Crack Non-Circularity and Finite Erosion Effects on the 3D SIFs of a Bauschinger Modified Pressurized Thick-Walled Cylinder

Our previous studies have demonstrated that the 3D SIFs of a pressurized cylinder can be greatly affected by many factors. While an autofrettage process may introduce favorable residual stresses at the bore of the cylinder, other factors such as erosions and cracks, once introduced, may greatly reduce the effectiveness of the autofrettage results. In this study, we focus on how the non-circularity of cracks affects the 3D SIFs for a cylinder that contains finite erosions while keeping other conditions and material properties unchanged. Numerical analysis was performed using ANSYS, a standard commercially available finite element package. The residual stress due to any autofrettage process was simulated using the equivalent thermal loading. A closer look was given to problems with different crack configurations and how non-circularity of cracks affects the overall fatigue life of the cylinder when combined with other factors in comparison with circular crack only configurations.