Numerical analysis of fatigue crack growth using a plastically dissipated energy factor based model

The investigation of fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior may contribute to the assessment of damage tolerance of components. To study the FCG behavior considering the elastic–plastic behavior at the crack tip, a numerical simulation scheme based on compact tension (CT) specimen is developed. Also, an effective plastically dissipated energy (PDE) factor composed of maximum PDE ([Formula: see text]) and PDE range ([Formula: see text]) is proposed to establish the expression for evaluating the FCG rate. The simulation results show good agreement with the results of test under same load conditions. Also, the mesh sensitivity analysis and the comparison with test results confirm the validation of proposed model. Based on the proposed numerical simulation scheme, the FCG behavior is studied by analyzing the influence of plastic wake, mean load, load range, overload, underload, load sequence, and cyclic compression load on FCG from the perspective of crack driving force, FCG rate, and crack opening displacement (COD). It is found from the analysis results that the developed numerical simulation scheme can consider the load history effect and crack closure effect. The mechanisms of these factors on the influence of FCG rate are analyzed in detail.