Numerical Simulation of 3D Thermo-Elastic Fatigue Crack Growth Problems Using Coupled FE-EFG Approach

Abstract

In this work, finite element method (FEM) and element free Galerkin method (EFGM) are coupled for solving 3D crack domains subjected to cyclic thermal load of constant amplitude. Crack growth contours and fatigue life have been obtained for each of the considered numerical examples. Thermo-elastic problems are decoupled into thermal and elastic problems . Firstly, the unknown temperature field is obtained by solving heat conduction equation, then, it is used as the input load in the elastic problem to calculate the displacement and stress fields. The geometrical discontinuity across crack surface is modelled by extrinsically enriched EFGM and the remaining part of the domain is approximated by standard finite element method. At the crack interface, a ramp function based interpolation scheme has been implemented. This coupled approach combines the advantages of both EFGM and FEM. A linear successive crack increment approach is used to model crack growth. The growing crack surface is traced by level set function. Standard Paris law is used for life estimation of the three-dimensional crack models. Different cases of planar and non-planar crack problems have been solved and their results are compared with the results obtained using extended finite element method to check accuracy, efficiency and robustness of the coupled FE-EFG approach implemented in this study.