This paper describes a fuzzy-based system for analyzing the stress intensity factors (SIFs) of three-dimensional (3D) cracks. 3D finite element method(FEM) was used to obtain the SIF for subsurface cracks and surface cracks existing in inhomogeneous m...
This paper describes a fuzzy-based system for analyzing the stress intensity factors (SIFs) of three-dimensional (3D) cracks. 3D finite element method(FEM) was used to obtain the SIF for subsurface cracks and surface cracks existing in inhomogeneous materials. A geometry model, i.e. a solid containing one or several 3D cracks is defined. Several distributions of local node density are chosen, and then automatically superposed on one another over the geometry model by using the fuzzy theory. Nodes are generated by the bucketing method, and ten-noded quadratic tetrahedral solid elements are generated by the Delaunay triangulation techniques. The singular elements such that the mid-point nodes near crack front are shifted at the quarter-points, and these are automatically placed along the 3D crack front. The complete FE model is generated, and a stress analysis is performed. The SIFs are calculated using the displacement extrapolation method. The results were compared with those surface cracks in homogeneous materials. Also, this system is applied to analyze cladding effect of surface cracks in inhomogeneous materials.