A Strip Yield Analysis of Fatigue Crack Growth in the Residual Stress Field

An advanced procedure has been developed to analyse the fatigue crack growth in the residual stress field. The method is based on an extension of the strip yield crack closure model for part-through crack problems. In this method, the residual stress relaxation due to both the fatigue loading and the crack growth is considered. It has been shown that the effect of the residual stress can be reasonably analysed according to fracture mechanics methods so long as the residual stress field and its redistribution can be correctly evaluated and the elastic-plastic crack closure analyses are performed. Several examples are provided for the constant and variable amplitude loading conditions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.