Abstract. The existence of crack evolutions based on critical points of the energy functional is proved, in the case of a cohesive zone model with prescribed crack path. It turns out that evolutions of this type satisfy a maximum stress criterion for the crack initiation. With an explicit example, it is shown that evolutions based on the absolute minimization of the energy functional do not enj...

The present paper adopts a Bayesian approach to update some of the parameters of the probability distributions governing the reliability assessment of maintained floating structures. It is based on a time dependent fatigue reliability formulation presented earlier but the description of the time to crack initiation, crack growth law and probability of crack detection are updated using the infor...

To study the fatigue performance of a composite girder with corrugated steel web (CSW) and tube (ST) truss, based on an engineering object, test finite element (FE) analysis were carried out. The failure mode sensitivities hot spot stress to geometric parameters above studied. position maximum crack discussed determined. Furthermore, life evaluation method was discussed. It found that linear ex...

On rocky shores, wave-swept macroalgae experience dramatic and repeated wave-induced hydrodynamic forces. However, previous studies of macroalgal mechanics have shown that individual waves are not forceful enough to account for observed rates of breakage. Instead, fatigue may contribute to algal breakage, with damage accumulating over time in conditions of repeated loading. Here I examine the e...

OBJECTIVES The effect of shot blasting treatment on the cyclic deformation and fracture behavior of a commercial pure titanium with two different microstructures; equiaxed (alpha-phase) and acicular (martensitic alpha'-phase) was investigated. METHODS Fatigue tests were carried out in artificial saliva at 37 degrees C. Cyclic deformation tests were carried out up to fracture and fatigue crack...

The long-lifetime fatigue regime is suggested to be a probabilistic realization of sequentially occurring mechanisms. We associate these mechanisms with the development of a ranking of heterogeneity scales in the material, with decreasing probability of occurrence in the order of increasing scale, at any given loading condition. The underlying drivers for these heterogeneity levels are an array...