Compounded stress intensity factors for cracks at fastener holes

The compounding technique, a method for obtaining stress intensity factors for complex geometrical configurations from those for simple configurations, is applied to cracks at the edges of the holes in a row of fastener holes. The holes are assumed to be loaded on their perimeters; the original technique requires modification in order to incorporate these loads into the “equivalent crack” concept. The accuracy of the method is tested by comparing the solution obtained by compounding with that obtained by a collocation technique for cracks at the edges of a row of pressurized holes. Finally stress intensity factors are obtained for cracks at a row of fastener holes near the edge of a sheet.