A new semi-analytical approach for obtaining crack-tip stress distributions under variable-amplitude loading

Abstract Near threshold fatigue crack response is extremely sensitive to load history. It is associated with the influence of near-tip stress on instantaneous resistance of crack tip surface layers to failure under atmospheric conditions. The paper deals with computational aspects of stress and strain distributions at the crack tip. A new approach is proposed to obtain near-tip stress under variable amplitude loading. The method considers a combination of standard rules for determining local strains (Linear rule, Neuber rule, ESED method, etc.) and well-known in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) return mapping algorithm in context of nonlinear mixed hardening material model. Iterative procedure based on Newton-Raphson method is proposed to calculate plastic variables and near-tip stress at each load step. The calculated results obtained by new model are validated with the traditional approach in case of Al2024-T3 alloy for constant amplitude loading after tensile/comprehensive overloads.