Abstract
In this study, an investigation based on the superposition principle to predict residual stress redistribution caused by crack propagation itself initially through residual tensile stress field was performed by finite element method. The tendency in residual stress redistribution caused by crack propagation recognized both from the analytical results and experimental result was the residual stress concentration consecutively occurred in the vicinity of crack tip even the situation that the crack propagated to the region initially residual compressive stress existed. The software for the analysis is ABAQUS, which is a general purpose finite element package. The analytical method that attempt to take the plastic deformation at the crack tip due to tensile residual stress into the consideration of residual stress redistribution caused by crack propagation was proposed. The plastic zone size at the tip of fatigue crack and redistributed residual stresses were calculated by finite element method on the bases of the concept of Dugdale model. Comparing these analytical results with experimental results, it is verified that the residual stress redistribution caused by crack propagation can be predicted by finite element method with the proposed analytical method.