## 2 Materials and Methods  
Separating, Morphing, Adaptive, and Remeshing Technology (SMART) focuses on enhancing crack growth simulations by utilizing advanced meshing and adaptive techniques. This feature aims to provide accurate and efficient representations of crack propagation in the ANSYS Workbench. The SMART crack growth feature incorporates the following components:  
1. Separating which has the capability ensures that the mesh accurately captures the behavior of cracks and contact interfaces. It allows for the representation of gaps and separation occurring at crack interfaces or contact regions. This enables the more realistic modeling of crack propagation and contact behavior.
2. Morphing which is a key aspect of SMART technology that enables the mesh to adapt and deform to changes in crack geometry. As cracks propagate or deformations occur, the mesh is dynamically adjusted to maintain accurate representation. This ensures that the mesh aligns with the evolving crack shape throughout the simulation.
3. Adaptive: The adaptive component of SMART technology focuses on refining the mesh in areas of interest, such as near crack tips or regions experiencing high stress gradients. By adapting the mesh locally, it ensures that the critical details of crack growth are accurately captured while optimizing computational efficiency. Adaptive meshing helps to maintain an optimal balance between accuracy and computational cost.
4. Remeshing, which is the process of regenerating the mesh based on predefined criteria or significant changes in crack geometry or deformation. When cracks propagate, large deformations occur, or other significant changes take place, and the mesh is updated to accurately represent the evolving crack geometry. Remeshing ensures that the simulation continues with an appropriate mesh that captures the changing crack behavior.  
The present study used the maximum circumferential stress criterion, which is one of the criteria incorporated in ANSYS for evaluating crack growth under mixed-mode loading conditions. This criterion operates on the assumption that crack propagation predominantly occurs in the direction of maximum circumferential stress. The direction of crack growth is determined by evaluating the direction of maximum circumferential stress, which is perpendicular to the direction of the total stress-intensity factor. The crack propagation direction in this criterion is determined using the following formula [40; 41]:  
\[\theta=\cos^{-1}\left(\frac{3K_{II}^{2}+K_{I}\sqrt{K_{I}^{2}+8K_{II}^{2}}}{K_{ I}^{2}+9K_{II}^{2}}\right) \tag{1}\]  
where \(\theta\) is the angle of crack growth and \(K_{I}\) and \(K_{II}\) correspond to the first and second mode of the stress intensity factor, respectively.  
In the context of static crack growth simulation, ANSYS Mechanical offers two commonly used fracture criteria: the J-integral and stress intensity factor. In this particular study, the stress intensity factor criterion was employed. According to this criterion, crack propagation occurs when the stress intensity factor (\(K_{J}\)) surpasses the fracture toughness of the material. By using pre-meshed crack modeling and incorporating contact elements, ANSYS Smart Crack Growth can accurately simulate the contact between crack faces and model the crack propagation process.