Parametric investigation into the coalescence of coplanar fatigue cracks

This investigation presents a parametric study of the coalescence of coplan ar fatigue cracks. The finite element method was used to simulate the coale scence of two fatigue cracks to form a larger dominant crack. Two hundred a nd forty four models, each with unique crack shapes and stages of coalescen ce were analyzed under both pure bending and tension loads. It was determined that the aspect ratio and the coalescence depth of the tw o adjoining cracks had the greatest effect on the stress intensity factor w hile increasing the crack depth only resulted in a slight increase. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.