Open Access

ARTICLE

Weight Functions for Structural Integrity Assessment: Method and Applications

Xue-Ren Wu¹

1 Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing 100095, China. Email: xueren.wu@gmail.com

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring 2010, 6(2), 77-88. https://doi.org/10.3970/sdhm.2010.006.077

Abstract

A review of the state-of-the-art is presented on the weight function method for fracture-mechanics-based structural integrity assessment with regard to crack-like defects. The weight function method provides a powerful tool for the determination of key parameters, such as stress intensity factors and crack opening displacements for cracked structural components. For two dimensional (2D) crack problems, weight functions were obtained in closed-form for both centre-and edge-crack configurations. For three dimensional(3D) cases, a combination of the closed-form 2D weight functions and the slice synthesis technique makes it possible for rapid determination of stress intensity factor at any point along the crack front. The versatility, efficiency and accuracy of the weight function method, especially for treating crack problems with complex loadings, were demonstrated with various examples.

---