• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2002

There is the high possibility of crack initiation from mechanical joints, which are widely used in aircraft fuselages, due to the development of stress concentration and contact pressure. In this paper, the mixed-mode stress intensity factors at the surface and deepest points of an inclined quarter elliptical corner crack in mechanical joints are analyzed by the weight function method. The coefficients included in the weight function are obtained by finite element analyses for reference loadings. Critical angle at which mode I stress intensity factor becomes maximum is determined by analyzing the variation of stress intensity factors along incline angle of crack and the effects of the amount of clearance and crack depth on the critical angle are investigated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.703-713
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• 2001

Mechanical joints such as bolted or riveted joints are widely used in structural components and the reliable determination of the stress intensity factors for corner cracks in mechanical joints is needed to evaluate the safety and fatigue life. This paper analyzes the mixed-mode stress intensity factors of surface and deepest points for quarter elliptical corner cracks in mechanical joints by weight function method and the coefficients included in weight function are determined by finite element analyses for reference loadings. The extended form of the weight function method for two-dimensional mixed-mode to three-dimensional is presented and the number of terms in weight function is determined by comparing the results for the different number of terms. The amount of clearance is an important factor in evaluating the severity of elliptical corner cracks in mechanical joints and even horizontal crack normal to the applied load is under mixed-mode in the case that clearance exists.