propagation of crack in linear elastic materials considering crack path correction factor

modelling of crack propagation by finite element method under mixed mode conditions is of prime importance in fracture mechanics. this paper describes an application of finite element method to the analysis of mixed mode crack growth in linear elastic fracture mechanics. crack growth process is simulated by an incremental crack-extension analysis based on the maximum principal stress criterion, which is expressed in terms of the stress intensity factor. in this paper, a procedure to correct the direction of crack propagation in the analysis of finite element is peresented to ensure that a unique final crack path is achieved for different analysis of a problem by using different increments of crack. for each increment of crack extension, finite element method is applied to perform a single region stress analysis of the cracked structure. results of this incremental crack extension analysis are presented for several geometries.