Short Title: Int. J. Mech. Eng. Robot. Res.
Frequency: Bimonthly
Impact Factor 2024:
1.0
CiteScore 2024:
SJR 2024:
Professor of School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia. His research interests cover Industry 4.0, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Engineering Materials and Structures (Metals and Composites), Multi-scale Modelling of Materials and Structures, Metal Forming and Metal Surface Treatment.
2025-06-18
2025-10-17
2025-08-21
Manuscript received March 13, 2025; revised March 20, 2025; accepted April 15, 2025; published October 14, 2025
Abstract—The interaction of noncoplanar internal and external surface cracks in hollow thin cylinders plays a critical role in structural integrity assessments, particularly under cyclic and multi-axial loading conditions. The objective of this study is to investigate the behavior of noncoplanar parallel cracks under tension, bending, torsion, and mixed-mode loading, focusing on the distribution of normalized Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs) and the interaction effects along the crack front. ANSYS finite element software is used to model the cracks, and SIFs are extracted along the crack front using the Interaction Integral Method (IIM). Results indicate that external cracks exhibit asymmetric SIF distributions with both amplification and shielding effects, while internal cracks primarily experience shielding. Crack depth (a/t ratio) and separation distance (s/L) significantly influence the interaction magnitude, with deeper cracks showing stronger amplification effects. Under torsional loading, shielding dominates, and interaction effects diminish with increased crack separation. Additionally, the inclination angle affects crack interaction behavior, with external cracks demonstrating greater amplification, making them more critical for structural failure. The findings provide valuable insights into crack growth behavior and fracture mechanics in thin-walled cylinders, aiding in the development of improved damage tolerance design and life extension strategies for critical structural components.Keywords—crack interaction, non-coplanar surface cracks, hollow thin cylinder, stress intensity factor, ANSYS finite element analysis, fracture mechanics, crack assessment Cite: Omar Mohammed Al-Moayed, Zainun Achmad, and Al Emran Ismail, "Crack Interactions of Non-Coplanar Internal and External Surface Cracks of Hollow Thin Cylinders," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 542-555, 2025. doi: 10.18178/ijmerr.14.5.542-555Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).