Ultimate strength analysis of pitted plates with transverse cracks

Abstract

Numerical analysis using computer code ANSYS was employed to analyze the ultimate strength of pitted plates with transverse cracks under uniaxial compression. It was found that pitting was more critical in the thick plate and cracking in the thin plate, and the plate with a center crack had the lowest effect on the reduction of the ultimate strength, regardless of the crack length and thickness of the plate. For small cracks, plates with two edge cracks had a lower reduction factor than plates with a single edge crack, while for long cracks it was vice versa. The maximum reduction factor of the ultimate strength of the cracked plate occurred in thin plates with two edge cracks. The results showed that the combined effect of cracking and pitting reduced the ultimate strength of the plate by up to 400% and 50% with respect to cracking and pitting alone, respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that cracking of plates prior to pitting is more detrimental, since sharp decreases of the ultimate strength.