A model for predicting the retardation effect following a single overload

Many engineering components are subjected to variable amplitude loading history. It is well known that retardation in fatigue crack growth occurs due to application of single overloads in a constant amplitude loading block. Many models have been proposed to capture this counter intuitive phenomenon which has resulted in improved understanding of retardation effect following tensile overloads and consequently resulting in better life prediction models. The proposed study is focused on to evaluation of retardation in fatigue life due to application of a single overload. A model for prediction of crack growth and crack growth rate following single overloads is presented. Several modifications to Wheeler’s growth idea are proposed, which incorporate a consideration for effective stress intensity factor, based on Elber’s concept of crack closure, relationship between overload ratio and the Wheeler’s exponent, and fatigue growth rate calculations. The results presented here show that plastic zone interaction following overload and the consideration of crack closure explain retardation effect following a single overload. Correlation between analysis and experimental data obtained from several sources in literature show that the scheme, is robust and provides an insight into the nonlinear aspect of crack growth results. The model has been tested for 2024-T3 aluminum alloy and 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and thorough calibrations performed, established the fidelity of the program.