Correlation of modified crack tip opening distance with heat input to the heat affected zone of high-strength low-alloy steels

Investigated is the dependency of the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) on the local microstructure of the heat affected zone in high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) microalloyed steel. Since the initiation of the crack tip location could not be controlled in fatigue, any possible correlation between heat iput in welding and fracture toughness could be smeared. Modified CTOD data are defined; they show that the fracture resistance of the weld joint decreased as the heat input increased.     

Mode I Fracture at Spot Welds in Dual-Phase Steel: An Application of Reverse Digital Image Correlation

Strain fields in 600 grade dual-phase steel V-notch tensile specimens, both with and without a spot weld, were measured after mode I fracture initiation. Starting with the final image of a fully developed crack, a novel reverse digital image correlation (DIC) analysis was used to determine the path that the crack followed at the onset of fracture as well as the crack tip deformation field. This gave the pixel coordinates of grid points on both sides (i.e. fracture surfaces) of the crack path in the undeformed image. Strain fields that develop in the base material regions surrounding the two fracture surfaces were subsequently measured with forward DIC analysis. Steady state values of the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack tip opening angle (CTOA), which are important fracture parameters, were measured for the base DP600 metal. Notch tip opening displacement (NTOD) and notch tip opening angle were also measured. It was found that steady state values of the CTOD and CTOA are reached within 2 mm or so of crack growth following completion of the flat-to-slant transition of the fracture surface and stabilization of the crack tunneling effect.     

Methods for Examining the Fatigue and Fracture Behavior of Hard Tissues

An understanding of the fatigue and fracture behavior of hard tissues (e.g., bone and tissues of the human tooth) is critical to the maintenance of physical and oral health. Recent studies suggest that there are a number of mechanisms contributing to crack extension and crack arrest in these materials, and that they appear to be a function of moisture and age of the tissue. An understanding of these processes can provide new ideas that are relevant to the design of multi-functional engineering materials. As a result, we have adopted the use of microscopic Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to examine the mechanisms of crack growth resistance and near-tip displacement distribution for cracks in human dentin that are subjected to opening mode loads. We have also developed a special compact tension (CT) specimen that permits evaluation of crack extension within small portions of tissue under both quasi-static and fatigue loads. The specimen embodies a selected portion of hard tissue within a resin composite restorative and enables an examination of diseased tissue, or portion with specific physiology, that would otherwise be impossible to evaluate. In this paper we describe application of these experimental methods and present some recent results concerning fatigue crack growth and stable crack extension in dentin and across the dentin-enamel-junction (DEJ) of human teeth.

Fracture toughness for CNT specimens from numerically obtained critical CTOD values

Many approaches for estimating mode I fracture toughness (K_IC) using circumferentially notched tensile (CNT) specimen have been demonstrated in the literature. In this paper, an effective approach for estimating fracture toughness from the numerical solution of critical crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) is proposed. An elasto-plastic finite element analysis is used to estimate critical CTOD values for CNT specimens. A number of materials are analysed, and the relationship between K_IC and critical CTOD for CNT specimens is obtained. The proposed relationship is validated by comparing the fracture toughness values obtained from the relationship with those obtained experimentally using CNT specimens. The fracture toughness (K_IC) calculated according to this relationship from numerically obtained critical CTOD is found to be in close agreement with the experimentally obtained fracture toughness for the respective materials.     

On fatigue crack growth in ductile materials by crack-tip blunting

One of the basic mechanisms for fatigue crack growth in ductile metals is that depending on crack-tip blunting under tensile loads and re-sharpening of the crack-tip during unloading. In a standard numerical analysis accounting for finite strains it is not possible to follow this process during many cycles, as severe mesh distortion at the crack-tip results from the huge geometry changes developing during the cyclic plastic straining. In the present numerical studies, based on an elastic-perfectly plastic material model, crack growth computations are continued up to 200 full cycles by using remeshing at several stages of the plastic deformation. Three different values of the load ratio R=K_min/K_max are considered. It is shown that the crack-tip opening displacement, CTOD, typically undergoes a transient behaviour, with no crack closure during many cycles, before a steady-state cycling with crack closure at the tip starts to gradually develop.     

Crack linkup: An experimental analysis

TheT _ɛ ^* integral was used to assess stable crack growth and crack linkup in 0.8 mm thick 2024-T3 aluminum tension specimens with multiple site damage (MSD) under monotonic and cyclic loads. TheT _ɛ ^* values were obtained directly from the recorded moiré fringes on the fracture specimens with and without MSD. TheT _ɛ ^* resistance curves of these fracture specimens of different geometries were in excellent agreement with each other. The results suggest thatT _ɛ ^* is a material parameter which can be used to characterize crack growth and linkup in the absence of large overloading.T _ɛ ^* based crack growth and net-section-yield based crack linkup criteria for MSD specimens are proposed. The crack tip opening angle (CTOA) criterion can also be used to correlate crack growth larger than 2 mm.     

