An improvement of a new technique for modelling cracks in the nite element framework is presented. A standard displacement-based approximation is enriched near a crack by incorporating both discontinuous elds and the near tip asymptotic elds through a partition of unity method. A methodology that constructs the enriched approximation from the interaction of the crack geometry with the mesh is d...

Fatigue crack growth (FCG) rates have previously been reported in forged Ti6Al-4V aero-engine disk material under the conjoint action of LCF and HCF cycles at room temperature. It is found that systematic increases in LCF overload, applied prior to the commencement of the HCF cycles, reduce the contribution of the HCF cycles to crack growth rates. The application of overload also enhances the s...

The nite element method is now well established as a robust and reliable numerical technique in many areas of solid mechanics. There are however problems where the use of the nite element method is cumbersome like the modeling of moving discon-tinuities due to the need to update the mesh to match the geometry of the discontinuity. Even for stationary cracks, in three-dimensional solids, contsru...

(FBRs). The factors influencing fatigue lifetime in sodium compared with that in air were investigated by observation of surface cracks in 316FR steel. Furthermore, the effects of sodium environment on fatigue were investigated based on examining the results of thermal striping tests, etc., obtained up to now. The results of the fatigue tests show that many micro cracks in the shearing directio...