Influence of Crack Inclination Angle and Thickness on Mode-Mixity Using FEM

Mode mixity is common in fatigue growth problems to assess the integrity of components by obtaining the fracture parameters as stress intensity factor, T-stress, J-integrals etc.  Present study aims to investigate the effects of fracture parameters in a modified Compact Tension (CT) specimen using finite element methods (FEM) with ANSYS 2022 software. Crack orientation angle (α) and thickness (t) have their effects on crack growth which affect the life of a mechanical component. With increasing the crack inclination angle (0°, 15°, 30°, 45° and 60°), an increase in mode III stress intensity factor is noticed while mode I showed a significant decrement. Pure mode I is notice at 0°. With further increase in the angle mode-mixity (mode I and mode III) is obtained.  Also, with an increase in the thickness (8mm, 10mm and 12mm) of component there is a noticeable decrease in all modes of stress intensity factor. This mode-mixity play a crucial role in the cracked model of the specimen.