Abstract
Interaction of multiple axial pre-cracks in a pressurized fuselage was investigated using a small-scale model of an idealized fuselage. The strain between multiple cracks under rapidly crack propagation was measured. The recorded crack velocities justified the use of successive finite element analysis with large shell deformation. The experimental results of a rupturing model fuselage represented the variations of stress intensity factors K_I and K_<II> in the mixed mode and the remote stress components σ_<0X> with crack extension. The crack kinking location, kinking angle and the off-axis crack trajectory are predicted by numerical analysis and the validity of the calculated results is discussed in comparison with the experimental data.
