Experimental and theoretical fatigue-crack propagation lives of variously notched plates

Abstract

The fatigue lives of variously notched plates have been determined theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical predictions of fatigue lives involved the determination of stress-intensity factors from finite-element analyses. By invoking a crack propagation law, fatigue-life predictions were made for four specimens. Fatigue experiments were conducted on four notched plates subjected to end load plus bending. Comparison with theoretical results shows that the experimental lives were greater by factors of 1.30 to 1.54. These results are most satisfactory since (1) a safe prediction of fatigue life has been made for a complex profile subjected to non-simple loading conditions, and (2) a theoretical elastic analysis has sufficed for a situation involving plastic strains.