ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to determine the stress intensity factors for mixed mode fracture induced by inclined external surface cracks in pipes subjected to axial tension and bending. A combined J-integral and three dimensional (3D) Finite Element (FE) method is employed and a meshing technique with mixed types of quadratic tetrahedron and hexahedron elements is proposed to derive the stress intensity factors for mixed mode fracture. After the proposed 3D FE model is verified, the stress intensity factors for inclined cracks are obtained for various parameters of the crack and pipe, including different ratios of crack depth to half crack length (aspect ratios), crack depth to wall thickness ratios (relative depth ratios) and wall thickness to pipe internal radius ratios.
