Numerical Prediction of the Fatigue Crack Growth Rate in SLM Ti-6Al-4V Based on Crack Tip Plastic Strain

This study presents a numerical model to predict the fatigue crack growth (FCG) rate in compact tension specimens under constant amplitude cyclic loadings. The material studied is the Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy produced by selective laser melting, which was submitted to two different post-treatments: (i) hot isostatic pressing, and (ii) heat treatment. The developed finite element model uses the cumulative plastic strain at the crack tip to define...