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Three-dimensional BEM analysis for fatigue crack growth in welded cbmponents A. P. Cisilino & M, H. Aliabadi*
Wessa imtitntr

of

Technology.

Askurst

Lodge, Ashurst,

Sot~thnrrrpton

SO40 7AA.

UK

(Received 10 April 1996:accepted8 May 1996)

In this paper a general procedure for the analysis of three-dimensional multiple fatigue crack growth is presented.The crack propagation is simulated using an incremental crack extension analysis based on the strain energy density criterion and the Paris law. For each crack extension the dual boundary element method is usedto perform a single region analysisof the cracked component. Stress intensity factors are computed along the crack fronts usinga displacement basedmethod. Crack extensionsare automatically modelled with the introduction of new boundary elements along the crack fronts and a localized rediscretization in the area where the cracksintersectthe free surfaces.The capability of the procedure is demonstratedby solving a number of multiple edge-crack examples.Copyright 0 1996Elsevier Science Ltd.

1 INTRODUCTfON Geometric discontinuities are created in all fabrication processes. These discontinuities act as clusters of surface breaking defects. introducing a high probability of crack initiation which is frequently followed by a subcritical crack growth period that eventually leads to failure, limiting the components life. In welded components the initial defects are associated with the fusion and solidification process (cracking, metallurgical transformations, residual stresses, inclusions etc.) and they are located in a zone which usually has a high level of stresses induced by the geometric discontinuity of the weld toe. Due to the periodicity in the geometry of the weld toe (specially for automatic welding) crack initiation points are regularly distributed along the weld toe, resulting in the formation of similar periodic arrays of cracks. Recent experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that the rate at which small cracks initiate and propagate is strongly dependent on crack interaction, microstructural characteristics and residual stresses.-5 The different ways in which the cracks interact depend primarily on their spatial distribution, applied stresses and the problem geometry. Although there have been some advances in the fracture theory of crack interaction, it appears that there is still
GAuthor to whom correspondence should be addresed.

insufficient knowledge to be able to treat this problem with confidence. Most of the research in the field of crack interaction has been limited to coplanar cracks. Murakami and Nemat-Nasser6. have applied the body force method to obtain stress intensity factor solutions for two dissimilar interacting surface cracks. ODonoghue, using the alternating method in conjunction with the finite element method and an analytical solution for a single cracks has determined the stress intensity factors for interacting semi-elliptical surface cracks in cylindrical pressure vessels and embedded elliptical cracks in infinite solids. Health has also used the alternating method, but to solve the problem of multiple corner cracks along a hole bore in a plate; and McComb has carried out an experimental study of fatigue crack coalescence and interaction in centred-hole remote-loaded polycarbonate specimens. In the assessment of non-coplanar multiple and irregularly oriented cracks the knowledge is very limited and not many results have been reported. Through the use of the current code methods (ASME Section XI, BSI PD6493, etc.), cracks are usually recharacterized as a single crack with a bounding curve as the new crack shape. These recharacterization procedures follow mostly empirical ruies which can vary significantly among the different codes, as is illustrated by Tu. Jiang using finite elements has developed an empirical formula to evaluate the stress intensity factors of two parallel cracks.

136

A. P. Cisilirm. M. H. Aliabadi

In the area of shape development of cracks most of the reported results deal only with planar defects. Using finite elements Gilchrist. has studied the shape development of surface defects in finite thickness plates and bars; Chaipalo has investigated the shape development of initially irregular defects: and Kishimoto and Soboyejo. the coalescence of twin coplanar semicircular cracks under tension and bending. Using boundary elements Mi and Aliabadi2.2 have presented an effective automatic numerical implementation for the simulation of crack growth for single embedded and surface cracks with the capability of out of plane crack growth. In this work a dual boundary element method (DBEM) procedure for the simulation of threedimensional multiple crack growth and coalescence is presented. Fatigue crack interaction and coalescence is studied for co-planar and non-coplanar crack arrays, and results for the stress intensity factors and crack shape evolutions are reported.

where i, j denote Cartesian components, ?Jj(X, X) and LJij(X, x) represent the Kelvin traction and dispfacement fundamental solutions, respectively, at a boundary point X. The symbol f stands for the Cauchy principal-value integral. In the absence of body forces and assuming continuity of both strains and traction at x1 on a smooth boundary, the stress components gji are given bY fV,(X) + = f I T,,(X, x)u~(x) dT(x) x)t&) dI(x)
(21

i 1

U,&x,

where Tkij(X, X) and U&x, x) contain ~j(X,X) and Uij(X, x), respectively. stands for Hadamard principal-value traction components~ fi are given from ftj(x) + n;(x) f I

derivatives of The symbol =J integral. The (2) by

Tkij(X, x)u~(x) dr(x)

