Stress intensity factors for corner cracks at a hole by a 3-D weight function method with stresses from the finite element method

Stress intensity factors for quarter-elliptical corner cracks emanating from a circular hole are determined using a 3-D weight function method combined with a 3-D finite element method. The 3-D finite element method is used to analyze uncracked configurations and provide stress distributions in the region where a crack is likely to occur. Using this stress distribution as input, the 3-D weight function method is used to determine stress intensity factors. Three different loading conditions, i.e. remote tension, remote bending and wedge loading, are considered for a wide range of geometrical parameters. The significance of using 3-D uncracked stress distributions is studied. Comparisons are made with solutions available in the literature.