Analytical modeling of fatigue crack propagation in metals coupled with elasto-plastic deformation

In the present investigation, the G max criterion, which is based on the elastic strain energy principle, is extended to study the fatigue crack growth characteristics of mixed mode cracks. A modification has been made to this criterion to implement the plastic strain energy and, hence, a new elasto-plastic energy-based model is presented. Subsequently, the proposed model is employed to predict fatigue crack growth in rectangular steel plates under complex stress states. The results obtained using the elasto-plastic energy model proposed are compared with those obtained using the commonly used Paris law and our experimental data.