• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.243-254
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• 2023

Engineering structures usually suffer from cracks. The crack geometry has an influence on the structural mechanical properties and subsequent crack propagations. However, as an extensively utilized method in fracture analysis, the extended finite element method provided by Abaqus fails to output the specific location and dimensions of fractures. In this study, a technique to capture the crack geometry is proposed. The technique is based on the invariant level set method (I-LSM), which can avoid updating the level set function during crack development. The solution is achieved by an open-source plug-in programmed by Python. Three examples were performed to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the program. The result shows that the developed program can accurately output the crack geometry in both the 2D and 3D models. The open-source plug-in codes are included as supplementary material.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.377-390
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• 2010

This paper studies fracture initiation direction of two parallel non-coplanar cracks of equal length. Using the dislocation pile-up modelling, singular integral equations for two parallel cracks subjected to mixed-mode loading are derived and the crack-tip field including singular and non-singular terms is obtained. The kinking angle is determined by using the maximum hoop stress criterion, or the ${\sigma}_{\theta}$-criterion. Results are presented for simple uniaxial tension and biaxial loading. The biaxiality ratio has a noticeable influence on crack growth direction. For the case of biaxial tension, when neglecting the T-stress the crack branching angle is overestimated for small crack inclination angles relative to the largest applied principal stress direction, and underestimated for large crack inclination angles.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.599-608
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• 2002

Finite element analysis for the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the skin/stiffener structure with inclined central crack repaired by composite stiffened panels is developed. A numerical investigation was conducted to characterize the fracture behavior and crack growth behavior at the inclined crack. In order to investigate the crack growth direction, maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion are used. Also, this paper is to study the performance of the effective bonded composite patch repair of a plate containing an inclined central through-crack. The main objective of this research is the validation of the inclined crack patching design. In this paper, the reduction of stress intensity factors at the crack-tip and prediction of crack growth direction are determined to evaluate the effects of various non-dimensional design parameter including; composite patch thickness and stiffener distance. We report the results of finite element analysis on the stiffener locations and crack slant angles and discuss them in this paper. The research on cracked structure subjected to mixed mode loading is accomplished and concludes that more work using a different approaches is necessary. The authors hope the present study will aid those who are responsible for the repair of damaged aircraft structures and also provide general repair guidelines.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-50
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• 2004

A total life model was developed to assess the service life of aging aircraft. The primary focus of this paper is the development of crack growth life projection using the response surface method. Crack growth life projection is a necessary component of the total life model. The study showed that the number of load cycles N needed for a crack to propagate to a specified size can be linearly related to the geometric parameter, material, and stress level of the component considered when all the variables are transformed to logarithmic values. By the Central Limit theorem, the ln N was approximated by Gaussian distribution. This Gaussian model compared well with the histograms of the number of load cycles generated from simulated crack growth curves. The outcome of this study will aid engineers in designing their crack growth experiments to develop the stochastic crack growth models for service life assessments.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1549-1558
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• 2004

This study is concerned with the general solution of the field intensity factors and energy release rate for a Griffith crack in a piezoelectric ceramic of finite radius under combined anti-plane mechanical and in-plane electrical loading. Both electrically continuous and impermeable crack surface conditions are considered. Employing Mellin transforms and Fourier series, the problem is reduced to dual integral forms. The solution to the resulting expressions is expressed in terms of Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The solutions are provided to study the influence of the crack length, the crack surface boundary conditions on the intensity factors and the energy release rate.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.569-584
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• 2016

This paper presents a method for stochastic modelling of fatigue crack growth and optimising inspection and maintenance strategy for the structural members of steel bridges. The fatigue crack evolution is considered as a stochastic process with uncertainties, and the Gamma process is adopted to simulate the propagation of fatigue crack in steel bridge members. From the stochastic modelling for fatigue crack growth, the probability of failure caused by fatigue is predicted over the service life of steel bridge members. The remaining fatigue life of steel bridge members is determined by comparing the fatigue crack length with its predetermined threshold. Furthermore, the probability of detection is adopted to consider the uncertainties in detecting fatigue crack by using existing damage detection techniques. A multi-objective optimisation problem is proposed and solved by a genetic algorithm to determine the optimised inspection and maintenance strategy for the fatigue affected steel bridge members. The optimised strategy is achieved by minimizing the life-cycle cost, including the inspection, maintenance and failure costs, and maximizing the service life after necessary intervention. The number of intervention during the service life is also taken into account to investigate the relationship between the service life and the cost for maintenance. The results from numerical examples show that the proposed method can provide a useful approach for cost-effective inspection and maintenance strategy for fatigue affected steel bridges.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.37-42
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• 2003

The problem of an orthotropic material with a central crack is studied. The material is subjected to uniform biaxial loading along its boundary. The normal stress ratio theory is applied to predict fracture strength behavior in cracked orthotropic material. The dependence of the critical stress with respect to the biaxial loading and the crack orientation is discussed. Our analysis shows significant effects of biaxial loading on the critical stress. The additional tenn in the asymptotic expansion of the crack tip stress field appears to provide more accurate critical stress prediction.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.229-247
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• 2014

A numerical study of the influence of shear-span/depth ratio on the cohesive crack fracture parameters and double - K fracture parameters of concrete is carried out in this paper. For the study the standard bending specimen geometry loaded with four point bending test is used. For four point loading, the shear - span/depth ratio is varied as 0.4, 1 and 1.75 and the ao/D ratio is varied from 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 for laboratory specimens having size range from 100 - 500 mm. The input parameters for determining the double - K fracture parameters are taken from the developed fictitious crack model. It is found that the cohesive crack fracture parameters are independent of shear-span/depth ratio. Further, the unstable fracture toughness of double-K fracture model is independent of shear-span/depth ratio whereas, the initial cracking toughness of the material is dependent on the shear-span/depth ratio.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.292-297
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• 2001

Composite patch repair of cracked aircraft structures has been accepted as one of improving fatigue life and attaining better structural integrity. Analysis for the stress intensity factor at the skin/stiffener structure with inclined central crack repaired by composite stiffened panels are developed. A numerical investigation was conducted to characterize the fracture behavior and crack growth behavior. In order to investigate the crack growth direction, maximum tangential stress(MTS) criteria is used. The main objective of this research is the validation of the inclined crack patching design. In this paper, the reduction of stress intensity factors at the crack-tip and prediction of crack growth direction are determined to evaluate the effects of various non-dimensional design parameter including; composite patch thickness and stiffener distance. The research on cracked structure subjected to mixed mode loading is accomplished and it is evident that more work using different approaches is necessary.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.881-896
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• 2015

A simultaneous analytical, experimental and numerical analysis of crack initiation, propagation and breaking process of the Central Straight through Crack Brazilian Disk (CSCBD) specimens under diametrical compression is carried out. Brazilian disc tests are being accomplished to evaluate the fracturing process based on stress intensity factors (SIFs). The effects of crack inclination angle and crack length on the fracturing processes have been investigated. The same experimental specimens have been numerically modeled by a higher order indirect boundary element method (HDDM). These numerical results are compared with the existing experimental results proving the accuracy and validity of the proposed numerical method.