Joule heating behaviors around through crack emanating from circular hole under electric load

•For crack detection, a proper electric load is used to produce a hot crack tip.•For crack arrest, high electric current is necessary to produce a melting crack tip.•Before using electric loads in practice, the prediction is very important.

In this paper, the thermo-electro-structural coupled-field problem of a metal plate with a circular hole and a through crack is analyzed. The objective of this research is to study crack detection and crack arrest behaviors under Joule heating. Joule heating and associated effects are investigated using finite element analysis. The crack detection and crack arrest concepts are demonstrated. Results indicate that temperature-dependent material data must be utilized to obtain accurate results. The magnitude of the crack tip temperature depends on the electric energy input, the geometry, and mechanical load. Before using electric loads in practice, it is very important to calculate and predict the temperature field and/or the melting area size.