Stress intensity factor and T-stress around hypocycloidal-shaped holes in finite sheets

Abstract

Hypocycloidal-shaped holes are seen in sheet structures in special designs or because of the crack growth in particular fatigue loadings. The study focused on the determination of stress intensity factor (SIF) and T-stress around these holes’ cusps. Three-cusp and four-cusp hypocycloid holes with various lengths in various plate sizes were simulated in ANSYS. Results showed both SIF and T-stress decrease with the increase in the plate size. The SIF in a finite plate gets close to the infinite plate SIF where the fraction of plate length to hole length is around 10. For the T-stress, a considerable difference was seen between finite and infinite plates. Finally, the numerical results were experimentally validated using the DIC technique.