(X)

2 THE DBEM AND CONSIDERATION

MODELLING

= TZ;(X )

Uk;j(X t X)tk

dI(X)

(3)

The mathematical degeneration of the boundary element method when applied to crack problems, where the two crack surfaces are considered coplanar, was shown by Cruse.22 Some special techniques have been devised to overcome this di~culty. Among these, the most general are the subregion method (see Aliabadi and Rooke2-i) and the dual boundary element method, introduced by Portela et a1.2 The dual boundary element method incorporates two independent boundary integral equations, with the displacement equation applied for collocation on one of the crack surfaces and the traction equation on the other. As a consequence, general multiple-crack problems can now be solved in a single-region formulation. Although the integration path is still the same for coincident points on the crack surfaces, the respective boundary integral equations are now distinct. The single-region analysis used by the dual boundary element method also eliminates the remeshing problems which are typical of the finite element and multi-region boundary element methods. The dual bounda~ integral equations, on which the dual boundary element method is based, are the displacement and the traction integral equations. The displacement boundary integral equation relating the boundary displacement components LQ and the boundary traction components ti for a body with domain Q surrounded by a boundary I can be written
as, CLOUT

where n,(x-) denotes the component of the outward unit normal to the boundary at x. The boundary integral eqns (1) and (3) constitute the dual boundary element method. The above formulation can be rewritten in terms of the crack opening and sliding displacements to reduce the number of unknowns.* In general the boundary I of a cracked body can be divided in three surfaces: I,and I, which are the two coincident crack surfaces, and I, which is the remaining surface. Thus, eqn (1) can be rewritten as

=: i I,

uijtj dr i-

i I,

Ujiti dT +

I I,

Uijtj

dT

(4)

For traction free crack surfaces eqn (4) can be rewritten (using the property that Tc = -T;), as
C;jUj +

i&

dr +

7;,Auj dI = /

iJ;jti

dI

(5)

In eqn (5), the unknown functions displacements between the crack + - u,:. A similar expression can UI eqn (3), considering in this case that
fij -t-nj f I,

are the relative surfaces All, = be obtained for

TLij = T~ii

T,,u, dI7 -t ni
u,,t, dr

f1.;

TkijAu,, dI (f)

i I

7;,(X, x)uj(X) dT(x)

= n;

f .L

I I

Uij(X, x)tj(x) dI(x)

(1)

Equations

(S) and (6) constitute

the new expressions

Fatigue crack growth

in welded components

137

for the dual boundary element method when the relative displacements between the crack surfaces are introduced as new unknowns. This allows the number of unknowns on the crack to be halved, which, as will be shown later. is the region of the model with the largest number of unknowns. The general modelling strategy used in this work is similar to that reported in Mi and Aliabadi and can be summarized as follows: * Only one of the crack surfaces is discretized and the traction boundary eqn (6) is applied for collocation. The discretization is done using discontinuous 9-noded quadratic elements. Discontinuous elements are used to fulfil the continuity requirements of the field variables for the existence of Cauchy and Hadamard principal value integrals. Special elements developed by Mi and Aliabad? are placed on the crack front to reproduce the variation fi in the displacement field at the crack tip. Continuous 9-noded quadratic elements are used over the remaining boundary of the model? except at the intersection of a crack and a boundary surface. In these regions edge discontinuous elements are employed to avoid a common node at the intersection. The displacement integral eqn (5) is used to collocate in both cases.
l

used in the near crack tip stress field equations to obtain the local mixed mode stress intensity factors. For any point P located on the crack surface there is a section plane orthogonal to the plane of the crack and normal to the tangent to the crack front at some point (say Q). When the one point formula is employed, stress intensity factors at the point Q are evaluated as:
KF= E ;

4(1 - v) J
E

SAli::

K;=

4(1- v) d 2r
E

n Auf;

(7)

K;,=-

4(1 + v)

This simple strategy is robust and allows the dual boundary element method to effectively model general edge crack problems. Crack tips, crack edge corners and crack kinks do not require special treatment, since they are not located at nodal points where the collocation is carried out.

where E is the Youngs modulus and v the Poissons ratio. The terms ALL:, AU{ and AU: are projections of ALL, the displacement evaluated at point P, on the local coordinate directions (i.e. normal, binormal and tangential) at the crack front. Several criteria have been proposed to describe the local direction of mixed-mode crack growth. Among them, the most popular are the maximum principal stress, the maximum energy release rate and the minimum strain energy density. In this work the minimum strain energy criterion formulated by Sib is adopted. The criterion states that the direction of crack propagation at any point along the crack front is toward the region with the minimum value of strain energy density factor S as compared with other regions on the same spherical surface surrounding the point. Referring to the coordinate system (n, b, t), the strain energy factor S for a volume element dv = dn db . dt on the crack front can be expressed in terms of the stress intensity factors K,, Kr, and K,,, as follows:
S = aI, Kf + 2alzKIKII + a,,Kf, + a33KfII (8)

3 CRACK

EXTENSION

ANALYSIS

The numerical simulation of crack growth involves an incremental crack extension analysis. In the first stage the initial cracks are defined and the boundary element method is applied to perform a stress analysis and the stress intensity factors are evaluated along the crack fronts. The incremental direction along the crack front is evaluated by the minimum strain energy criterium and the incremental size by the Paris law. The incremental extension of the cracks is modelled by adding new elements at the crack front. A remeshing strategy is employed to redefine the discretization at the regions where the cracks intersect the free surface (noted here as tip areas). A new boundary element solution is then carried out for the new configuration and the incremental procedure is repeated. The above incremental analysis is performed until the predefined crack length is reached. The relative displacements of the crack surfaces AU are calculated by the boundary element analysis and

where CI,,, 012, a2* and a33 are trigonometric polynomials of sin(e) and cos(8), and 8 is the direction of the crack extension in the local plane. The angle 8 at each point along the fronts is obtained by solving:

In this work eqn (9) is solved using the bisection method. During fatigue crack growth, the relationship between incremental size and the number of cycles is represented by the Paris law, which states that

where daldN is the rate of change of crack length with respect to the loading cycles: C and nz are constants that depend upon material, load frequency, environ-

ment and mean load: and AK,rr is the cyclic value of the effective stress intensity factor given by AK eff = Km.? - f(+ efi cl1 (11-l Combining the expression of Kc, proposed Gerstle, the resultant expression for KeR is: .4K:,T = (AK1 + B {AK,# + 2AK:t by
(W

Finally the discrete amount Aa corresponding to a crack front point where bK,% occurs is given fron eqn (lo), in an approximate form, by: (13) In this work three sets of stress intensity factors are computed on each element along the crack front, by using the relative displacements Au of the second row collocation nodes (Fig. 1). Then by using expressions (8) and (9) the propagation angle 8 is also computed at the points Q. The resultant propagation direction can be referred to the global system of coordinates and expressed as a propagation vector V with components (u.$, up, uf). The incremental crack extension analysis assumes a piece-wise linear discretization of the crack path. New special crack tip elements are placed along the crack front for each increment of the crack extension; a procedure that requires the stress intensity factor values and propagation directions at the geometric nodes along the crack front ((2 in Fig. 1). An interpolation K(s), where s is the position along the crack front of the hK values, is used to obtain the stress intensity factors at the geometric nodes AKa. For the special case where these geometric nodes are placed at the crack tips, AK are calculated by extrapolating K(s) to the free surface. The effective stress intensity factors at the geometric nodes AK$ are computed using expression (12). The procedure to compute the propagation vector at these nodes 5 varies according to the location of Q:
l

the propagation vector 0 is taken as the average of the propagation vectors of the two closest neighbouring points Q, for midside element nodes the propagation vector is taken equal to that of closest point Q, and * for nodes located at the crack tips, the value of the components of the propagation vector (& lf, uf) are taken from the extrapolated values of the components of the propagation vectors of the interior points Q and then projected on to the free surface plane.
l

Ao = CaK,,,g . AN

Finally the crack extensions at the geometric nodes A3n are computed using expression (13). The incremental analysis also requires the modification of the boundary element mesh at the tip areas. The remeshing strategy developed for these areas is shown in Fig. 2. For each crack extension only a few elements located around the previous and new crack tips are removed and the tip area is remeshed with 6-node triangular discontinuous elements using a Delauny-based triangularization algorithm.~~ The removed elements are those intersected by a circle centred at the new crack tip (point B in Fig. 2) and with a radius equal to a certain fraction of the crack extension. The triangulation points consist of A (the old crack tip) and B (the new crack tip) and the geometric corner nodes C located on the boundary of the undiscretized patch. This strategy which accommodates the required local mesh modifications minimizes the extra computation necessary to solve

I
BEx / !/ I / I /

for corner nodes shared by two crack front elements K=f(s)

Resultant

(4

(b)

a Coilocation 0 x Geometrical on the crack Pants of

nodes nodes front(Q) evaluationfQ)

SIF

Fig. 1. Crack front propagation vectors.

