Suppression of edge cracking in layered ceramic composites by edge coating

A strategy is proposed to reduce surface tensile stresses that develop in ceramic microlaminate structures. As a specific example, surface stresses, which can lead to unwanted edge cracking, appear within a thin alumina/mullite layer bounded by thicker alumina layers after fabrication at some elevated temperature and subsequent cooling. A stress analysis is performed using the finite element method on a geometry in which the (edge) surface of the ceramic sandwich structure has been coated with an overlayer of the alumina/mullite material with thickness proportional to the initial buried layer thickness. These analyses show there is a critical thickness of the overlayer at which the surface tensile stresses can be reduced to zero. Stress concentration factors are calculated numerically for cracks propagating through this structure, and thus the resistance to surface cracking is quantified.     

Stress intensity factors and crack initiation directions for ceramic/metal joint

Four points bending tests for Si₃N₄/Cu/S45C joint specimen showed that the bending strengths depend on the residual stresses that originated from joining process. The residual thermal stresses caused an edge sub-interface crack to initiate in the ceramic. The stress intensity factors (SIFs) of the edge sub-interface crack located at distance h from the interface with or without interlayer metal were calculated by the Green's function obtained from a finite element analysis. The crack path at the joint specimen under four points bending loading with the influence of residual stresses was also evaluated by the maximum tensile stress criterion. Finally the effect of residual stress on the crack path was found numerically; the interlayer metal decreases the deflection angle of crack from interface by reducing the residual stress.     

Crack propagation in a functionally graded plate under thermal shock

Summary Thermal cracking in a ceramic/metal functionally graded plate is discussed. When a functionally graded plate is cooled from high temperature, curved or straight crack paths are experimentally observed on the ceramic surface. One of the reasons that make the crack paths to differ are the thermal or mechanical conditions. In order to clarify the influence of these conditions on the crack path, the crack propagation is simulated using finite element method. Received 29 September 1998; accepted for publication 2 August 1999     

New stress intensity factor solutions of a periodic array of cracks in residual stress field

Many important applications of crack mechanics involve self-equilibrating residual or thermal stress fields. For these types of problems, the traditional fracture mechanics approach based on the superposition principle has ignored the effect of crack surface contact when the crack-tip propagates into the residual compressive region. Contact between the crack faces and the wedging action are responsible for subsequent crack-tip reopening, which often leads to a much larger mode I stress intensity factor. In this study, an analytical approach is used to study the effect of crack face contact for a period array of collinear cracks embedded in several typical residual stress fields. It is found that the nonlinear contact between crack surfaces dominates the cracking behavior in residual/thermal stress fields, which is responsible for crack coalescence.     

An experimental and analytical treatment of matrix cracking in cross-ply laminates

The development of damage in cross-ply Hercules AS4/3502 graphite/epoxy laminates has been investigated. Specific endeavors were to identify the mechanisms for initiation and growth of matrix cracks and to determine the effect of matrix cracking on the stiffness loss in cross-ply laminates. Two types of matrix cracks were identified. These include both straight and curved cracks. The experimental study of matrix crack damage revealed that the curved cracks formed after the straight cracks and followed a repeatable pattern of location and orientation relative to the straight cracks. Therefore, it was postulated that the growth mechanism for curved cracks is driven by the stress state resulting from the formation of the straight cracks. This phenomenon was analytically investigated by a finite-element model of straight cracks in a cross-ply laminate. The finite-element results provide supporting evidence for the postulated growth mechanism. The experimental study also revealed that the number of curved cracks increased with the number of consecutive 90-deg plies. Finally, experimental results show as much as 10-percent degradation in axial stiffness due to matrix cracking in cross-ply graphite/epoxy laminates.     

Effects of multiple cracking on the residual strength behavior of thermally shocked functionally graded ceramics

When subjected to severe thermal shocks a functionally graded ceramic (FGC) suffers strength degradation due to the thermally-induced damages in the material. Multiple surface cracking has been observed as one of the dominant defects/damages affecting the thermal shock behavior of ceramics. This paper presents a thermo-fracture mechanics model to investigate the thermal shock residual strength behavior of elastically homogeneous but thermally graded FGCs undergoing multiple surface cracking. We consider an FGC plate with an array of parallel edge cracks at the thermally shocked surface. A Fourier transform/superposition method is used to derive the singular integral equation of the thermal shock crack problem. The critical thermal shock that causes crack propagation and thermal shock damage are determined using linear elastic fracture mechanics. The thermal shock residual strength of the FGC as a function of thermal shock severity and crack density (crack spacing) is subsequently evaluated. Numerical calculations are carried out for two FGC materials, i.e., Al₂O₃/Si₃N₄ and TiC/SiC FGCs, to illustrate the effects of crack density (crack spacing) and material gradation on the thermal shock strength behavior of FGCs. It is found that a higher crack density (lower crack spacing) together with appropriately graded material properties significantly enhances the residual strength of the thermally shocked FGCs.     

