White paper – Fracture and Fatigue Crack Growth

This whitepaper discusses the application of numerical modelling for the calculation of fracture parameters for Fitness-For-Service assessments. The shortcomings of analytical solutions presented in assessment codes, and the requirements for high degrees of accuracy of calculated fracture parameters, are discussed. The main two solid mechanics numerical techniques are briefly outlined and two commercially available fracture mechanics and fatigue crack growth software packages are presented. Finally, the fracture mechanics component of a Fitness-For-Service assessment is presented as a case study. The case study is a cracked helical mill gear tooth and the assessment was carried out using BEASY Boundary Element Analysis software. Receive the full version of this white paper by email: