General point load weight function for semi-elliptical surface cracks in round bars

Offshore mooring chains are continuously subjected to cyclic environmental loadings, resulting in fatigue cracks that always develop at the surface and grow across the circular cross-sections. To analyse the fatigue crack growth in a mooring chain based on a fracture mechanics-based approach, the evaluation of stress intensity factors (SIFs) of surface cracks in the chain segments becomes essential. A general point load weight function of SIFs for semi-elliptical surface cracks in straight and curved round bars was derived in this study. Parametric three-dimensional finite element (FE) models were developed to calculate the SIF solutions for determining the unknown parameters in the weight function. The analysis matrix covered wide ranges of aspect ratios 0.1 ≤ a/c ≤ 2.0, relative crack depths 0.03 ≤ a/D ≤ 0.6 and relative bar curvatures 0.0 ≤ D/Ri ≤ 1.5. The developed weight function was verified against the solutions available in the literature and FE results, indicating good accuracy. The proposed weight function can be used in SIF calculation and remaining fatigue life prediction of surface cracked round bar components under complex stress distributions, such as chain links.