EndoFEM Node-Released Strategy in the Simulations of Fatigue Crack Closure Phenomena

Applications of the EndoFEM with node-released methods had been used successfully to simulate the plastic wakes left behind the advancing fatigue crack. In this paper, employing the plastic zone size estimated by LEFM as a guideline, four strategies with various plans of node-released rates and two plans of finite element discretization near crack tip, are proposed to generate various fatigue cracked lengths of A12024-T3 CCT specimen under all tensile-cyclic loading. Evaluations based on the mechanical responses near crack tip and the crack opened/closure behaviors, it can be concluded that the EndoFEM with the r c dominant node-released strategy can lead to not only economical but also reliable results.