Fig. 2. Crack tip remeshing procedure.

Frrtigue crack growth n

hc de f a

in welded components

I.19

(d) nodes located on the elements on the crack front (although the geometry of these elements remains unaffected they are now standard elements, not special crack tip ones); (e) new crack front element nodes: (f) nodes belonging to the triangular elements that are unaffected by the rediscretization process: (g) nodes belonging to the new triangular elements introduced to the model.
4 EXAMPLES 4.1 Two equal coplanar semi-circular cracks

Fig.

3. Schematic

representation assembling.

of

system

matrix

the new configuration and is suitable for the automatic simulation of multiple cracks approaching each other. After each rediscretization the entries in the boundary element system matrix corresponding only to the altered sections of the mesh have to be updated. These entries correspond to the dashed area in Fig. 3, according to the following rules: (a) nodes belonging to the quadrilateral elements that are unaffected by the rediscretization process: (b) nodes shared by the removed quadrilateral elements and elements still present in the new discretization; (c) nodes on the previous crack surfaces, except those located on the crack front elements;

The first example is a prismatic bar containing two identical and symmetrical coplanar semi-circular cracks of radius II. The bar is subjected to a remote tensile stress (T at its ends. Its dimensions scaled to the original crack radius CIare shown in Fig. 4. The initial distance between the two adjacent cracks tips (B, and A2 in Fig. 4) is equal to 0.4~7. The following Paris law is employed to estimate the crack growth:

with a mean load ratio R = 0. The evolution of the crack shapes is shown in Fig. 4 for seven propagation increments. The crack profiles in Fig. 4 are such that the same number of loading cycles is taken to develop from one contour to the next. The reference number of cycles AN,, is fixed at 750 cycles. Crack coalescence takes place between the first and second propagation increments and the transition from two cracks to one crack was assumed

Fig. 4. A prismatic bar with two equal semicircular coplanar cracks under remote tension. Model profiles.

geometry

and predicted

crack

A. P. Cisilino.

M. H. Aliabadi

Initial

geometry

xx

Propagation

increment

#5

Propagation

increment

#6

070

1.00

0 75

0 50 CR% ,m

025

0.00

025

Propagation

increment

#3

Propagation

increment

#7

050 e,/z

075

1 00

Fig. 5. Crack discretization of the first example.

Fig. 7. Variation of the mode I stressintensity factors along

the crack fronts for eachpropagation increment.

to occur when the cracks overlap. Once the cracks coalesce, the resultant crack tends rapidly to a semi-elliptical shape. Figure 5 shows the crack discretization for the initial configuration and the seven propagation increments.

Due to dramatic changes in the crack shape during the coalescence process it was only possible, with the existing code, to use the automatic remeshing strategy, previously described, in a few propagation increments.
The rest of them were done manually. Crack growth curves for the outer distance and

The stress intensity factors AK, for the growing cracks are shown in Fig. 7. For each crack the normalized value of the stress intensity factors are plotted as a function of the angle between the horizontal axis and the radial line from the centre of the initial crack. It can be seen that the value of the stress intensity factor at adjacent crack tips increase as the cracks approach each other. It rapidly increases at the contact zone in the early coalescence; it stays high while the single crack shape is sharply concave, and finally starts decreasing as the crack adopts a regular
crack front. The evolution of the ratio AK,,,/AK,i, is

maximum

depth are compared with those obtained by

Kishimoto et al. using finite elements in Fig. 6. The

general evolution of the crack profile are generally in good agreement but they differ for the outer distance
during the last propagation increments.

plotted in Fig. 8 together with results from Kishimoto et a1.7 This ratio also reaches its maximum value during coalescence, after which it starts decreasing and tends towards one.

0.50

' 5
N/No

1 6

1 7

' 8

1 2I 3I I4
N/No

I 7

Fig. 8. Changeof the ratio K,,,/K

Fig. 6. Crack growth curves predicted by the finite and

boundary element methods.

,,,,,,along the crack front during crack development predicted by the finite and boundary element methods.

