On the Effect of Plate Thickness on Post-Overload Fatigue Crack Growth

Abstract

Plate thickness can have a profound effect on fatigue crack growth following the application of an overload cycle. A modified strip-yield model is presented for determining the effects of plate thickness based on the mechanism of plasticity-induced crack closure and first-order plate theory. This approach eliminates the need for any empirical or fitting parameters. Comparisons are made with experimental data for the case of a single tensile overload applied under otherwise constant ∆Κ loading. The theoretical crack growth predictions are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.