Computer simulation of fatigue crack initiation

✍ Scribed by W.L. Morris; M.R. James; O. Buck

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1980
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 782 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0013-7944
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-7944(80)90052-1

✦ Synopsis

Results of a Monte Carlo simulation of the initiation stage of fatigue failure of aluminum alloys are described. Initiation processes simulated are: (1) nucleation ofcracks at particles at or near the alloy surface; (2) early growth of microcracks with lengths on the order of the grain size; and (3) microcrack coalescence. Analytic models which describe nucleation and microcrack growth form the basis of the simulation, and relate the fatigue failure processes to the alloy microstructure. Two types of simulation outputs are obtained : (1) predictions of microscopic cracking parameters such as crack density, length and closure stress; (2) predictions of the mean and scatter in alloy fatigue lifetimes. Examples of both types of predictions are shown for selected aluminum alloys, and are compared to experimentally determined values.