Reliability of structures containing short cracks

The reliability of structures containing short cracks is investigated. Shor t fatigue cracks are generally acknowledged to be small cracks propagating at rates that ale faster or anomalous when compared to standard fracture an alysis predictions developed for longer cracks. The extent of the short cra ck behavior tends to depend on mechanisms such as the existence of notch pl asticity surrounding the short crack. Techniques are presented for calculat ing the probability that short surface cracks will propagate without arrest ing to a size where the growth can then be analyzed using linear elastic fr acture mechanics concepts. It is also shown how crack closure measurements can be incorporated into the fatigue reliability analysis to assist life pr edictions for short cracks.