A parametric finite element study of cracked plates and shells

The overall behavior of plates and shells as affected by the presence of a through crack in the elastic range has been studied. Due attention has been paid to finite element modeling aspects of the problem. Forty different cr acked plate and shell FE models have been generated and analyzed by a speci al computer program developed for the purpose of this study. The significan ce of various parameters such as the order of mesh refining at the crack ti p, the effect of boundary conditions, Poisson's ratio, crack length and she ll curvature are studied. FE model consisting of isoparametric 4-noded shel l elements moderately refined at the crack tip predicted the overall stress and displacement field with acceptable precision. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.