Crack growth life prediction based on finite element method

Finite element method (FEM) is proved feasible to obtain structural fracture parameters compared with theoretical results of compact tension specimen (CT). Damage tolerance analysis on the turbine disk component based on FEM was performed. Firstly, structural stress and strain were obtained through FEM analysis. Then the programmer was developed based on FEM to calculate fracture mechanics parameters such as stress intensity factor, J integral and further to simulate crack growth. A relation between the parameters and crack length was obtained and used to determine critical crack length. Lastly, crack growth life of the turbine disk was predicted. The predicted life agreed with experimental result, which verified that the method to predict the component's crack growth life based on FEM is reasonable and feasible.