A phase field model for hydrogen-assisted fatigue

We present a new theoretical and numerical phase field-based formulation for predicting hydrogen-assisted fa-tigue. The coupled deformation-diffusion-damage model presented enables predicting fatigue crack nucleation and growth for arbitrary loading patterns and specimen geometries. The role of hydrogen in increasing fatigue crack growth rates and decreasing the number of cycles to failure is investigated. Our numerical experiments enable mapping the three loading frequency regimes and naturally recover Paris law behaviour for various hydrogen concentrations. In addition, Virtual S-N curves are obtained for both notched and smooth samples, exhibiting a good agreement with experiments.

Automated summary

A new theoretical and numerical approach based on phase field has been proposed for predicting hydrogen-assisted fatigue. The role of hydrogen in fatigue crack growth is investigated, and virtual S-N curves for both notched and smooth samples are obtained, showing good agreement with experiments.