FATIGUE TO FRACTURE INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT IN ENGINEERING AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Abstract

Degradation of structural integrity and fatigue life estimation remain critical challenges in engineering, including biomedical applications. Fracture mechanics and crack propagation prediction are highly sensitive to material parameters, with the Stress Intensity Factor being the most significant physical parameter for the estimation of crack stress fields. This paper applies a fatigue crack growth model and structural integrity assessment using advanced numerical methods. The model calculates Stress Intensity Factor via the J-Equivalent Domain method, implemented in the in-house PAK software. Crack growth is simulated using the Extended Finite Element Method, incorporating discontinuous functions and asymptotic crack-tip displacement fields through Partition of Unity and Fast Marching-Level Set methods, which eliminates explicit crack meshing. The approach is validated through case studies from both classic engineering and biomedical structures.