Fatigue crack growth simulation in coated materials using X-FEM

In the present work, the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is used to study the effect of bi-material interfaces on fatigue life in galvanised panels. X-FEM and Paris law are implemented in ABAQUS software using Python code. The XFEM method proved to be an adequate method for stress intensity factor computation, and, furthermore, no remeshing is required for crack growth simulations. A study of fatigue crack growth is conducted for several substrate materials, and the influence of the initial crack angle is ascertained. This study also compares the crack growth rate between three types of bi-materials alloys zinc/steel, zinc/aluminium, and zinc/zinc. The interaction between two cracks and fatigue life, in the presence of bi-material interface, is investigated as well.