Plastic strip model of circular crack under cyclic loading with damage accumulation

A cylindrical solid containing a penny-shaped crack in its mid plane is subjected to a remote tensile stress field. In the plastic region near the crack border, damage due to continuous deterioration of the material accumulates, and may lead to crack instability and crack growth. A damage model relating the crack opening displacement in the plastic zone to the fraction of the cross-sectional area occupied by voids is used to describe the conditions necessary for the onset of crack instability, fatigue crack propagation by cyclic loading, and rates of crack growth for time-dependent environmental effects.     

Modeling of fatigue crack growth from a notch

When a fatigue crack is nucleated and propagates into the vicinity of the notch, the crack growth rate is generally higher than that can be expected by using the stress intensity factor concept. The current study attempted to describe the crack growth at notches quantitatively with a detailed consideration of the cyclic plasticity of the material. An elastic–plastic finite element analysis was conducted to obtain the stress and strain histories of the notched component. A single multiaxial fatigue criterion was used to determine the crack initiation from the notch and the subsequent crack growth. Round compact specimens made of 1070 steel were subjected to Mode I cyclic loading with different R-ratios at room temperature. The approach developed was able to quantitatively capture the crack growth behavior near the notch. When the R-ratio was positive, the crack growth near a notch was mainly influenced by the plasticity created by the notch and the resulted fatigue damage during crack initiation. When the R-ratio was negative, the contact of the cracked surfaces during a part of a loading cycle reduced the cyclic plasticity of the material near the crack tip. The combined effect of notch plasticity and possible contact of cracked surface were responsible for the observed crack growth phenomenon near a notch.     

Cohesive zone laws for fatigue crack growth: Numerical field projection of the micromechanical damage process in an elasto-plastic medium

Cohesive zone failure models are widely used to simulate fatigue crack propagation under cyclic loading, but the model parameters are phenomenological and are not closely tied to the underlying micromechanics of the problem. In this paper, we will inversely extract the cohesive zone laws for fatigue crack growth in an elasto-plastic ductile solid using a field projection method (FPM), which projects the equivalent tractions and separations at the cohesive crack-tip from field information outside the process zone. In our small-scale yielding model, a single row of discrete voids is deployed directly ahead of a crack in an elasto-plastic medium subjected to cyclic mode I K-field loading. Damage accumulation under cyclic loading is captured by the growth of voids within the micro-voiding zone ahead of the crack, while the evolution of the cohesive zone law representing the micro-voiding zone is inversely extracted via the FPM. We show that the field-projected cohesive zone law captures the essential micromechanisms of fatigue crack growth in the ductile medium: from loading and unloading hysteresis caused by void growth and plastic hardening, to the softening damage locus associated with crack propagation via a void by void growth mechanism. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the FPM in obtaining a micromechanics-based cohesive zone law in-place of phenomenological models, which opens the way for a unified treatment of fatigue crack problems.     

Finite deformation analysis of crack tip fields in plastically compressible hardening–softening–hardening solids

Crack tip fields are calculated under plane strain small scale yielding conditions. The material is characterized by a finite strain elastic–viscoplastic constitutive relation with various hardening–softening–hardening hardness functions. Both plastically compressible and plastically incompressible solids are considered. Displacements corresponding to the isotropic linear elastic mode I crack field are prescribed on a remote boundary. The initial crack is taken to be a semi-circular notch and symmetry about the crack plane is imposed. Plastic compressibility is found to give an increased crack opening displacement for a given value of the applied loading. The plastic zone size and shape are found to depend on the plastic compressibility, but not much on whether material softening occurs near the crack tip.On the other hand, the near crack tip stress and deformation fields depend sensitively on whether or not material softening occurs. The combination of plastic compressibility and softening(or softening–hardening) has a particularly strong effect on the near crack tip stress and deformation fields.     

