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.