Assessment of low cycle fatigue crack growth under mixed-mode loading conditions by using a cohesive zone model

• Introducing a new cohesive zone model for both fatigue and rupture crack growth.
• Both monotonic damage and cyclic damage are considered in the damage evolution.
• Experimental data are used to identify the cohesive model parameters.
• Simulations agree with mixed mode fatigue crack growth experiments.

Most cohesive zone models were used to reproduce fatigue crack growth under small scale yielding and failed to predict elastic–plastic fatigue crack growth. In the present work a new cohesive zone model is introduced to give a uniform description of both fatigue crack growth and elastoplastic rupture. Damage accumulation of the cohesive model contains both monotonic damage as well as cyclic damage and validated by corresponding mixed-mode fracture and fatigue experiments of an austenitic stainless steel. Computations confirm that the present cohesive zone model may provide a uniform description for the whole fatigue crack growth regimes.