A pseudo-elastic material damage model, part II: Application to the scaling of specimen size, material behavior and loading rate

A failure criterion is presented which relates the strain energy density of the material to both yielding and fracture. Cumulative material damage throughout a structural component may be monitored and the relative influence of yielding and stable crack growth assessed. The criterion is demonstrated, using finite element analysis, for center cracked panel specimens differing by material toughness values. From crack growth increment predictions using the uniaxial stress-strain behavior of the material, the criterion predicts the critical value of the strain energy density factor S_c governing crack instability.     

A pseudo-elastic material damage model,part I: Strain energy density criterion

A failure criterion is presented which relates the strain energy density of the material to both yielding and fracture. Cumulative material damage throughout a structural component may be monitored and the relative influence of yielding and stable crack growth assessed. The criterion is demonstrated, using finite element analysis, for center cracked panel specimens differing by material toughness values. From crack growth increment predictions using the uniaxial stress-strain behavior of the material, the criterion predicts the critical value of the strain energy density factor S_c governing crack instability.     

Stress multiaxiality factor for crack growth prediction using the strain energy density theory

The multiaxiality factor defined as the ratio of the von-Misses equivalent stress to the volumetric stress has been reported to be related to the initiation and progression of failure in structures. It is demonstrated in the present paper that the location around the crack tip where the multiaxiality factor obtains minimum value is an indicator of the direction of minimum material fracture resistance for crack propagation. It is also proposed that the location along the direction of crack propagation path where multiaxiality factor obtains minimum value is considered as the critical distance away from the crack tip, where the strain energy density should be evaluated and compared to its critical value. Theoretical predictions correlate well with the test results for the investigated cases.     

Thickness reduction rate of plastically compressed metal plate by hardened rollers

The rate at which a solid deforms permanently depends on the load history, geometry and material properties. When a metal plate is compressed between two hardened rollers, its thickness reduces continuously if the material elements are deformed beyond their elastic limits. Those near the region of contact will experience more distortion as compared with those interior to the plate. This effect is analyzed incrementally in time by the theory of plasticity coupled with the strain energy density criterion. Failure is examined by assuming that the location of crack initiation coincides with the maximum of the minimum strain energy density function, (dW/dV)_min^max, when reaching its critical value. This is found to occur at the center of the plate depending on the rate of deformation. An increase in plate thickness reduction without failure can be achieved by taking smaller loading steps. Displayed graphically are numerical results for five different load histories that provide useful insights into the rate dependent process of metal forming.     

Crack growth characteristics influenced by load time record

Crack growth patterns are predicted by application of the strain energy density theory. The direction and amount of crack growth are dictated by the relative minima of the strain energy density function, dW/dV, whose critical value is material dependent. In large structures, the energy dissipated by crack growth can dominate while plastic deformation plays a minor role. Because loading in service can often vary in an unpredictable manner, energy released during crack growth can be a highly nonlinear process. The precise dependency of crack growth on load time history is analyzed in detail for a centrally cracked panel. Load history are shown to effect the critical failure loads in ways that are not intuitively obvious.     

Growth of crack caused by temperature gradients with change in surface insulation

This work is concerned with thermoelastic stress and failure analysis of a centrally cracked panel subjected to temperature gradients while the insulation on the crack surface is varied. The corresponding temperature and thermoelastic stress fields are obtained by application of the finite element method. According to the strain energy density criterion, the crack grows incrementally when the maximum of the minimum strain energy density function reaches a critical value for a given material. Crack growth resistance curves involving plots of the strain energy density factor S versus the half crack length a are developed for crack surfaces with varying degree of heat resistance. The resulting curves are straight lines satisfying the condition dS/da = const. and useful for determining combined influence of thermal loading and structural geometry that lead to global instability.     

Time-harmonic P-waves engulfing a rectangular limited-permeable crack in piezoelectric medium: Energy density and energy release

The dynamic behavior of a limited-permeable rectangular crack in a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material is impinged by to a P-wave. The generalized Almansi theorem and the Schmidt method are used to determine the stress intensity factor and energy density factor as the primary fracture criterion of failure. The mixed boundary value problem entails the evaluation of the appropriate crack edge stress singularities that are characteristics of the fundamental functions. The stress and electric displacement intensity factors are also used to find the energy release rate that can be computed numerically and compared with the results corresponding to those of the stress intensity factor, and energy density factor. Graphical presentation shows that the energy release rate is always negative for the boundary conditions considered while the energy density factors always remain positive. Under certain conditions, the stress and electric displacement intensity factors can be negative and subject to physical limitations. Piezoelectric material boundary value problem solutions should therefore be qualified by the application of failure criteria by fracture of otherwise, particularly when the mechanical and electrical energy can release by creating free surface at the macroscopic and microscopic scales. Negative energy release rate found for the piezoelectric medium in this work can be a case in point.Positive definiteness of the energy density factor can be applied to mutliscale fracture. This is not true for the stress intensity factor nor the energy release rate. Hence, crack initiation behavior for the permittivity of a rectangular crack due to the wave propagation effects may be studied. In particular, the initiation of micro-cracks may be identified with certain critical stress wave frequency band. Negative stress intensity factor may not enhance macrocracking but it does not exclude microcrack initiation.     