裂纹闭合和循环塑性预应变及循环载荷压缩部分对裂纹扩展速率的影响

本文针对三种国产材料 Ｌｙ１１ｃｚ、 Ｌｙ１２ｃｚ 铝合金和 １８ Ｍｎ Ｈ Ｐ钢,通过实验初步考察了循环塑性预应变和循环载荷压缩部分对疲劳裂纹扩展的影响;采用电测法,测定了两种铝合金材料疲劳裂纹扩展的张开应力和有效应力强度因子幅值比 Ｕ。结果表明：（１）材料循环塑性预应变和循环载荷压缩部分,都使疲劳裂纹扩展速率提高;（２）常幅载荷下,在疲劳裂纹稳定扩展阶段,有效应力强度因子幅值比 Ｕ 与应力比 Ｒ 有关,与裂纹长度ａ 无关,并依赖于材料的力学性能。     

Characterization of crack tip stresses in plane-strain fracture specimens having weld center crack

Fracture toughness of metals depends strongly on the state of stress near the crack tip. The existing standards (like R-6, SINTAP) are being modified to account for the influence of stress triaxiality in the flaw assessment procedures. These modifications are based on the ability of so-called ‘constraint parameters’ to describe near tip stresses. Crack tip stresses in homogeneous fracture specimens are successfully described in terms of two parameters like J–Q or J–T. For fracture specimens having a weld center crack, strength mismatch ratio between base and weld material and weld width are the additional variables, along with the magnitude of applied loading, type of loading, and geometry of specimen that affect the crack tip stresses. In this work, a novel three-parameter scheme was proposed to estimate the crack tip opening stress accounting for the above-mentioned variables. The first and second parameters represent the crack tip opening stress in a homogeneous fracture specimen under small-scale yielding and are well known. The third parameter accounts for the effect of constraint developed due to weld strength mismatch. It comprises of weld strength mismatch ratio (M, i.e. ratio of yield strength of weld material to that of base material), and a plastic interaction factor (I_p) that scales the size of the plastic zone with the width of the weld material. The plastic interaction factor represents the degree of influence of weld strength mismatch on crack tip constraint for a given mismatch ratio. The proposed scheme was validated with detailed FE analysis using the Modified Boundary Layer formulation.     

Elastic–plastic near field solution of an eccentric crack under shear in a finite width plate

The near crack line analysis method is used to investigate an eccentric crack loaded by shear forces in a finite width plate, and the analytical solution is obtained in this paper. The solution includes: the unit normal vector of the elastic–plastic boundary near the crack line, the elastic–plastic stress fields near crack line, variations of the length of the plastic zone along the crack line with an external loads, and the bearing capacity of a finite plate with a centric crack loaded by shear stress in the far field. The results obtained in this paper are sufficiently precise near the crack line because the assumptions of small scale yielding theory have not been made and no other assumptions have been taken. Subsequently, the present results are compared with the traditional line elastic fracture mechanical solutions and elastoplastic near field solutions under small scale yielding condition. On the basis of the minimum strain energy density (SED) theory, the minimum values of SED in the vicinity of the crack tip are determined, the initial growth orientation of crack are determined. It is found that the normalized load under large scale yielding condition is higher than those under small scale yielding condition when the length of the plastic zone is the same.     

Elastoplasticity of crack loaded by two pairs of isolated shear forces in finite width plate

The failure behavior of an elastic-perfectly plastic body with a crack loaded by two pairs of concentrated shear forces is discussed. The analytical solutions of an eccentric crack in a finite plate loaded by two pairs of point shear forces are obtained. It includes the unit normal vector of the elastic-plastic boundary near the crack line, the elastic-plastic stress fields near crack line and the law of the plastic zone along the crack line with external loads. The solutions of this paper are sufficiently precise near the crack line in elastic-perfectly plastic materials. Subsequently, the present results are compared with solutions based on the minimum strain energy density theory and elastic-plastic solutions under small scale yielding condition. On the basis of the minimum strain energy density (SED) theory, the minimum values of SED in the vicinity of the crack tip are determined, the initial growth orientation of crack are determined. It is found that the normalized load under large scale yielding condition is higher than those under small scale yielding condition when the length of the plastic zone is the same.     

拉压循环载荷下正交异性钢桥面板肋-面板焊缝裂纹扩展分析

采用四步法计算了考虑循环载荷中压应力影响的正交异性钢桥面板的肋-面板焊缝表面裂纹扩展。第一步是基于正交异性钢桥面板的疲劳分析模型,计算肋-面板焊缝处的应力,第二步是通过肋-面板焊缝的三维局部模型,用Schwartz-Neumann交替法计算焊缝表面裂纹的应力强度因子分布,第三步是用二维断裂力学模型和增量塑性损伤模型,计算循环载荷中的压应力对裂纹扩展的影响,第四步是用第二步中的三维裂纹分析结果和第三步中的二维断裂力学模型得到的裂纹扩展公式,计算钢桥面板的肋-面板焊缝表面裂纹扩展。计算结果表明,对应于正交异性钢桥面板肋-面板焊缝处的循环应力,本文所用模型的裂纹尖端反向塑性区导致裂纹扩展率增加50%以上。研究结果为正交异性钢桥面板肋-面板焊缝裂纹的疲劳寿命分析提供了研究基础。     

