Abstract
When multiple cracks approach to each other, the stress intensity factor is likely to change due to the interaction of the stress field. This causes change in the growth rate and the shape of cracks. Because of the orientation with respect to the loading, and existing of KII and KIII which can develop and increase with interaction, the shape of cracks becomes non-planar. In this study, the complex growth of interacting cracks is evaluated by using the S-Version finite element method, in which local detailed finite element mesh (local mesh) is superposed on coarse finite element model (global mesh) representing the global structure. The effect of relative size and spacing of cracks on the growth behavior is investigated. It is shown that the smallest crack stops growing due to the interaction when the difference in size of two cracks is large enough.
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