Dp. Boothman et al., J-ESTIMATION FOR SEMIELLIPTIC SURFACE CRACKS IN WIDE PLATES UNDER DIRECT TENSION, Fatigue & fracture of engineering materials & structures, 21(3), 1998, pp. 333-346
Large marine structures can be subjected to extensive localized damage
, with strains reaching 10 times the yield strain. Small defects might
propagate, and accurate defect assessment is required for safe operat
ion. To simulate this problem, J-integrals have been computed for semi
elliptical cracks in wide steel plates under tension. Three-dimensiona
l (3D) elastic-plastic finite element analysis was used to model shall
ow crack geometries with 0.2 less than or equal to a/c less than or eq
ual to 0.57 and 0.05 less than or equal to a/t less than or equal to 0
.15. The material responses were linear elastic followed either by pow
er hardening, or perfect plasticity and power hardening. it was found
that, in contrast to previous studies on single edge notch geometries,
the material law does not have a major influence on the J-strain beha
viour. Results obtained from the 3D analyses form the basis for the de
velopment of a J-based estimation scheme.