Mixed mode fatigue crack growth and the strain energy density factor

The strain energy density factor S was first proposed by Sih for the prediction of the critical of the load and failure direction under monotonic, mixed mode loading condition. It seems a natural extension to apply the same concept to fatigue crack propagation. However, a close examination of the existing theory indicates that the Strain Energy Density Factor cannot logically account for the phenomena of the R-ratio effect and crack arrest. Thus, modification is necessary before the concept can be applied successfully for the prediction of mixed mode fatigue crack propagation.Based on the concept of hysteresis energy dissipation, an effective strain energy density factor range, ΔS_p,eff, is proposed for the correlation of fatigue crack growth data. ΔS_p,eff is consistent with the concept of crack closure. Experimental investigation indicates that it could predict the crack growth rates and trajectories.     

Application of the strain energy density criterion to ductile fracture

The strain energy density criterion due to Sih is used to predict fracture loads of two thin plates subjected to large elastic-plastic deformation. The prediction is achieved with a finite element analysis which is based on Hill's variational principle for incremental deformations capable of solving gross yielding problems involving arbitrary amounts of deformation. The computed results are in excellent agreement with those obtained in Sih's earlier analysis and with an experimental observation.     

Stable growth of a crack interacting with a circular inclusion

The problem of failure of a plate containing a circular inclusion and a crack is studied. The crack is oriented along a diameter of the inclusion and the plate is subjected to a remote uniaxial stress perpendicular to the crack axis. The process of slow stable crack growth from initiation to termination is studied by the strain energy density theory. The crack growth is simulated by predicting finite increments of crack extension when material elements near the crack tip absorb a critical amount of strain energy density level, . Unstable crack growth occurs when the strain energy density factor S reaches a critical value where r_c is the critical size of the final crack increment prior to instability. The stress at crack initiation and the critical stress and crack length at failure are determined. The influence of the mechanical properties of the plate and the inclusion, the relative position of the inclusion and the crack and the crack length on the characteristic quantities of stable crack growth is analyzed. The dependence of the stable crack growth process on the loading rate is also investigated. Results are displayed in graphical form.     

Crack-extension resistance of polycarbonate material

Crack-extension resistance for the polycarbonate material is examined by application of the strain energy density criterion and the incremental theory of plasticity. The energy state ahead of a slow moving crack in a three-point bend specimen is obtained for each load increment and used to determine the crack growth characteristics. The analytical results are displayed by plotting the strain energy density factor S as a function of crack length and compared with available experimental data on the polycarbonate material. Standard deviations and mean errors are computed for the experimentally measured and analytically determined values of S and are shown to be much lower than those based on the J-integral parameter. Modeling of the polycarbonate material by the theory of plasticity still remains much to be desired. Crack growth calculations are performed for a strain hardening parameter α = 0.85 that controls the proportion of isotropic and kinematic hardening. Nevertheless, the criterion dS/da = const. is shown to collate well with the experimental crack growth data.     

Micro-crack tip fracture of commercial grade aluminum under mixed mode loading

In situ tensile tests were made in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to investigate the deformation and micro-fracture in the immediate vicinity of a micro-crack tip in commercial pure aluminum with large-size crystal. Examined are the slip line field, stress intensity factor, strain energy density factor and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) for mixed mode loading. Blunting and sharpening effects are observed. The latter is controlled by localized slip while the former by uniformed slip of the operating slip system with the highest crack tip Schmid factor. The operating slip system depends on the crystallographic orientation of crystal containing micro-cracks.The damage and fracture take place in the blunted region and depend on the coarsening and spacing of uniformed slip lines. The mixed mode micro-crack propagates along the direction where the voids grow and coalesce into the micro-crack. The direction also depends on the orientation of the applied loading. This suggests that the formation of macro-fracture mechanics could be applied. In particular, the minimum strain energy density criterion is suitable for determining the direction of micro-crack instability in the mixed mode. The in situ data were used to yield a nearly constant critical, minimum strain energy density factor for onset of micro-cracking.     

Fracture resistance and strength of two-phase WC–Ni alloy

Microcracking near a crack tip in a material with microinhomogeneity is regarded as a stochastic process. Both the critical deformation energy density and minimum ligament size of a structural element at global failure are related to a fracture resistance parameter which depends also on the strength. This parameter is also known as the critical energy density factor. For composites it is shown that transition of material behaviour from one structural state to another could alter the fracture resistance depending on character of the critical defect size and strength. The theoretical result is shown to be in agreement with the experimental data.     

