SGBEM-FEM alternating method for analyzing 3D non-planar cracks and their growth in structural components

An efficient and highly accurate, Symmetric Galerkin Boundary Element Metho d - Finite Element Method - based alternating method, for the analysis of t hree-dimensional non-planar cracks, and their growth, in structural compone nts of complicated geometries, is proposed. The crack is modeled by the sym metric Galerkin boundary element method, as a distribution of displacement discontinuities, as if in an infinite medium. The finite element method is used to perform the stress analysis for the uncracked body only. The soluti on for the structural component, containing the crack, is obtained in an it eration procedure, which alternates between FEM solution for the uncracked body, and the SGBEM solution for the crack in an infinite body. Numerical p rocedures, and the attendant Java code, are developed for the evaluation of stress intensity factors, and fatigue crack growth modeling. Examples for non-planar cracks in infinite media, and for planar cracks in finite bodies , as well as their growth under fatigue, demonstrate the accuracy of the me thod.