裂纹尖端张开角准则的稳态裂纹扩展实验研究

ASTM和ISO已发布获得低约束条件下断裂性能和裂纹稳态扩展阻力曲线的标准,标准中采用多种试验方法确定临界裂纹张开角度来表征板材的裂纹稳态扩展。本文采用准静态裂纹扩展试验方法,通过摄像技术测定裂纹尖端张开角(CTOA),验证标准对1mm厚度2024-T3铝合金板稳态裂纹扩展行为的有效性。研究了试样构型、裂纹尺寸和是否疲劳预制裂纹对裂纹稳态扩展过程中CTOA的影响。试验结果表明:裂纹扩展2mm后,距离裂纹尖端1mm处的CTOA趋于一个恒定值6°,这个值与试样构型和裂纹长度无关;同时,不预制疲劳裂纹对CTOA值和试样的最大剩余强度影响较小。     

Fatigue growth modeling of cracks emanating from a circular hole in infinite plate

This paper presents a numerical approach of fatigue growth analysis of cracks emanating from a hole in infinite elastic plate subjected to remote loads. It involves a generation of Bueckner’s principle and a hybrid displacement discontinuity method (a boundary element method) proposed recently by the senior author of the paper. Because of an intrinsic feature of the boundary element method, a general crack growth problem can be solved in a single region formulation. In the numerical simulation, for each increment of crack extension, remeshing of existing boundaries is not necessary. Crack extension is modeled conveniently by adding new boundary elements on the incremental crack extension to the previous crack boundaries. As an example, fatigue growth process of an inclined crack in an infinite plate under uniaxial cycle load is modeled to illustrate the effectiveness of the numerical approach. In addition, fatigue growth of cracks emanating from a circular hole in infinite elastic plate subjected to remote loads is investigated by using the numerical approach. Many numerical results are given     

Experimental analysis of crack tip fields in rubber materials under large deformation

A three-nested-deformation model is proposed to describe crack-tip fields in rubber-like materials with large deformation.The model is inspired by the distribution of the measured in-plane and out-of-plane deformation.The inplane displacement of crack-tip fields under both Mode I and mixed-mode(Mode I-II) fracture conditions is measured by using the digital Moire’ method.The deformation characteristics and experimental sector division mode are investigated by comparing the measured displacement fields under different fracture modes.The out-of-plane displacement field near the crack tip is measured using the three-dimensional digital speckle correlation method.     

Ductile–brittle transitions in the fracture of plastically-deforming,adhesively-bonded structures. Part I: Experimental studies

Rate effects for adhesively-bonded joints in steel sheets failing by mode-I fracture and plastic deformation were examined. Three types of test geometries were used to provide a range of crack velocities between 0.1 and 5000 mm/s: a DCB geometry under displacement control, a wedge geometry under displacement control, and a wedge geometry loaded under impact conditions. Two fracture modes were observed: quasi-static crack growth and dynamic crack growth. The quasi-static crack growth was associated with a toughened mode of failure; the dynamic crack growth was associated with a more brittle mode of failure. The experiments indicated that the fracture parameters for the quasi-static crack growth were rate independent, and that quasi-static crack growth could occur even at the highest crack velocities. Effects of rate appeared to be limited to the ease with which a transition to dynamic fracture could be triggered. This transition appeared to be stochastic in nature, it did not appear to be associated with the attainment of any critical value for crack velocity or loading rate. While the mode-I quasi-static fracture behavior appeared to be rate independent, an increase in the tendency for dynamic fracture to be triggered as the crack velocity increased did have the effect of decreasing the average energy dissipated during fracture at higher loading rates.     

Finite deformation analysis of crack-tip opening in elastic-plastic materials and implications for fracture

Analyses of the stress and strain fields around smoothly-blunting crack tips in both non-hardening and hardening elastic-plastic materials, under contained plane-strain yielding and subject to mode I opening loads, have been carried out by use of a finite element method suitably formulated to admit large geometry changes. The results include the crack-tip shape and near-tip deformation field, and the crack-tip opening displacement has been related to a parameter of the applied load, the J-integral. The hydrostatic stresses near the crack tip are limited due to the lack of constraint on the blunted tip, limiting achievable stress levels except in a very small region around the crack tip in power-law hardening materials. The J-integral is found to be path-independent except very close to the crack tip in the region affected by the blunted tip. Models for fracture are discussed in the light of these results including one based on the growth of voids. The rate of void-growth near the tip in hardening materials seems to be little different from the rate in non-hardening ones when measured in terms of crack-tip opening displacement, which leads to a prediction of higher toughness in hardening materials. It is suggested that improvement of this model would follow from better understanding of void-void and void-crack coalescence and void nucleation, and some criteria and models for these effects are discussed. The implications of the finite element results for fracture criteria based on critical stress or strain, or both, is discussed with respect to transition of fracture mode and the angle of initial crack-growth. Localization of flow is discussed as a possible fracture model and as a model for void-crack coalescence.     