ANALYSIS OF A CRACK IN A FUNCTIONALLY GRADED STRIP WITH A POWER FORM SHEAR MODULUS

The plane strain problem of a crack in a functionally graded strip with a power form shear modulus is studied. The governing equation in terms of Airy＇s stress function is solved exactly by means of Fourier transform. The mixed boundary problem is then reduced to a system of singular integral equations and is solved numerically to obtain the stress intensity factor at crack-tip. The maximum circumferential stress criterion and the strain energy density criterion are both employed to predict the direction of crack initiation. Numerical examples are given to show the influence of the material gradation models and the crack sizes on the mode-I and mode-II stress intensity factors. The dependence of the critical kink-angle on the crack size is examined and it is found that the crack kink-angle decreases with the increase of the normalized crack length, indicating that a longer crack tends to follow the original crack-line while it is much easier for a shorter crack to deviate from the original crack-line.     

Analysis of dynamic growth of a tensile crack in an elastic-plastic material

The influence of inertia on the stress and deformation fields near the tip of a crack growing in an elastic-plastic material is studied. The material is characterized by the von Mises yield criterion and J₂ flow theory of plasticity. The crack grows steadily under plane strain conditions in the tensile opening mode. Features of the stress and deformation state at points near the moving crack tip are described for elastic-perfectly plastic response and for several crack propagation speeds. It is found that inertia has a significant effect on the elastic-plastic response of material particles near the crack tip, and that elastic unloading may occur behind the crack tip for higher speeds. The relationship between the applied crack driving force, represented by a remote stress intensity factor, and the crack tip speed is examined on the basis of a critical crack tip opening angle growth criterion. The calculated result is compared with dynamic fracture toughness versus crack speed data for a 4340 steel.     

An interacting micro-crack damage model for failure of brittle materials under compression

A model is developed for brittle failure under compressive loading with an explicit accounting of micro-crack interactions. The model incorporates a pre-existing flaw distribution in the material. The macroscopic inelastic deformation is assumed to be due to the nucleation and growth of tensile “wing” micro-cracks associated with frictional sliding on these flaws. Interactions among the cracks are modeled by means of a crack-matrix-effective-medium approach in which each crack experiences a stress field different from that acting on isolated cracks. This yields an effective stress intensity factor at the crack tips which is utilized in the formulation of the crack growth dynamics. Load-induced damage in the material is defined in terms of a scalar crack density parameter, the evolution of which is a function of the existing flaw distribution and the crack growth dynamics. This methodology is applied for the case of uniaxial compression under constant strain rate loading. The model provides a natural prediction of a peak stress (defined as the compressive strength of the material) and also of a transition strain rate, beyond which the compressive strength increases dramatically with the imposed strain rate. The influences of the crack growth dynamics, the initial flaw distribution, and the imposed strain rate on the constitutive response and the damage evolution are studied. It is shown that different characteristics of the flaw distribution are dominant at different imposed strain rates: at low rates the spread of the distribution is critical, while at high strain rates the total flaw density is critical.     

Effects of fillers on fracture performance of thermoplastics: Strain energy density criterion

This paper presents the experimental results on the fracture performance of filled thermoplastics. The emphasis is put on verification of the validity of different fracture criteria. The effects of two- and three-dimensional fillers on the fracture toughness of a representative thermoplastic, polypropylene, are analyzed. It has been found that classical fracture mechanics do not properly describe the fracture behavior of these composites. The strain energy density theory provides a more appropriate criterion for predicting fracture. On the macroscopic scale, the addition of fillers leads to a reduction in the critical strain energy density of thermoplastics. However, on the microscopic level fillers enhance a more wide spread crack-growth and failure by fracture becomes more stable. The material is therefore less prone to shatter in service. This effect of fillers is interpreted in terms of damage development, induced by the debonding at the matrix/fillers interface. A better interfacial adhesion reduces the microscopic damage and the critical increment of crack growth prior to instability. The results explain the negative effect of coupling agent on the impact resistance observed in practice.     

Scaling of size/time/temperature — Part 2: Progressive damage in uniaxial compressive specimen

This work is concerned with predicting the fatigue failure initiation of a wing/fuselage bolt assembly. Accounted for in the analysis are both the influence of energy dissipation and damage accumulation as the structure is subjected to repeated cyclic loading. Results involving the location and number of cycles to initiate a fatigue crack 10⁻² in. are obtained. They agreed both qualitatively and quantitatively with the experimental findings. Also discussed is the influence of pre-torque in the bolt which tends to decrease the number of cycles to fatique crack initiation. Fatigue life may be extended by altering the load path so as to decrease the accumulation of energy near the site of failure initiation. This can be accomplished without major modification of the design. The methodology that makes use of the strain energy density criterion can be used to optimize the fatigue strength of other structural sub-assemblies by appropriate combination of material and geometry for specified load conditions.