proved to give better predictions, as compared to alternative link-up prediction methodologies.