Damage Tolerance Analysis of Multiple-Site Cracks Emanating from Hole Array

Abstract

Abstract A versatile method is discussed for estimating stress intensity factors for multiple-site cracks emanating from a row of fastener holes located perpendicular to the loading direction in a finite plate. The stress intensity factor is determined by multiplying geometry factors based upon existing solutions for simpler geometries (cracks at hole, plate width, neighboring holes, and other cracks). The accuracy of the stress intensity factor is checked by comparing the solutions obtained from other literature and those calculated by the finite element method. Finally, the proposed stress intensity solution is used to estimate fatigue crack propagation for multiple-site cracks emanating from five fastener holes in a finite width plate. Through this estimate, the proposed method is assessed by comparing predictions with test results.