Fracture Mechanics Model of Fatigue Crack Closure in Steel

Fatigue crack propagation tests were performed on a high-strength steel with yield strength of 598 MPa under various stress ratios. A fatigue crack opening model, which contains both the effects of R and ΔK, was investigated based upon the cyclic elasto-plastic finite-element analysis (FEA) and the fracture mechanics approach with the small-scale yielding concept. Assuming the existence of the residual deformation in the wake of a crack, the crack opening stress-intensity factor can be calculated as the value at which the fatigue crack opening displacement becomes zero. Using this model, how R and ΔK affect U was investigated. The resultant formula for U contains two parameters, one for the plastic deformation at a crack tip, and the other for the oxide and the roughness in a fatigue crack. The effective stressintensity factor range, based on the measurements of crack opening loads, gives the same crack propagation behavior for various stress ratios. It is observed in experiments, however, that U depends on the stress ratio R and the stress-intensity factor range ΔK. The model successfully explains the experimental results. The fatigue crack propagation behavior under various stress ratios is described by the formula with five parameters, which can be obtained with only one specimen. The predicted crack propagation rates and threshold stress-intensity factor range agreed with empirical results. Therefore, the formula derived from this model may be applied well to the evaluation of fatigue crack extension.