205102 Fatigue Crack Growth Direction under Non-proportional Mixed Mode I+II Loading in Rail Steel

Abstract

Two criteria for the prediction of incipient crack path direction of non-proportional mixed mode I+II loading in rail steel are investigated. The analysis is based on 2D plane strain FE-simulations in which actual elasto-plastic stress distribution is used for the maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion and maximum tangential stress range (MTSR) criterion. The purpose of the analysis is to compare the numerical results with experimental results. It is shown that both the MTS and MTSR criteria including plasticity and sophisticated work hardening law are well suited to predict incipient crack growth directions for the rail steel under non-proportional loading.