The analysis of thermal stresses in thermopiezoelastic semi-infinite body with an edge crack

Summary  Thermopiezoelastic materials have recently attracted considerable attention because of their potential use in intelligent or smart structural systems. The governing equations of a thermopiezoelastic medium are more complex due to the intrinsic coupling effects that take place among mechanical, electrical and thermal fields. In this analysis, we deal with the problem of a crack in a semi-infinite, transversely isotropic, thermopiezoelastic material by means of potential functions and Fourier transforms under steady heat-flux loading conditions. The problem is reduced to a singular integral equation that is solved. The thermal stress intensity factor for a crack situated in a cadmium selenide material is calculated. Received 20 March 2001; accepted for publication 18 October 2001     

Design of interdigital transducers for crack detection in plates

Interdigital transducers (IDT) for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of cracks in plates are designed based on an analytical model established previously. Key considerations include mode selectivity, excitation strength, collimation of wave and cost. The advantage of mode selectivity of IDT over PZT patch is presented both analytically and experimentally. Effects of parameters, namely finger spacing, width, length, number of fingers, and the size of IDT, on the excitation strength and mode selectivity are considered. This led to the design of a mobile double-sided IDT as an efficient device where excitation strength is strong and focused. The device was fabricated in-house using commercially available piezoelectric ceramics and used to develop a procedure for accurate identification of the direction and extent of cracks in plates. Three aluminum plates, one with a linear deep crack, another with a piecewise linear shallower crack and the third with a curved crack, were used to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of both the proposed device and procedure for effective NDE.     

Crack detection of a double-beam carrying a concentrated mass

This paper presents the influence of a concentrated mass location on the natural frequencies of a cracked double-beam. The double-beam consists of two different beams connected by an elastic medium. The concentrated mass is located on the main beam. The relationship between the natural frequency and the location of concentrated mass is established and called “Frequency–Mass Location” (FML). The numerical simulations show that when there is a crack, the frequency of the double-beam changes irregularly when the concentrated mass is attacked at the crack position. This irregular change can be amplified by the wavelet transform and this is useful for crack detection: the crack location can be detected by the location of peaks in the wavelet transform of the FML. Finite element model for the cracked double-beam carrying a concentrated mass is presented and numerical simulations are also provided.     

Determination of crack growth kinetics in non-reinforced semi-crystalline thermoplastics using the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach

The aim of this study was to find a satisfactory method to characterize the fatigue crack growth behavior of non-reinforced, semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymers using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). For this, crack growth curves (crack length versus cycle number) as well as crack growth kinetics curves (crack growth rate da/dN versus amplitude stress intensity factor ΔK) had to be generated. As methods suggested by ISO 15850 and ASTM E 647-11 failed to provide satisfactory results for the crack growth curves, a more advanced method was searched for and finally found in the literature. Regarding the crack growth kinetics curve, the idea of the calculation was based on methods recommended in ISO 15850 and ASTM E 647-11. However, these methods had to be considerably modified and improved in order to get accurate results with little scatter. The whole methodology was developed and verified with fatigue crack growth tests on two semi-crystalline thermoplastics (polyoxymethylene POM and polyetheretherketone PEEK).     

Poroelastic toughening in polymer gels: A theoretical and numerical study

We explore the Mode I fracture toughness of a polymer gel containing a semi-infinite, growing crack. First, an expression is derived for the energy release rate within the linearized, small-strain setting. This expression reveals a crack tip velocity-independent toughening that stems from the poroelastic nature of polymer gels. Then, we establish a poroelastic cohesive zone model that allows us to describe the micromechanics of fracture in gels by identifying the role of solvent pressure in promoting poroelastic toughening. We evaluate the enhancement in the effective fracture toughness through asymptotic analysis. We confirm our theoretical findings by means of numerical simulations concerning the case of a steadily propagating crack. In broad terms, our results explain the role of poroelasticity and of the processes occurring in the fracturing region in promoting toughening of polymer gels.     

