TY  - JOUR
VL  - 161
SP  - 41
A1  - Carpinteri, Alberto
A1  - Paggi, Marco
PB  - Springer-Verlag
JF  - International Journal of Fracture
IS  - 1
Y1  - 2010///
EP  - 52
ID  - eprints1982
N2  - In this paper, a critical reexamination of the fractal models for the analysis of crack-size effects in fatigue is proposed. The enhanced ability to detect and measure very short cracks has in fact pointed out the so-called anomalous behavior of short cracks with respect to their longer counterparts. The crack-size dependencies of both the fatigue threshold and the Paris? constant C are only two notable examples of these anomalous scaling laws. In this context, a unified theoretical model seems to be missing and the behavior of short cracks can still be considered as an open problem. A new generalized theory based on fractal geometry is herein proposed, which permits to consistently interpret the short crack-related anomalous scaling laws within a unified theoretical framework. The proposed model is used to interpret relevant experimental data related to the crack-size dependence of the fatigue threshold in metals. As a main result, the model gives an explanation to the experimentally observed variability in the slope of the asymptote of the scaling law for the fatigue threshold in the short crack regime.
SN  - 1573-2673
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10704-009-9425-5
AV  - none
TI  - A unified fractal approach for the interpretation of the anomalous scaling laws in fatigue and comparison with existing models
KW  - Fatigue crack growth; Short cracks; Fatigue threshold; Fractals; Scaling laws; 74A45
ER  -