A New Method To Predict Fatigue Crack Growth Life for the Armored Hull

Based on theories of dynamics of multi-body systems and linear elastic fracture mechanics, by using virtual prototyping technique, the model of tracked vehicle is established, and stress spectrums of the armored hull´s weak points are tested by virtual experiments. Considering the size of the crack and the fracture characteristic of the material, the life of the crack growing from initial size to a certain size is predicted, and a new practicable technique to predict the fatigue crack growth life is developed in this paper.