The fracture mechanics approach involves inserting small semi-elliptical surface crack at different open-hole locations
and extracting maximum stress intensity factors along crack fronts. It was observed KI drops linearly with distance and
approaches K threshold at a distance of around 75 mm from its initial location.In Fig. 12(b), KI remains above Kthreshold at 45mm
and an aggressive open-hole would stilllead to crack propagation under fatigue loading at that distance.This study provides
a comparative view of two design approaches and helps identify anodrill zone on framerails near high stress areas