Study on crack propagation simulation of surface crack in welded joint structure

• Propagation of surface cracks in welded joints is simulated using new computational approaches.
• 3D FEA using quadratic tetrahedral FEM and 2D WX-FEM are adopted.
• The results are compared with results obtained with Mk factor formulae.
• The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed approaches are discussed.

Recently developed computational techniques are applied to the simulation of the crack propagation of a surface crack in a welded joint. The results are compared with those obtained by the conventional techniques. Three approaches are adopted: three-dimensional finite element analysis using quadratic tetrahedral finite elements; the two-dimensional extended finite element method using the MkMk factor; and the use of three-dimensional MkMk factor formulae. In the numerical examples, stress intensity factors, MkMk factors, crack paths and fatigue cycles are evaluated for a surface crack in a T-shaped welded joint. The accuracy and effectiveness of the approaches are discussed.