Stress intensity interaction between dissimilar semi-elliptical surface cracks

Procedures for structural integrity assessment normally contain criteria to predict the significance of the interaction between neighbouring defects in a structure. Here, the elastic interaction between coplanar semi-elliptical surface cracks is examined in detail by considering a large number of dissimilar crack pairs with different depths and aspect ratios. Surface defect interaction criteria from several assessment procedures are critically assessed and found to be satisfactory for cracks loaded in uniform tension. The criterion used in the R6 Rev. 4 and BS 7910:2013 procedures is the least inherently conservative of those considered here. However, the amount by which interaction exacerbates the most severe crack front loading state can depend strongly on the distribution of stress applied to the cracks. This means that the loading mode should be taken into consideration when judging whether the interaction between surface defects is significant.