Numerical and experimental investigation of mixed-mode crack growth in aluminum alloys

Fatigue crack growth in Al 2024 and Al 7050 specimens was assessed experimentally and numerically. In the experimental investigation, various specimen configurations and loading conditions were used to achieve pure mode I, pure mode II, and mixed mode I/II, I/III, and I/II/III. Sample configurations were as follows: first, compact tension shear (CTS) specimen to reproduce pure mode-I and pure initial mode-II loading conditions; second, surface crack tension (SCT) specimen to analyze the behavior of semielliptical surface cracks in mode-I and mixed-mode conditions; and third, hollow cylindrical (HC) specimen with initial semielliptical surface crack to analyze fatigue crack growth under complex stress state. In the numerical study, finite element method (FEM) simulations were performed by means of FRANC3D and ABAQUS solver. The numerical predictions were validated with the experimental results. These predictions resulted to be accurate estimation of the crack growth across the broad range of the investigated loading conditions.