Cracking simulation of a tubesheet under different loadings

For shell-and-tube heat exchangers, tubesheet cracking is a major failure form. Owing to complicated structures, loadings and environments, mechanisms for the crack nucleation and propagation often puzzle engineers and as a result, it is hard to take effective measures to prevent this kind of failure from happening again. In this paper, three dimensional finite element models were established to investigate a real tubesheet cracking with the emphasis on the driving forces for the crack propagation from a fracture mechanics point of view. Three different loadings, namely residual expansion stress, crack face pressure and transverse pressure, and three crack growth patterns were considered. In order to obtain the residual stresses, the hydraulic expanding process of tube-to-tubesheet joint was simulated. Residual contact pressures between the tube and tubesheet and the induced residual stress distributions in the tubesheet were computed. The possibility for crack propagation in the tubesheet under the action of the different loadings was investigated in terms of the strain energy density factor. Results show that surface crack propagation may be driven by all the three loadings especially the transverse pressure. But when surface cracks come into the interior of the tubesheet along the thickness, as acted along the whole tubesheet thickness, the residual expansion stress would play key roles in crack propagation.     

汽轮机轮盘热处理残余应力分析

百万核电汽轮机红套低压转子工作环境的蒸汽参数较低,各级轮盘均处于湿度较大的工作区域,易产生应力腐蚀,引起裂纹萌生和扩展．为提高轮盘的抗腐蚀能力,降低工作应力是一个有效的方法．通过热处理方法,在轮盘表面形成预压应力以抵消部分旋转拉应力是可行的方法,而产生适当深度和大小的预压应力则需对热处理过程进行谨慎的设计．本文以汽轮机轮盘为研究对象,建立轴对称有限元模型,通过对ABAQUS软件的二次开发,实现对轮盘热处理过程的温度场及应力场进行数值模拟．计算综合考虑了非线性的材料热物性参数、力学性能参数、表面换热系数及不同材料组织转变的相变潜热、热物性参数和力学参数,通过对不同热处理方法得到的残余应力场的比较,获得了较合理的水冷方式,为热处理工艺确定提供参考．     

Three-dimensional mixed-mode stress intensity factors for cracks in functionally graded materials using enriched finite elements

Three-dimensional enriched finite elements are used to compute mixed-mode stress intensity factors (SIFs) for three-dimensional cracks in elastic functionally graded materials (FGMs) that are subject to general mixed-mode loading and constraint conditions. The method, which advantageously does not require special mesh configuration/modifications and post-processing of finite element results, is an enhancement of previous developments applied so far on isotropic homogeneous and isotropic interface cracks. The spatial variation of FGM material properties is taken into account at the level of element integration points. To validate the developed method, two- and three-dimensional mixed-mode fracture problems are selected from the literature for comparison. Two-dimensional cases include: inclined central crack in a large FGM medium under uniform tensile strain and stress loadings, a slanted crack in a finite-size FGM plate under exponentially varying tensile stress loading and an edge crack in a finite-size plate under shear traction load. The three-dimensional example models a deflected surface crack in a finite-size FGM plate under uniform tensile stress loading. Comparisons between current results and those from analytical and other numerical methods yield good agreement. Thus, it is concluded that the developed three-dimensional enriched finite elements are capable of accurately computing mixed-mode fracture parameters for cracks in FGMs.     

Evolving crack patterns in thin films with the extended finite element method

This paper develops the extended finite element method (XFEM) to evolve patterns of multiple cracks, in a brittle thin film bonded to an elastic substrate, with a relatively coarse mesh, and without remeshing during evolution. A shear lag model describes the deformation in three dimensions with approximate field equations in two-dimensions. The film is susceptible to subcritical cracking, obeying a kinetic law that relates the velocity of each crack to its energy release rate. At a given time, the XFEM solves the field equations and calculates the energy release rate of every crack. For a small time step, each crack is extended in the direction of maximal hoop stress, and by a length set by the kinetic law. To confirm the accuracy of the XFEM, we compare our simulation to the exiting solutions for several simple crack patterns, such as a single crack and a set of parallel cracks. We then simulate the evolution of multiple cracks, initially in a small region of the film but of different lengths, showing curved crack propagation and crack tip shielding. Starting with multiple small cracks throughout the film, the XFEM can generate the well-known mud crack pattern.     

