On the prediction of fatigue life in double shear lap joints including interference fitted pin

In this paper, the fatigue life of double shear lap joints involving interference fitted pin is predicted considering both the initiation and propagation fatigue lives without a prior definition of an initial crack length. Finite element analyses were employed to predict fatigue crack initiation life using different multiaxial fatigue criteria. Pre-stress fields resulting from interference fit and also the longitudinal loading effect were introduced to the AFGROW code to obtain the effective stress intensity factor for the estimation of fatigue crack growth life using β-modification in pre-stress field method (β-MPFM). The predictions demonstrate a good agreement with experimental data.