A New Method To Predict Fatigue Crack Growth Life for the Armored Hull

Based on theories of dynamics of multi-body systems and linear elastic fracture mechanics, by using virtual prototyping technique, the model of tracked vehicle is established, and stress spectrums of the armored hull's weak points are tested by virtual experiments. Considering the size of the crack and the fracture characteristic of the material, the life of the crack growing from initial size to a certain size is predicted, and a new practicable technique to predict the fatigue crack growth life is developed in this paper.