BAMF running as an AFGROW plug-in (courtesy Mr. Josh Hodges/Hill Engineering, LLC)

On July 17, 2019 a joint webinar on the latest developments in FEA-based 3D crack growth simulation, titled “3D Crack Growth Simulation: Advancements & Applications”, was provided by ESRD’s Brent Lancaster, LexTech’s James Harter and Hill Engineering’s Joshua Hodges.

In this webinar, we detailed the latest technological advancements for accurate simulation of three-dimensional crack growth in metallic structures, with and without residual stresses, via coupled finite element analysis (FEA) and fatigue life computations. Additionally, the webinar expanded further on the DaDT analysis best practices presented in ESRD’s June 2017 webinar, titled “Durability and Damage Tolerance (DaDT) Analysis Best Practices“, and highlighted the importance of mitigating the errors of approximation associated with stress intensity factors (SIF’s) and if applicable, engineered residual stresses (e.g. cold-working).

Webinar attendees from a wide range of industries were treated to a demo of Hill Engineering’s Broad Application for Modeling Failure (BAMF) Sim App, which provides a robust integration between StressCheck’s high-fidelity DaDT/fracture solutions and AFGROW’s crack growth life prediction capabilities. The BAMF demonstration showed how to set up a parametric model for DaDT analysis via StressCheck and then, with limited user intervention, integrate with AFGROW and StressCheck via their respective COM API’s to perform an on-demand 3D crack growth simulation. It was very impressive demo, indeed!

View Webinar Recording

Click the button below to view the 3 part, 65-minute webinar recording (scroll to the bottom of the webinar landing page to find the videos):

View Webinar Slides

Click the button below to view the webinar slides (PowerPoint Show):

Additional Resources

During the webinar, we identified several relevant DaDT and/or crack growth simulation resources that may be of interest:

• “Analytical Modelling of Fatigue Crack Behaviour Under Representative Spectrum Loading in the F/A-18 A/B Y508 Wing Root Shear Tie”, Dr. Kevin Walker (DST Group)
• “Crack Aspect Ratio Investigation, Analytical Methods Subcommittee: Round Robin for Cx Holes”, Mr. Robert Pilarczyk (Hill Engineering, LLC)
• “Benchmarking Problems in Fatigue Crack Growth Analyses”, Mr. Robert Pilarczyk (Hill Engineering, LLC)
• “Numerical Simulation Series: Fracture Mechanics Parameters”, Dr. Ricardo Actis (ESRD)
• “Improving Global-Local Simulation Workflows for High-Fidelity Stress and Damage Tolerance Analysis”, Mr. Eric Buettmann & Mr. Gordon Lehman (ESRD)
• “Computation of SIFs for Cracks in Cold-Worked Holes”, Dr. Ricardo Actis & Mr. Matt Watkins (ESRD), Dr. Scott Prost-Domasky (AP/ES) and Mr. Joshua Hodges (USAF)
• “Crack Propagation Analysis Tool for 3D Crack Simulation: A Simulation App Case Study”, Mr. Matt Watkins (ESRD)
• The Contour Method for Measuring Residual Stresses (Hill Engineering, LLC)

Acknowledgments

As always, many thanks to our attendees for their interest and feedback! And, of course, thanks to LexTech and Hill Engineering for their time and contributions. We hope to collaborate on another webinar in the future!