Estimation of Fatigue Crack Growth Rate for 7% Nickel Steel under Room and Cryogenic Temperatures Using Damage-Coupled Finite Element Analysis

In this study, fatigue crack growth rates (FCGR) of 7% nickel steel at room and cryogenic temperatures were evaluated using damage-coupled finite element analysis (FEA). In order to perform the computational fatigue analysis effectively, methods for coupling damage to FEA are introduced and adopted. A hybrid method including the damage-coupled constitutive model and jump-in-cycles procedure was implemented into the ABAQUS user-defined material subroutine. Finally, the represented method was validated by comparing its results with the FCGR test results for 7% nickel steel under room and cryogenic temperatures. In particular, da/dN versus ∆K and the crack length versus the number of cycles were compared