Objective
The purpose of the proposed research is the development of advanced computational tools that will predict fatigue crack initiation subsequent growth and net loss of structural strength, thus completing the entire phase of damage toleranceanalysis. The analysis is based on the finite element method and is a direct improvement of the current practice that treats life prediction as a post processing problem. The proposed methodology incorporate the principles of fracture mechanics throughout the analysis loop and specifically takes into account the physics of the decohesion process .A variety of industries will be potential users of the proposed capability including aircraft,automotive, ship, nuclear, defense and infrastructure. The proposal includes three end-user applications in the automotive, aerospace and civil engineering fields as well as adaptation within high performance parallelised commercial software environments.
Work performed: development of cohesive interface elements CIE in 2D & 3D, fatigue algorithms, implementation of CIE in standard codes & pre/post interfaces, and end user application requirements definition. Several verification examples performed for 2D & 3D. In the case of fatigue algorithm, extrapolation scheme defined to evaluate fatigue life of a specimen without reproducing the entire life, by means of identification of "blocks". The adaptation of CIEinto commercial codes done. The 2D & 3D elements introduced in Samcef/Mecano, and several tests performed. The work in pre & post processes done inside MSC/PATRAN environment. End users have defined the methodology requirements for the benchmarks. First examples with the new code performed. The achievements are good although further improvements needed for future developments to fulfil with end user requirements.
Funding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
48930 Las Arenas
Spain
Participants (8)
10043 Orbassano
21020 Ispra
55102 Thessaloniki
81612 Muenchen
S9 3LQ Sheffield
4031 Angleur
28015 Madrid
461 81 Trollhaettan