Issue 31

A.R. Maligno et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 31 (2015) 97-119; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.31.08 109 Figure 17 : K vs . a for thickness node (conductor). Figure 18 : a vs . N for internal surface node (conductor). Stage 2 The second stage of the analysis required an update of the crack shape in the conductor so that a through-thickness crack profile was created. The strategy to update a crack from a corner to through-the-thickness crack is described by Maligno et al . [16]. In Stage 2, the FE mesh of the conductor pipe, as obtained at the end of Stage-1 crack-growth analysis, was appropriately adjusted using a spline function for the new through-thickness crack front, as shown in Fig. 19. Figure 19 : Spline (blue line) used to create through-the-wall crack.