弯载下位于刚性固定端周向壁穿裂纹的圆柱壳弹塑性解

金属圆柱壳结构常见于大型复杂结构系统中。这类构件在其端部与其它构件相连接是工程上常见的结构形式。由于连接处焊接热影响或实际复杂内力的作用,在连接处产生疲劳裂纹的几率相对增大;另一方面,由于高韧性材料的应用,使得弹塑性裂纹更为常见。然而到目前为止尚无这类问题的弹塑性理论解析。本文针对受弯曲载荷作用下的周向壁穿裂纹位于固定端的圆柱壳,基于半膜力壳理论及Dugdale模型,推导了裂纹尖端张开位移(CTOD)和裂纹尖端张开角度(CTOA)等一套相对完整的弹塑性解析解。该解除少数数值求根外,均为显式表达,可用于裂纹起裂、撕裂计算,追踪此类由弹塑性裂纹的存在所引起的圆柱壳结构的柔度以及裂纹撕裂条件下的极限承载能力等变化过程,弥补了这类工程问题解析解空缺的不足。     

A Zener–Stroh crack interacting with a coated inclusion with generalized Irwin plastic zone correction

The elastic–plastic fracture behavior of a Zener–Stroh crack interacting with a coated inclusion in composite materials has been investigated with crack tip plastic zone corrections. With the distributed dislocation method, the crack problem is formulated into a set of singular integral equations which are solved numerically. The plastic zone sizes at the both crack tips are determined by a generalized Irwin model where Von Mises stress yielding criterion is used. The stress intensity factor (SIF), the plastic zone size (PZS), the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and the effective stress intensity factor have been evaluated. In the numerical examples, the influence of the inclusion shear modulus, the coating-layer thickness and shear modulus, as well as the distance between the crack and inclusion, on the SIF, the PZS and the CTOD are discussed in detail. Numerical examples show that increasing the shear modulus or the thickness of the coating phase, the influence of the inclusion on the normalized SIF and the normalized PZS will be shielded.     

考虑T-stress的非正态随机参数疲劳裂纹扩展寿命的可靠性分析

基于断裂力学的疲劳裂纹扩展寿命问题的研究常常将裂纹尖端应力展开项的高次项忽略,引起了裂纹扩展模拟的误差,本文考虑高次项T-stress对裂纹扩展角的影响,对裂纹扩展过程做了数值模拟,结果显示相同裂纹扩展长度下,考虑T-stress会延长裂纹扩展寿命。文章首先采用修正的Paris-Erdogan 公式计算了两端承受均布拉伸载荷的边缘斜裂纹板的疲劳裂纹扩展寿命,裂纹扩展方向采用两参数修正的最大拉应力准则。由于结构尺寸,材料特性和载荷等因素具有不确定性,导致疲劳裂纹扩展过程带有一定的随机性,本文以材料属性和载荷为随机变量,在随机有限元法的基础上,结合计算可靠度的四阶矩法,Edgeworth级数展开方法,提出随机参数服从任意分布时的结构疲劳裂纹扩展寿命可靠度的计算方法。分析了参数为非正态分布时的平板裂纹扩展寿命可靠度随裂纹扩展的变化过程。本文方法可预测工程中板裂纹的扩展行为,以及预测裂纹板的可靠度。     

皮质骨断裂力学行为的实验研究

采用稳态裂纹扩展和疲劳裂纹扩展的实验, 研究了牛皮质骨横向和纵向裂纹扩展的断裂力学行为. 沿着两个方向制备了紧凑拉伸(CT)试件. 由于试件尺寸的限制,采用数值计算方法确定了裂纹尖端应力强度因子与裂纹长度的关系. 在实验中, 采用数字图像相关法精确测定裂纹尖端的位置. 由于裂纹沿横向扩展时有较大的偏斜, 将采用$J$积分测量其断裂韧性. 实验结果表明, 在裂纹扩展的一定范围内, 皮质骨的断裂韧度随着裂纹不断扩展而增大, 即表现出上升的阻力曲线(R-curve)性质.而皮质骨的横向裂纹扩展的断裂韧度要远远大于纵向裂纹扩展的断裂韧度, 表现出各向异性的阻力曲线行为. 在疲劳裂纹扩展中, 纵向疲劳裂纹扩展率要大于横向疲劳裂纹扩展率, 这说明皮质骨具有各向异性的疲劳裂纹扩展性质.      

