Theoretical and experimental study of fatigue growth of interacting cracks

Life assessment of structures weakened by interacting cracks represents an important and very challenging problem. Subsequently, the main objective of this paper is to address this problem by developing a new computational technique. It is based on the classical strip-yield model and plasticity-induced crack closure concept. It also utilises the 3D fundamental solution for an edge dislocation. The crack advance scheme adopts the cycle-by-cycle calculations of the effective stress intensity factors and crack increments. The modelling results are validated against an experimental study focusing on fatigue behaviour of two closely spaced collinear cracks in wide plates with different thicknesses. It is confirmed that non-linear effects associated with crack interaction have a significant influence on fatigue life and cannot be disregarded in life and integrity assessments of structural components.