A phenomenological model of fatigue crack growth in perfectly plastic infinite plates under completely reversed uniaxial loading

The fatigue failure of a thin infinite center-cracked plate under completely reversed uniaxial loading is considered. A two-stage fatigue crack model including the incubation and crack propagation stages is constructed. The stress distribution in the vicinity of the crack tip is described using the concept of a conventional elastic crack. The crack-tip plastic zone is simulated by a Dugdale thin plastic zone, and the condition for the movement of the failure front is given by criteria of damage mechanics. It is shown that the fatigue crack growth rate in perfectly plastic materials with a plastic zone of constant length is a power-law function of the stress intensity factor range. This relationship is quadratic when the length of the plastic zone is not constant.