Influence of stress triaxiality on damage and crack tip opening displacement parameters for steels

The dependence of the void growth parameter on the local stress triaxiality and local effective plastic strain near the crack tip of ductile materials provides the motivation to seek for parameters that could rank the ductility of steels. Experimental data for AS 1405-180, AS 1204-350, HY-80 and C---Mn steels show that the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) at initiation δ_c decreases with increasing crack tip stress triaxiality. This trend is confirmed by analysis. As the critical local effective plastic strain ε_ec also decreases with increasing local stress triaxiality, the ratio δ_c/ε_ec is found to remain nearly constant or independent of the local constraint, i.e., the stress triaxiality. These parameters are given for a class of steels in this paper. Their association with the resistance to ductile fracture remains to be investigated.     

RESEARCH PROGRESS OF FRACTURE TOUGHNESS TEST METHOD FOR LOW CONSTRAINT SPECIMENS 1)

低约束试件断裂韧性测试对油气管道安全运营具有重要意义。本文回顾了低约束试件断裂韧性测试方法及发展过程,介绍了裂纹尖端张开位 移(crack tip opening displacement, CTOD)和J积分等常用断裂韧性表征参数,并对断裂韧性测试中应力强度因子、J积分塑性因子、J积分与CTOD转换因子、裂纹尺寸测量方法、数 字图像相关方法等关键问题进行对比分析,总结需要深入研究的问题,为低约束试件断裂韧性测试发展提供一定依据。     

Equivalence of the notch stress intensity factor,tip opening displacement and energy release rate for a sharp V-notch

For an infinite elastic plane with a sharp V-notch under the action of symmetrically loading at infinity, the length of crack initiation ahead of the V-notch’s tip is estimated according to a modified Griffith approach. Applying a new conservation integral to the perfectly plastic strip (Dugdale model) ahead of the V-notch’s tip, the relationship between notch stress intensity factor (NSIF) and notch tip opening displacement (NTOD) is presented. Also, the relationship between NSIF and perfectly plastic strip size (PPSS) is found. Since there are three fracture parameters (NSIF, NTOD, and PPSS) with changeable notch opening angle in two basic relationships, it is necessary to select one critical parameter with changeable notch opening angle or two independent critical parameters, respectively. With the help of a characteristic length, it is found by this new conservation integral that the NSIF, NTOD and energy release rate are equivalent in the case of small-scale yielding. Especially, the characteristic length possesses clear physical meaning and, for example, depends on both the critical NSIF and SIF or both the NTOD and CTOD, respectively, in which SIF and CTOD are from the tip of a crack degenerated from the sharp V-notch. The dependence of NSIF on NTOD and PPSS is presented according to the equivalence, and the critical NSIF depending on the critical NTOD with a notch opening angle is also predicted.     

Crack profiles in mortar measured by holographic interferometry

In order to test the accuracy of theoretical fracture models for mortar and concrete, it is necessary to have accurate measurements of the crack profiles. In this study, sandwich holographic interferometry has been used to find the crack profiles in a center-notched plate specimen loaded at the center of the notch. The results have shown that at low load levels with corresponding short crack lengths, there is little difference between the measured crack profiles and elastic crack profiles computed by finite-element analysis. At high loads with long crack lengths there is a large difference between measured and computed elastic crack profiles. The data suggest the presence of a closing pressure at the crack tip and that there may be a limit to crack-tip-opening displacement (CTOD) before the crack propagates.     

Micromechanical model of stage I to stage II crack growth transition for aluminium alloys

Stage I to Stage II crack growth transition is a kinetic process that is particularly studied in this work. Crack growth transition is modelled to occur when small fatigue crack growth is deterred by an effective barrier that reduces the crack growth rate to a minimum. Effective blockage of small crack growth due to barriers is characterised by pile-up of dislocations. Crack tip pile-up sliding displacement is formulated by adopting a continuous configuration of dislocation pile-up. Transition condition is quantitatively determined when a crack tip sliding displacement of Stage I cracks just meets a crack tip opening displacement of Stage II cracks. As a result, a dislocation-based micromechanical model is systematically developed that enables kinetic predictions of crack growth transition and growth rates of small fatigue cracks. Moreover, the concept of microstructurally-affected-zone is further interpreted in terms of local microstructure and load levels, leading to good explanations for scatters of small crack growth. All model-based growth rate predictions show a good coincidence with experimental results.