SINGLE AND DOUBLE EDGE INTERFACE CRACK SOLUTIONS FOR ARBITRARY FORMS OF MATERIAL COMBINATION

In this paper interfacial edge crack problems are considered by the application of the finite element method. The stress intensity factors are accurately determined from the ratio of crack-tip-stress value between the target given unknown and reference problems. The reference problem is chosen to produce the singular stress fields proportional to those of the given unknown problem. Here the original proportional method is improved through utilizing very refined meshes and post-processing technique of linear extrapolation. The results for a double-edge interface crack in a bonded strip are newly obtained and compared with those of a single-edge interface crack for different forms of combination of material. It is found that the stress intensity factors should be compared in the three different zones of relative crack lengths. Different from the case of a cracked homogeneous strip, the results for the double edge interface cracks are found to possibly be bigger than those for a single edge interface crack under the same relative crack length.     

陶瓷基复合材料基体唇形裂纹失效规律研究

建立横向拉伸载荷下的唇形裂纹数学模型,采用复变函数的方法,通过保角映射,推导了唇形裂纹尖端应力场和位移场的解析解,建立了唇形裂纹的应力强度因子准则和最大能量释放率准则,结合算例分析陶瓷基复合材料基体唇形裂纹的几何参数、外载荷和纤维分布对失效准则的影响规律.结果 表明,(1)裂纹尖端应力场和位移场的解析解与有限元计算结果进行对比,验证了方法的有效性;(2)相较于Griffith裂纹和椭圆裂纹,基于唇形裂纹的失效准则对裂纹尖端的敏感性更高,适用于预测脆性陶瓷基体裂纹的扩展;(3)对于不同几何参数的唇形裂纹,采用最大能量释放率准则的基体裂纹的扩展速率要大于应力强度因子准则.     

模拟裂纹扩展的一种有限元局部动态子划分方法

提出了一种有限元子划分结合子结构的方法来模拟裂纹扩展问题。提出的方法中,将单元分为三类:被裂纹贯穿的单元,包含裂尖的单元和常规单元。对前两类单元进行子划分,每个单元的归类随裂纹的扩展而动态变化。覆盖一条裂纹的前两类单元子划分后构成一个子结构,子结构也是动态的,跟随裂纹的扩展而逐步扩大。本文的方法可以使裂纹沿任意路径扩展而不受初始网格的限制,裂纹扩展后无需对结构整体的网格重划分,结构整体分析的总自由度也不变。用该方法计算无限大平面中心裂纹的应力强度因子,模拟三点弯梁跨中裂纹的扩展,验证了计算精度,并进一步用该方法模拟了非均质材料中裂纹的扩展,考核了对复杂裂纹扩展问题的适用性。     

不同应变率下蓝宝石透明陶瓷玻璃的力学响应

蓝宝石（A1₂O₃）是透明陶瓷玻璃,它相较传统陶瓷（A1₂O₃）有优良的透光性,而且保留了陶瓷优良的力学性能。利用电子拉伸机和分离式霍普金森杆设备对试样进行准静态应变率为(10?4、10?3、10?2 s?1)和4种动态应变率(850、1 100、1 300、1 450 s?1)下的单轴压缩力学行为,用高速摄像机记录了蓝宝石透明陶瓷玻璃试样在准静态和动态压缩下的破坏过程。实验结果表明:从加载过程中的应力应变曲线是由加载段和失效段组成的,该材料是典型的脆性材料,并且有明显的应变率效应,随着应变率的提高,蓝宝石透明陶瓷玻璃的抗压强度也会提高;准静态和动态压缩下蓝宝石透明陶瓷玻璃都是在宏观裂纹扩展作用下失效破坏。通过分析不同应变率下蓝宝石透明陶瓷玻璃的破坏过程,分析得到该材料的失效是在加载的过程中,在蓝宝石透明陶瓷玻璃承载能力最低的区域出现裂纹源,然后裂纹成形并沿着加载方向扩展,然后裂纹之间相互交错,最终达到饱和状态破坏失效;在高应变率下,极短的时间内产生多处裂纹源,需要更大的能量去使裂纹成形、扩展,宏观上就表现为应变率效应。     

Diffusion Driven Accelerated Stress Corrosion Cracking in an Acrylic Polymer

The dynamic evolution and mechanism of accelerated stress corrosion cracking (aSCC) in anacrylic (PMMA–poly methyl 2-methylpropenoate) polymer sample have been exploited quantitatively, in absence of external mechanical load. Unusually fast propagation of solvent induced cracks in micro-machined sections of the material has been monitored by microscopic video imaging of a test device. Crack emanation from milled micro-channels was precisely triggered by brief surface wetting with acetone solvent. The crack propagation period persists over a time span of approximately 1 min, comprises a final crack length of 0.2–0.3 mm, and an associated crack growth rate that decreases from $2 \times 10^{-5}$ to $10^{-6}$ m/s. The temporal crack evolution scales in accord with 1-dim solvent diffusion along the flaw, super imposed with the residual stress field. Optically recorded birefringence, as well as finite element structure mechanic simulation, identified residual tensile stress in the crack zone as the driving force. The residual stress intensity factor $\Delta K$ was determined to 1–2 MPa  ${\rm m}^{1/2}$ . The aSCC (accelerated stress corrosion cracking) in the material originates from a detrimental combination of residual stress, induced by surface milling; stress induced fast diffusion of the acetone solvent into the material and an associated degradation of structure-mechanic parameters.     

