Surface crack growth prediction under fatigue load using the S-version Finite Element Model (S-FEM)

Abstract

Prediction of fatigue crack growth is one of the vital issues to prevent catastrophic failure from damage tolerance perspective. The surface of crack shape usually in semi-elliptical that maintained during the whole propagation. The investigation of this paper is to illustrate the surface crack growth that subjected to fatigue loading. The four-point bending and three-point bending have been simulated by using the S-version Finite Element Model (S-FEM). The simulation is conducted for aluminium alloys A7075-T6 and A2017-T3 with all of the parameters based on the previous experiment. The semi-elliptical crack shape is applied during the simulation process to represent with the reality of crack growth phenomena. Paris’ Law model approach is presented in fatigue crack growth simulation. The S-FEM produced the surface crack growth and fatigue life prediction. The results of the S-FEM prediction then compared with the previous experiments. The results presented in a graph for comparison between S-FEM prediction with the experimental results. The S-FEM results obtained is good agreement with the experiment results.