• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2021

The concrete fatigue analysis can be performed with the use of fracture mechanics. The fracture mechanics defines the fatigue crack propagation as the relationship of crack growth rate and stress intensity factor. In contrast to metal, the application of fracture mechanics to concrete is more complicated and therefore many authors have introduced empirical expressions using Paris law. The topic of this paper is development of a new prediction of fatigue crack propagation for concrete using rheological-dynamical analogy (RDA) and finite element method (FEM) in the frame of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). The static and cyclic fatigue three-point bending tests on notched beams are considered. Verification of the proposed approach was performed on the test results taken from the literature. The comparison between the theoretical model and experimental results indicates that the model proposed in this paper is valid to predict the crack propagation in flexural fatigue of concrete.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.487-492
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• 2007

The enhancement of the service life of damaged or cracked structures is a major issue for researchers and engineers. The hierarchical void element with the integrals of Legend polynomials is used to characterize the fracture behavior of unpatched crack as well as repaired crack with bonded composite patches by computing the stress intensity factors and stress contours at the crack tip. The numerical approach is based on the v-version degenerate shell element including the theory of anisotropic laminated composites. Since the equivalent single layer approach is adopted in this study, the proposed element is necessary to represent a discontinuous crack part as a continuum body with zero stiffness of materials. Thus the aspect ratio of this element to represent the crack should be extremely slender. The sensitivity of numerical solution with respect to energy release rate, displacement and stress has been tested to show the robustness of hierarchical void element as the aspect ratio is increased up to 2000. The stiffness derivative method and displacement extrapolation method have been applied to calculate the stress intensity factors of Mode I problem.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.32-36
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• 2013

The large-scale structures have the possibility that there are defects such as cracks due to stress concentration caused by geometric discontinuities in the structure. In this respect, the assessment of fatigue life and the development of structural health monitoring(SHM) are very important. Fatigue design of structure is typically accomplished either using a set of stress cycle (S-N) data obtained from fatigue tests or using the fracture mechanics approach. The stress intensity factor(SIF) is required for the estimation of fatigue crack propagation life from the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) perspective. In this study, Macro Fiber Composie(MFC) sensor for the measurement of SIF of two dimensional cracks is used. The SIF based on the piezoelectric constitutive law and fracture mechanics are calculated. The measured values of the SIF are later used for the prediction of the crack propagation life. In this study, the measured value of the SIF and the fatigue life are compared with the theoretical results.