This paper develops a model that incorporates damage band evolution at
three levels: (i) at the mechanism level, the damage mechanisms, such
as diffusive void growth and fatigue cracks, determine the damage gro
wth rate; (ii) at an intermediate level, the damage band is modeled as
springs connecting undamaged materials, and the spring constants chan
ge as damage develops, (iii) at the continuum level, the damage band i
s modeled as an array of dislocations to satisfy equilibrium. We demon
strate this model with an example of a band of microcracks subject to
remote tensile cyclic stress. It is observed that damage rapidly grows
at the weakest regions in the band, and a macroscopic crack nucleates
while the overall damage level is still very low. The model shows tha
t there exists a critical number of cycles for macroscopic crack nucle
ation, N-nucleation, which depends on materials as well as the amplitu
de of applied cyclic stress. This critical number of cycles is insensi
tive to the size of damage cluster, but decreases rapidly as the local
excess of damage increases. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.