Fatigue crack growth near regions with differing stiffness

AbstractThe choice of suitable process parameters can influence Young´s modulus of additively manufactured materials. Thereby regions with different stiffness can be generated to achieve a material gradation adapted to the loading of a component. Similar components can be produced with graded materials that are the topic of the Collaborative Research Centre TRR 30 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). If cracks grow near regions with differing stiffness, curved crack paths occur. In order to establish basic rules about the propagation behaviour of fatigue cracks in regions with differing stiffness the crack paths and the stress intensity factors for such cracks are numerically determined with the specially designed numerical crack growth simulation program ADAPCRACK3D. Hereby the orientation angle of the region boundaries and Young´s modulus of these regions are varied