Utilization of partial crack closure for fatigue crack growth modeling

Load ratio effects are of prime concern when modeling of fatigue crack growth (FCG) rate is required as a prerequisite for a reliable life prediction. The majority of research efforts regarding the load ratio effects are based on Elberʹs ΔKeff approach. However, there are intrinsic difficulties encountered with its consistent application to FCG prediction. In this paper two popular crack-growth-life prediction codes FASTRAN and AFGROW are modified utilizing the enhanced partial crack closure model. The proposed utilization aggregates apparent closure mechanisms involved and demonstrates a better correlation and a significant scatter reduction of FCG data taken from literature, especially in the near-threshold region.