Abstract
Fatigue cracks may initiate and propagate due to repeated wave exciting pressure in marine structures. Propagation of fatigue cracks may cause losses of serviceability such as those due to the oil and/or water tightness of a critical compartment boundary. To maintain the fitness for purpose of a structure, the prediction of fatigue crack path may play a very important role, so that we have developed an accurate and efficient system in predicting fatigue crack paths, which can make use of the FEM model for structural design. To investigate applicability of the system, the predicted crack paths are compared with experimental results of fatigue test specimen of 3-D welded structural components. It has been verified that the present results are in good agreement with experimental results.
