Effect of plate thickness and load history on fatigue crack growth

Abstract

A new theoretical approach is presented for investigating fatigue crack growth in plates of finite thickness. The developed approach utilizes a modified strip-yield analysis and the concept of plasticity-induced crack closure. A number of typical fatigue crack growth phenomena are investigated including the thickness effect on constant amplitude fatigue crack growth, retardation due to a tensile overload cycle, and short crack growth from sharp notches. Theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data and are found to be in very good correlation.