A generalized anisotropic hardening rule based on the Mroz multi-yield-surface model for pressure insensitive and sensitive materials

In this paper, a generalized anisotropic hardening rule based on the Mroz multi-yield-surface model for pressure insensitive and sensitive materials is derived. The evolution equation for the active yield surface with reference to the memory yield surface is obtained by considering the continuous expansion of the active yield surface during the unloading/reloading process. The incremental constitutive relation based on the associated flow rule is then derived for a general yield function for pressure insensitive and sensitive materials. Detailed incremental constitutive relations for materials based on the Mises yield function, the Hill quadratic anisotropic yield function and the Drucker–Prager yield function are derived as the special cases. The closed-form solutions for one-dimensional stress–plastic strain curves are also derived and plotted for materials under cyclic loading conditions based on the three yield functions. In addition, the closed-form solutions for one-dimensional stress–plastic strain curves for materials based on the isotropic Cazacu–Barlat yield function under cyclic loading conditions are summarized and presented. For materials based on the Mises and the Hill anisotropic yield functions, the stress–plastic strain curves show closed hysteresis loops under uniaxial cyclic loading conditions and the Masing hypothesis is applicable. For materials based on the Drucker–Prager and Cazacu–Barlat yield functions, the stress–plastic strain curves do not close and show the ratcheting effect under uniaxial cyclic loading conditions. The ratcheting effect is due to different strain ranges for a given stress range for the unloading and reloading processes. With these closed-form solutions, the important effects of the yield surface geometry on the cyclic plastic behavior due to the pressure-sensitive yielding or the unsymmetric behavior in tension and compression can be shown unambiguously. The closed form solutions for the Drucker–Prager and Cazacu–Barlat yield functions with the associated flow rule also suggest that a more general anisotropic hardening theory needs to be developed to address the ratcheting effects for a given stress range.     

BRITTLE-DAMAGE ANALYSIS OF CRACKS UNDER CONDITIONS OF PLANE-STRAIN TENSILE LOADING

An abrupt damage model, taking full account of finite geometrychanges, is used to study both the shapes of damage zones and the stress strain fieldsfor a plane-strain tensile crack under the small-scale yielding condition. Two typicalcrack-tip damage profiles are simulated by the element vanish technique. The fracturetoughness increment due to damage dissipation is evaluated in terms of the energyrelease rate.     

A reexamination of plasticity-induced crack closure in fatigue crack propagation

The crack closure concept is often used to consider the R-ratio and overload effects on fatigue crack growth. The presumption is that when the crack is closed, the external load produces negligible fatigue damage in the cracked component. The current investigation provides a reassessment of the frequently used concept with an emphasis on the plasticity-induced crack closure. A center cracked specimen made of 1070 steel was investigated. The specimen was subjected to plane-stress mode I loading. An elastic–plastic stress analysis was conducted for the cracked specimens using the finite element method. By applying the commonly used one-node-per-cycle debonding scheme for the crack closure simulations, it was shown that the predicted crack opening load did not stabilize when the extended crack was less than four times of the plastic zone size. The predicted opening load was strongly influenced by the plasticity model used. When the elastic–perfectly plastic (EPP) stress–strain relationship was used together with the kinematic hardening plasticity theory, the predicted crack opening load was found to be critically dependent on the element size of the finite element mesh model. For R = 0, the predicted crack opening load was greatly reduced when the finite element size became very fine. The kinematic hardening rule with the bilinear (BL) stress–strain relationship predicted crack closure with less dependence on the element size. When a recently developed cyclic plasticity model was used, the element size effect on the predicted crack opening level was insignificant. While crack closure may occur, it was demonstrated that cyclic plasticity persisted in the material near the crack tip. The cyclic plasticity was reduced but not negligible when the crack was closed. The traditional approaches may have overestimated the effect of crack closure in fatigue crack growth predictions.     

