On the statistical nature of fatigue crack-growth through Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data

Understanding factors that contribute to scatter in crack-growth rates data is fundamental to reduce risk of unexpected structural failures. This document discusses the statistical nature of material scattering observed in fatigue crack propagation tests through a comparison between Monte Carlo simulations and experimental test data. The case study consists of constant amplitude tests on central cracked 2024-T3 aluminium alloy plate specimens loaded in pure Mode-I with stress ratio R equals to 0.2. It was found that results of simulations matched the experimental fatigue lives in terms of both mean value and dispersion around it. Based on these outcomes, the crack-growth behaviour can be described in a statistical manner with the expectation to reduce the inaccuracy present in life predictions