###### Abstract
Examples include aircraft structures, pressure vessels, power transmission structures, bridge components, and high-stress machine components. The ANSYS Workbench provides advanced capabilities to simulate crack growth in structures with holes, allowing for an in-depth analysis of crack behavior and the evaluation of hole effectiveness as crack arrestors. The ANSYS Workbench employs various crack growth criteria, such as stress intensity factors (SIFs), energy release rate, or crack tip opening displacement (CTOD), to determine crack growth initiation and propagation. The assessment of crack initiation in the ANSYS Smart Crack Growth module involves the utilization of a range of criteria. These criteria encompass stress-based, strain-based, energy-based, fracture mechanics, and damage-based approaches. Stress-based criteria scrutinize stress levels, strain-based criteria focus on strain levels, energy-based criteria analyze energy release rates, fracture mechanics criteria apply principles from linear elastic fracture mechanics, and damage-based criteria monitor the accumulation of material damage. Crack initiation is predicted when the predefined thresholds for each criterion are surpassed. These criteria are implemented within the software's algorithms to evaluate the critical conditions for crack growth and predict crack propagation paths. Additionally, the ANSYS Workbench offers capabilities for adaptive meshing, which allows for automatic refinement of the mesh around the crack tip to accurately capture stress gradients and accurately predict crack growth. Furthermore, software packages like Abaqus [11; 12], COMSOL [13; 14], FRANC3D [15; 16], Zencrack [17], AFGROW [18], NASGRO [19], and Nastran [17] also provide powerful computational tools for simulating crack growth and analyzing the behavior of structures subjected to crack propagation. Additionally, there exist various software options for simulating crack propagation, such as the advanced iterative-finite element method (AI-FEM) [20] and advanced finite element analysis (AFEA) [21]. Meanwhile, there has been a rapid development of new approaches and methods in various fields of study. These include the discrete element method [22; 23; 24], element-free Galerkin method [25], extended finite element method [26; 27], cohesive element method [28; 29], boundary element method (BEM) [30; 31; 32], and phase-field method [33]. In a study by [34], displacement fields were experimentally measured to validate numerical simulations in a modified compact tension specimen. The specimen contained a machined hole positioned ahead of the crack propagation, causing a diversion of the crack path due to the modified stress field induced by the stress concentration factor. The effect of the drilled hole on the crack growth path was explained, as the presence of the hole resulted in a curved crack propagation path, inducing a mixed-mode (I/II) loading condition. In a numerical study conducted by [PERSON] [35], various geometries with holes were tested to investigate their impact on crack propagation and the potential for crack arrest. The results of this study are conceptually different from previously published ones [36; 37; 38; 39] as they specifically address a part of the research gap related to the behavior of cracks in the presence of multiple holes and their influence on crack propagation. By focusing on multiple holes and their specific configurations, this study provides novel insights that were not previously explored in the published research. Additionally, the study highlights how the presence of holes affects stress distribution, particularly von Mises stress, and emphasizes how these holes contribute to stress redistribution, ultimately enhancing structural integrity by mitigating stress concentrations. The limited understanding of crack growth in the presence of holes as crack arrestors constitutes a significant research gap.