Crack growth instability studied by the strain energy density theory

The strain energy density theory has successfully been used to address the problem of material damage and structural failure in problems of engineering interest. The theory makes use of the strain energy density function, dW/dV, and focuses attention in its stationary values. The directions of crack growth and yielding are determined from the minimum and maximum values of dW/dV, respectively, along the circumference of a circle centered at the point of failure initiation. Failure by crack growth or yielding takes place when these values of dW/dV become equal to their critical values which are material constants. In the present work the basic principles of the strain energy density theory were reviewed. Furthermore, this theory was used to study three problems of structural failure, namely the problem of slow stable growth of an inclined crack in a plate subjected to uniaxial tension, the problem of fracture instability of a plate with a central crack and two notches, and the problem of unstable crack growth in a circular disc subjected to two equal and opposite forces. The results of stress analysis were combined with the strain energy density theory to obtain the whole history of crack growth from initiation to instability. A length parameter was introduced to define the fracture instability of a mechanical system. Fracture trajectories were obtained for fast unstable crack propagation.     

Analytic solutions to crack tip plastic zone under various loading conditions

Based on stress field equations and Hill yield criterion, the crack tip plastic zone is determined for orthotropic materials and isotropic materials under small-scale yielding condition. An analytical solution to calculating the crack tip plastic zone in plane stress states is presented. The shape and size of the plastic zone are analyzed under different loading conditions. The obtained results show that the crack tip plastic zones present “butterfly-like” shapes, and the elastic–plastic boundary is smooth. The size of the plastic zone for orthotropic composites is less at the crack tip for various loading conditions, compared with the case of isotropic materials. Crack inclination angle and loading conditions affect greatly the size and shape of crack tip plastic zone. The mode I crack has a crucial effect on the plastic zone for mixed mode case in plane stress state. The plastic zone for pure mode I crack and pure mode II crack have a symmetrical distribution to the initial crack plane.     

Finite-deformation analysis of the crack-tip fields under cyclic loading

The plane-strain crack subjected to mode I cyclic loading under small scale yielding was analysed. The influence of the load range, load ratio and overload on the near-tip deformation-, stress- and strain-fields was studied. Although the near-tip zones of appreciable cyclic plastic flow for all loading regimes matched closely one another, when scaled with (ΔK/σ_Y)², the activities of plastic flow within them manifested dependence on K_max and K_min, as well as on overload. Cyclic trajectories of the crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD) converged to stable self-similar loops of the sizes proportional to ΔK² and positions in CTOD-K plane dependent on the maximum K along the whole loading route, including an overload. Computed near-tip deformation evidenced plastic crack advance, this way visualising of the Laird–Smith concept of fatigue cracking. This crack growth by blunting-resharpening accelerated with rising ΔK and was halted by an overload. Crack closure upon unloading had no place. The affinities were revealed between computed near-tip stress–strain variables and the experimental trends of the fatigue crack growth rate, such as its dependence on K_max and K_min (or ΔK and K_max), and retardation by overload. Thus, the effects of loading parameters on fatigue cracking, hitherto associated with crack closure, are attributable to the stress–strain fields in front of it as the direct drives of the key fatigue constituents – damage accumulation and bond breaking.     

Simulation of failure under cyclic plastic loading by damage models

The purpose of this work is to simulate the evolution of ductile damage and failure involved by plastic strain reversals using damage models based on either continuum damage mechanics (CDM) or porosity evolution. A low alloy steel for pressure vessels (20MnMoNi55) was chosen as reference material. The work includes both experimental and simulation phases. The experimental campaign involves different kinds of specimens and testing conditions. First, monotonic tensile tests have been performed in order to evaluate tensile and ductile damage behaviour. Then, the cyclic yielding behaviour has been characterized performing cyclic plasticity tests on cylindrical bars. Finally, cyclic loading tests in the plastic regime have been made on different round notched bars (RNBs) to study the evolution of plastic deformation and damage under multiaxial stress conditions. The predictions of the different models were compared in terms of both, the specimens macroscopic response and local damage. Special emphasis was laid on predictions of the number of cycles prior to final failure and the crack initiation loci.     

Mixed mode (I and II) crack tip fields in bulk metallic glasses

Stationary crack tip fields in bulk metallic glasses under mixed mode (I and II) loading are studied through detailed finite element simulations assuming plane strain, small scale yielding conditions. The influence of internal friction or pressure sensitivity on the plastic zones, notch deformation, stress and plastic strain fields is examined for different mode mixities. Under mixed mode loading, the notch deforms into a shape such that one part of its surface sharpens while the other part blunts. Increase in mode II component of loading dramatically enhances the normalized plastic zone size, lowers the stresses but significantly elevates the plastic strain levels near the notch tip. Higher internal friction reduces the peak tangential stress but increases the plastic strain and stretching near the blunted part of the notch. The simulated shear bands are straight and extend over a long distance ahead of the notch tip under mode II dominant loading. The possible variations of fracture toughness with mode mixity corresponding to failure by brittle micro-cracking and ductile shear banding are predicted employing two simple fracture criteria. The salient results from finite element simulations are validated by comparison with those from mixed mode (I and II) fracture experiments on a Zr-based bulk metallic glass.     

