A plastic flow-induced fracture theory for fatigue crack growth

A plastic flow-induced fracture theory for fatigue crack growth is presented. A new formulae for the fatigue stress intensity threshold and the fatigue crack growth rate law are derived by applying the principle of energy conservation in considering the fatigue crack growth process in the presence of local plastic flow ahead of the crack-tip. The present theory predicts not only the fatigue crack growth rate being just proportional to the rate of creation of dislocation at the crack-tip, but also the fatigue stress intensity threshold, which can be determined according to the applied fatigue stress amplitude and the characteristic size of microstructural fracture process ahead of the crack-tip, and can account for the fatigue crack growth characteristics at both low and high levels of applied fatigue stress intensity amplitude. All the results are universal and agree with the existing empirical results and experimental observations.