FRACTURE MECHANICS ASSESSMENT OF PLANAR BRANCHED CRACKS IN AN EQUIBIAXIAL STRESS FIELD

Abstract A simplified fracture mechanics assessment is presented of branched planar cracks in an equibiaxial stress state. In linear-elastic fracture mechanics the stress intensity factors which characterize the load at the crack tips depend, for a given external load, only on the crack geometry. The stress intensity factors of a large number of branched cracks were evaluated using the Boundary Element method, and correlations between the stress intensity factors and the crack geometry were investigated. Formulae are presented which assign an individual effective crack length to each crack tip of a branched crack and hence allow approximate stress intensity factors to be determined for very complicated crack geometries. An algorithm is used for the stochastic simulation of an irregular crack pattern formation in thermal fatigue.