Stable crack growth along a brittle\ductile interface—II. Small scale yielding solutions and interfacial toughness predictions

The problem of a crack growing steadily and quasi-statically along a brittle\ductile interface under plane strain, mixed mode, and small scale yielding conditions is considered. The ductile material is assumed to be characterized by the J₂-flow theory of plasticity with linear strain hardening, while the brittle material is assumed to be linear elastic. A displacement-based finite element method, exploiting the convective nature of the problem, is utilized to solve the relevant boundary value problem. In Part I of this work, the corresponding asymptotic problem was solved. This paper addresses the full-field problem in order to validate the asymptotic solutions, and to explore the physical implications of the results. The numerical full-field results are found to be in good agreement with the analytical asymptotic solutions. In particular, the full-field results strongly suggest that the stress fields in the vicinity of the crack tip are variable-separable of the power singular type; and also that the mode mix of the near-tip stress fields is, to a large extent, independent of the applied elastic mode mix. The amplitude (the plastic stress intensity factor) and the regions of validity of the asymptotic fields are estimated from the full-field results, and are observed to be strongly dependent on the applied mode mix. The remote elastic loading fields appear to influence the near-tip fields, primarily, through the plastic stress intensity factor. The present work also explores the suggestion made by Bose and Ponte Castaneda, 1992 that the solutions to the small scale yielding problem may be used in the context of a standard crack growth criterion, requiring that continued growth take place with a fixed near-tip crack opening profile, to obtain theoretical predictions for the dependence of interfacial toughness on the applied mode mix. Based on the numerical results, predictions for mixed mode toughness of the brittle\ductile interface are reported. The results, which are in qualitative agreement with available experimental data and also with some recent theoretical results, predict a strong dependence of interfacial toughness on mode mix. This suggests that ductility provides the main operating mechanism for explaining the dependence of interfacial toughness on the mode mix of the applied loading fields, during steady crack growth.     

A crack-mechanics based model for damage and plasticity of brittle materials under dynamic loading

A rate-dependent model for damage and plastic deformation of brittle materials under dynamic loading is presented. The model improves upon a recently developed micromechanical damage model (Zuo et al., 2006) by incorporating plastic deformation of the material. The distribution of the microcracks in the material is assumed to remain isotropic, and the damage evolution is through the growth of the average crack size. Plasticity is considered through an additive decomposition of the total strain rate, and a rate-independent, von Mises model is used. The model was applied to simulate the response of a model material (SiC) under uniaxial strain loading. To further examine the behavior of the model, cyclic loading and large-strain compressive loading were considered. Numerical results of the model predictions are presented, and comparisons with those from a previous model are provided.     

A rate-dependent damage model for brittle materials based on the dominant crack

A rate-dependent, continuum damage model is developed for brittle materials under dynamic loading. This model improves on the approach (ISOSCM) of [Addessio, F.L., Johnson, J.N., 1990. A constitutive model for the dynamic response of brittle materials. Journal of Applied Physics 67, 3275–3286] in several respects. (1) A new damage surface is found by applying the generalized Griffith instability criterion to the dominant crack (having the most unstable orientation), rather than by averaging the instability condition over all crack orientations as done previously. The new surface removes a discontinuity in the damage surface in ISOSCM when the pressure changes sign. (2) The strain due to crack opening is more consistent with crack mechanics, with only the tensile principal stresses contributing to the crack opening strain. This is achieved by incorporating a projection operator in the equation for the crack opening strain. One consequence of incorporating the projection operator is a prediction of shear dilatancy, which is not accounted for in ISOSCM. (3) The evolution of damage, which is based on the energy-release rate for the dominant crack, has a physical basis, whereas in the previous approach the damage growth rate was assumed to be an exponential function of the distance from the stress state to the damage surface without specific physical justification.An implicit algorithm has been developed so that a larger time step can be used than with the explicit algorithm used in ISOSCM. The numerical results of a silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic under several loading paths (hydrostatic tension/compression, uniaxial strain, uniaxial stress, and shear) and strain rates are presented to illustrate the main features of the model.