混凝土三维裂纹应力强度因子的简化算法

根据混凝土特性,本文提出了一种计算脆性材料三维裂缝应力强度因子的有限元方法,用以分析混凝土结构物中裂缝的稳定性及危害程度.其特点是不需要在裂缝尖端附近区域划分过细的网络,也不用引入特殊尖端单元,便于在工程中使用.本方法曾用于某拱坝坝肩裂缝稳定判别及应力重分布计算,效果良好.     

Effect of orthotropy on crack propagation

The tendency of moving cracks to spread along the preferred directions of material anisotropy is treated. Depending on the velocity of crack propagation, the change of material properties in orthogonal planes is shown to affect the bifurcation characteristics. The problem is reduced to a system of dual integral equations that can be solved in a standard fashion. Of particular interest is the dynamic stress field near the tip of a moving crack in an orthotropic material. Although the 1√r stress singularity is preserved with r being the radial distance measured from the crack tip, the angular variations of the stresses are dependent on crack speed and material anisotropy. The possibility of crack bifurcation is examined by application of the strain energy density criterion for several composite systems. Crack branching is found to be enhanced by material anisotropy, a phenomenon that is not uncommon in composite materials.     

Elastic interaction of interfacial spherical-cap cracks in hollow particle filled composites

This work analyzes the elastic interaction between two spherical-cap cracks present along the outer surface of a hollow particle embedded in a dissimilar medium under remote uniaxial tensile loading. A semi-analytical approach based on an enriched Galerkin method is adopted to determine stress and deformation fields as functions of particle wall thickness and cracks’ configuration. The present analysis is limited to multiple interfacial spherical-cap cracks; that is, crack propagation is restrained to the particle-matrix interface and possibility of crack kinking in the matrix is not considered. Interfacial crack growth characteristics, conditions for stable crack propagation, equal crack growth, and shielding are established through energy release rate analysis. The study is relevant to the analysis of tensile and flexural failure of syntactic foams used in marine and aerospace applications. Results specialized to glass-vinyl ester syntactic foams demonstrate that particle wall thickness can be used to control crack stability and growth characteristics as well as tailoring the magnitude of the shielding phenomenon. Predictions are compared to finite element findings for validation and to results for penny-shaped cracks to elucidate the role of crack curvature.     

A novel method for residual strength prediction for sheets with multiple site damage: Methodology and experimental validation

A unified method for solving the strip yield model for collinear cracks in finite and infinite sheet is proposed. The method is based on the weight function of a single crack. Two collinear cracks in finite and infinite sheets are used to apply and verify this method. The plastic zone size, crack opening displacement and stress distribution along the ligament between cracks obtained by using the present method are extensively compared with existing available results and finite element solutions, and very good agreements are observed. Combined with the Crack Tip Opening Angle (CTOA) criterion, the unified method is used to predict the crack growth behavior and residual strength for 2024-T3 aluminum alloy sheet with Multiple Site Damage (MSD). Thirty-two sheets with four types of MSD are designed and tested to verify this method. It is shown that the present method is able to predict various crack growth behaviors observed in experiment. The predicted residual strengths are within 9% of the corresponding test results. Compared to the elastic–plastic finite element method, the present method is much more efficient.     

Curved thermal crack growth in nonhomogeneous materials with different shaped external boundaries II. Experimental results

Curved thermal cracks are considered running along special principal stress trajectories in self-stressed two-phase solids with different cross sections. The resulting mixed boundary-value problems of the stationary plane thermoelasticity are solved by applying the finite element method. Moreover, using appropriate directional criteria established for crack path prediction, the further extension of thermal cracks starting at the external surfaces of different shaped two-phase solids has been determined. Furthermore, the corresponding fracture mechanical data like crack edge displacements, strain energy release rates and stress intensity factors, respectively, have been calculated. Finally, the theoretical investigations given in part I of the paper are compared with experiments using differing optical methods of the experimental stress analysis. The experimental results reported in part II of the paper and the theoretical calculations show a reasonable agreement.