ANÁLISIS MEDIANTE X-FEM DE LA ORIENTACIÓN DE GRIETA EN UN PROBLEMA DE FRETTING- FATIGA CON CONTACTO COMPLETO

In this paper, the application of the extended finite element method (X-FEM) to a fretting-fatigue problem is presented. More precisely, we study the crack orientation and propagation in a 2D complete contact fretting-fatigue problem. To achieve this goal, a 2D implementation of the X-FEM has been carried out using the finite element software ABAQUS by means of user subroutines. Taking advantage of the features of this commercial code for the study of non-linear contact problems, the method has been applied to a specimen-indenter model. The outstanding advantages of this methodology as far as mesh requirements and accuracy in the estimation of KI and KII are concerned, have enabled the parametric study of crack propagation for several bulk loads applied to the specimen. The influence of the initial crack angle has also been ascertained. In this way, a very powerful tool for the study of the crack propagation stage in this kind of problems has been introduced.