Fatigue crack growth

in welded components

141

Fig. 9. Predicted crack profiles for the second example.

4.2 Two

dissimilar

and coplanar

semi-circular

cracks

evolution of the crack shape and stress factors is similar to that of the first example. 4.3 Two offset semi-circular parallel cracks

intensity

In this example it is assumed that the specimen of the previous example has now two dissimilar coplanar cracks. The radii of the cracks are such that the radius of the smaller (a,) is half of the larger one (a1 = 2a,), to which all dimensions of the example are referred. The initial distance between the closest crack tips (B, and A2 in Fig. 9) is half the initial radius of the larger crack. All material properties and propagation laws are the same as for the first example. Figure 9 illustrates the evolution of the crack profiles for eight propagation increments. The evolution of the mode I stress intensity factor along the crack fronts is presented in Fig. 10. The general behaviour in the

The third example is a prismatic bar containing two identical offset semi-circular parallel planar cracks. The dimensions of the bar as well as the relative positions of the cracks scaled to the original crack radius a are shown in Fig. 11. The bar is subjected to a remote tensile stress u at its ends. Crack growth is estimated using the same Paris law as in the previous examples. Figure 12 is a rear view of the specimen where some of the boundary elements on its lateral face have been removed to show the cracks more clearly. It illustrates

070

0 60

0 50

0401 1 00 0 75 050 W-8, 025 VT

I 000

I 025

I 050 o2 /n

I 0 75

1 1 00

Fig. 10. Variation of the mode I stress intensity factors along the crack fronts for each propagation increment.

Fig. 11. A prismatic bar with two equal semicircular out-of-plane parallel cracksunder remote tension.

142

A. P. Cisilino,

M. H. Aliahadi

\I

109

0.75

0 50

025

0.00

0.25

0.50

073

1 00

Fig. 12. Predicted crack profiles for the third example.

(f,-sp

sz/t.

Fig. 14. Variation of the mode II stress intensity factors

along the crack fronts for each propagation increment. the evolution of the crack shapes for 5 propagation

increments. In this example the reference number of cycles AN,, is 3000 cycles and the propagation increments are not constant. Also shown in Fig. 12 are the discontinuous triangular elements introduced to the model during the rediscretization process after each crack extension. The subfigure in the top right hand corner shows the crack propagation on the free surface. The evolution of the stress intensity factor components AK,, AKII and AK,,, are plotted for both cracks in Figs 13, 14 and 15. Since the cracks now propagate out of plane it is no longer suitable to represent position on the crack front as a function of the angle 19as before. In this example, the position on the crack front is represented by the normalized distance given by the ratio of the distance s, measured from the A, crack tips (see Fig. 11) over the total crack front length C The behaviour of AK, is almost unaffected by the presence of the second crack for the two first crack

profiles when the adjacent crack tips do not pass over each other. However, this is not the case after the third increment, since a shielding effect takes place and AK, values dramatically decrease for the adjacent tips. In contrast to what happens to AK,, the values of AK,, are earlier influenced by the presence of the second crack. Their absolute values achieve a maximum to start with and decrease after a second crack increment. The asymmetric evolution in the increases throughout values of AK,,, monotonically the propagation process. However, these values are small compared to AK, and hence not significant.

5 CONCLUSIONS

A dual boundary element method (DBEM) procedure for the numerical simulation of three-dimensional multiple fatigue crack growth and interaction has been

040

100

0 73

/ 0 30 L -s, )/I

023

0.00

I 025

>

I 050 s,le

I 073

I 100

Fig. 13. Variation of the mode I stressintensity factors along the crack fronts for eachpropagation increment.

143

Fig. 15. Variation of the mode III stressintensity factors along the crack fronts for each propagation increment.

presented in this paper. The DBEM single region analysis is shown to be particularly suitable for solving multiple crack problems, facilitating the construction of the model and its remeshing after each crack extension. The localized remeshing strategy which accommodates the changes in original system matrices as well as the use of the displacement discontinuity in the DBEM formulation allow important savings in the computing time and memory requirements. The procedure has been successfully employed to model the interaction and coalescence of coplanar and non-coplanar surface fatigue cracks. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This first author wishes to express his thanks for funding provided by the Consejo National de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas de la Reptiblica Argentina (CONICET) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom. REFERENCES 1. Tu, S. H., Lambert, S. B. & Burns, D. J., A multiple crack model for fatigue in welded joints. Internufional

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and Nemat-Nasser, S., Interacting

surface flaws under tension and

semi-elliptical

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