A novel method for crack detection in beam-like structures by measurements of natural frequencies

A novel method is proposed for calculating the natural frequencies of a multiple cracked beam and detecting unknown number of multiple cracks from the measured natural frequencies. First, an explicit expression of the natural frequencies through crack parameters is derived as a modification of the Rayleigh quotient for the multiple cracked beams that differ from the earlier ones by including nonlinear terms with respect to crack severity. This expression provides a simple tool for calculating the natural frequencies of the beam with arbitrary number of cracks instead of solving the complicated characteristic equation. The obtained nonlinear expression for natural frequencies in combination with the so-called crack scanning method proposed recently by the authors allowed the development of a novel procedure for consistent identification of unknown amount of cracks in the beam with a limited number of measured natural frequencies. The developed theory has been illustrated and validated by both numerical and experimental results.     

The influence of surface geometry and topography on the fatigue cracking behaviour of laser hybrid welded eccentric fillet joints

Laser hybrid welding of an eccentric fillet joint causes a complex geometry for fatigue load by 4-point bending. The weld surface geometry and topography were measured and studied in order to understand the crack initiation mechanisms. The crack initiation location and the crack propagation path were studied and compared to Finite Element stress analysis, taking into account the surface macro- and micro-geometry. It can be explained why the root and the upper weld toe are uncritical for cracking. The cracks that initiate from the weld bead show higher fatigue strength than the samples failing at the lower weld toe, as can be explained by a critical radius for the toe below which surface ripples instead determine the main stress raiser location for cracking. The location of maximum surface stress is related to a combination of throat depth, toe radius and sharp surface ripples along which the cracks preferably propagate.     

Relationship between refined Griffith criterion and power laws for cracking

Rice [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 26 (1978) 61] proposes a refined Griffith criterion, at any local crack front, where G is the Irwin's energy release rate, γ is the surface free energy and is the rate of crack advance. The refined version implies that the entropy production inequality should holds locally rather than globally from the thermodynamic point of view. Within the irreversible thermodynamic framework developed by Rice [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 19 (1971) 433; Constitutive Equations in Plasticity, 1975, p. 23], it is revealed in this paper that the entropy production inequality holds for each internal variable if its rate is a homogeneous function in its conjugate force. It is further shown that widely-used power laws for crack growth are just certain homogeneous kinetic rate laws, so it is concluded that the power laws directly lead to the refined Griffith criterion.     

Waterborne crackle decorative coatings and crack patterns

A preparation method of waterborne crackle decorative coatings was reported in this paper and the factors that influence crack patterns were investigated. The crackle coating consisted of a waterborne basecoat and a waterborne topcoat. The basecoat was made from two-component epoxy emulsion and the topcoat was made from fluorine-containing acrylic emulsion, silicone-acrylic emulsion or styrene-acrylic emulsion. Three junction types of crack patterns were prepared by the three top coatings, which were T-junction, Y-junction and mixed junction. T-junction type with long and straight cracks was prepared from styrene-acrylic emulsion 296DS. Y-junction type with curve and short cracks was prepared from fluorine-containing acrylic emulsion A603C and mixed junctions type was made from silicone-acrylic emulsion. Crack patterns with different spacing were prepared by controlling the thickness of topcoat, dryness of basecoat or conditions of film forming. The characterize methods of type and spacing for crack pattern were developed and properties of coating film including adhesion, water resistance, scrub resistance and so on were tested. The results showed that the crackle coatings possessed satisfactory properties for practical application.     

Mesoscopic details of crack tip deformation field by application of differential interference contrast method

An experimental method is developed to examine the near tip deformation at the mesoscopic scale level. The differential interference contrast (DIC) method is used by application of the Nomarski prism in polarized microscope for measuring the out of surface deformation. The method is very sensitive to small height changes detected by different interference color. Discussed are results for the crack tip deformation field.