Measurement and prediction of fatigue crack growth from cold expanded holes Part 2: Prediction of fatigue crack growth from cold expanded holes

Abstract

In this paper a linear elastic fracture mechanics approach was used to predict fatigue crack growth from an open cold expanded hole. Predictions were made for two cases: by using the initial cold expansion residual stress distribution, assumed to be unaffected by fatigue crack growth, and by using the residual stress distribution corresponding to each crack length. The estimated fatigue crack growth rates were compared with experimental results and it was found that taking into account the residual stress change due to fatigue crack growth significantly improved the prediction accuracy.