Abstract
The effect of inter crack distance on fatigue crack growth (FCG) on the multi-crack computational domain in Al 2024 was simulated using the extended finite element (XFEM) method. An in-house developed MATLAB code was used to simulate the experimentally reported FCG behavior of side edge crack and center cracked specimen. Numerical simulation was performed by using Nasgro constitutive model and this model was chosen over Paris equation due to the capability of predicting all regions (i.e., Region I, II, and III) of FCG regime. The empirical model constants of the Nasgro equation were calculated by using a genetic algorithm (GA). The genetic algorithm was implemented to optimize the model constants by minimizing the average error between simulated and experimental FCG regimes. This method was then extended to the multi-crack computational domain to investigate the effect of crack spacing on FCG rate. Al 2024 alloy is widely used in structural applications in the aerospace and automobile sector. Therefore, the prediction of fatigue crack growth behavior, especially in the high cycle fatigue region, becomes very important for predicting the damage tolerance of the material. In high cycle conditions, the stresses involved are lower than the yield stress, and hence the Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach was used. This LEFM approach was coupled with the XFEM method for comparing the fatigue crack growth behavior in the single crack and multi crack domains in the present work.
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