Two problems concerning the propagation of transverse cracks through beams are studied with a crack modelled as a distribution of dislocations. The first consists of a surface breaking normal crack present in reversing bending, where it is shown that for deep cracks two cycles of loading are experienced for each cycle of applied load. The second is an initially buried normal crack, where stress intensity factors affecting propagation both towards the surface and into the beam are evaluated. The effect on the life of each of these components is then considered for a representative material.
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