Open Access

ARTICLE

An Improved Wheeler Residual Stress Model For Remaining Life Assessment of Cracked Plate Panels

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Computers, Materials & Continua 2004, 1(4), 289-300. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2004.001.289

Abstract

In this paper an improved Wheeler residual stress model has been proposed for remaining life assessment of cracked plate panels under variable amplitude loading (VAL). The improvement to the Wheeler residual stress model is in terms of the expressions for the shaping exponent, which is generally obtained through experiments. Simple expressions for the computation of shaping exponent have been proposed for compact tension (CT) specimen and plate panels with a center crack or an edge crack. The remaining life assessment has been carried out by employing linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) principles. In the present study, the degree of influence of overload ratio (OLR) and the shape factor (β) on the shaping exponent have been investigated for remaining life assessment of cracked plate panels under tensile overload. It is observed that the parameters OLR and β have differing influences on the shaping exponent. Crack growth studies have been conducted on CT specimen and plate panels with a center crack or an edge crack subjected to tensile overloads for validating the proposed expressions. It is observed from the studies that the remaining life predicted using the improved Wheeler model for these plate panels are in close agreement with the experimental values reported in literature.

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