Calculation of crack driving forces of surface cracks subjected to rolling/sliding contact

The paper deals with finite element computations of crack driving forces for a surface crack in a rail under cyclic elastic-plastic conditions during wheel/rail contact. A straight crack normal to the surface is investigated. Examinated are influences of wheel load, slip, residual stresses, crack lengths and mesh around the crack tip on the crack driving forces. The specific role of the plastic deformation during one rolling cycle and the resulting development of the crack driving force is discussed. The numerical verification of the configurational force concept is done by comparison with classical J-integral investigations using linear-elastic and elastic-plastic material properties.