Abstract
It has been reported that cracks in mechanical joints is generally under mixed-mode and there is critical inclined angle at which mode I stress intensity factor becomes maximum. The crack propagates in arbitrary direction and thus the prediction of crack growth path is needed to provide against crack propagation or examine safety. In order to evaluate the fatigue life of cracks in mechanical joints, horizontal crack normal to the applied load and located on minimum cross section is major concern but critical inclined crack must also be considered. In this paper mixed-mode fatigue crack growth test is performed far horizontal crack and critical inclined crack in mechanical joints. Fatigue crack growth path is predicted by maximum tangential stress criterion using stress intensity factor obtained from weight function method, and fatigue crack growth rates of horizontal and inclined crack are compared.