Fatigue crack propagation in biaxial stress fields

Abstract

The propagation of fatigue cracks in notched and un-notched biaxially stressed plates is investigated. The rate of propagation is found to be affected by both the stress field associated with the notch and the biaxial stress state of the bulk material. It is found that the propagation rate of a crack from a notch may be predicted by the use of a theoretical notch contribution factor in conjunction with propagation data for a crack in un-notched material.