Interlaminar fracture toughness of graphite/epoxy composite under mixed-mode deformations

An antisymmetric test fixture is employed to investigate interlaminar fracture behavior in graphite/epoxy composite material under mixed-mode deformations. Finite correction factors for the graphite/epoxy fracture specimen with various crack lengths are used to determine the interlaminar fracture toughness by finite-element stress analysis. Interlaminar fracture characteristics of graphite/epoxy composite material under mode-I, mode-II and mixed-mode deformations are evaluated experimentally. A mixed-mode fracture criterion is also investigated to obtain information on mixedmode interlaminar fracture behavior of graphite/epoxy composite material.Paper was presented at the 1988 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Portland, OR on June 5–10.     

Crack-tip fields for fast fracture of an elastic-plastic material

An asymptotic analysis of the near-tip fields is given for transient crack propagation in an elastic-plastic material. The material is characterized by J₂ flow theory together with a bilinear effective stress-strain curve. Both plane stress and plane strain conditions have been considered. Explicit results are given for the order of the crack-tip singularity, the angular position at which unloading occurs, and the angular variation of the near-tip stresses, all as functions of the crack-tip speed and the ratio of the slopes of the two portions of the bilinear stress-strain relation. It was found that the results are much more sensitive to the elastic-plastic constitutive relation than to the crack speed. This result is important for numerical analyses of dynamic crack propagation problems.     

金属韧性断裂的细观研究

对三点弯曲试件裂尖及断裂过程分别用 Prandtl-Reuss本构、Gurson本构方程作了大变形弹塑性有限元分析 ,并比较了二者的结果。对裂尖应力分布 ,应变分布和裂尖处空穴演化作了初步研究。计算模拟结果表明裂尖空穴化区域是一个很小量级的区域 ,采用 Gurson本构方程来研究裂尖“过程区”比采用 Prandtl-Reuss本构方程分析“过程区”来的合理 ,更接近材料实际断裂过程。     

Dynamic fracture toughness of Homalite-100

Dynamic fracture toughness of Homalite-100 determined by T. Kobayashi and Dally are compared with those previously obtained by the authors where similarities in the two results for single-edged-notch specimens of various configurations are noted. Dynamic fracture toughness of Araldite B obtained by Kalthoff, Beinert and Winkler and those of Homalite-100 obtained by the authors are then compared and, again, similarities in the two results and, in particular, the scatters in experimental data for wedge-loaded DCB specimens of different sizes are found. All three teams of investigators used static near-field solution to compute the dynamic stress-intensity factors from recored dynamic isochromatics or dynamic caustics. Errors generated through this use of static near-field solutions, as well as through the use of larger isochromatic lobes, are thus discussed.     

Effect of T-stress on the mode-I fracture toughness of concrete

T-stress expressions are provided for three-point bending (TPB) beams and compact tension (CT) specimens and then its influence on mode I fracture toughness of concrete is investigated. The study shows that T-stress is dependent on the specimen's geometry and the material's property as well, and for TPB and CT specimens of regular size, T-stress is so small that its consequences can be neglected. The study also indicates that concrete specimen size should be carefully chosen to make sure the existence of K-dominance ahead of the crack tip, thus fracture toughness extracted from these specimen configurations can be reliable.     

岩石动态断裂韧度的尺寸效应

采用两种圆孔裂缝平台巴西圆盘试件(一种为直径分别为42、80、122、155 mm的几何相似试件,另一种为直径80 mm、仅裂缝长度不同的单一尺寸试件)对岩石动态断裂韧度的尺寸效应进行了研究。给出了在霍普金森压杆系统上对试件进行径向撞击产生的应变波形和断裂模式。实验结果表明,对于几何相似试件,动态断裂韧度的测试值随着尺寸的增大而增大,而对于单一尺寸试件,其测试值随着中心裂缝长度的增加呈现先增大后减小的趋势。裂缝前端的断裂过程区长度和孕育时间是岩石动态断裂韧度测试值表现为尺寸效应的主要原因,为了减小尺寸效应,建立了考虑这两个参数在空间-时间域对动态应力强度因子的分布进行积分后再平均来确定岩石动态断裂韧度的方法。     

Determination of fracture toughness by photoelastic coating

The photoelastic-coating method was applied to the determination of fracture toughness in aluminum plates. The specimens were plates with a central transverse crack. Determinations were made first by the compliance method. The specimens were loaded statically to failure. The opening displacement across the crack was measured with a clip gage. In using this photoelastic-coating method, the stress-intensity factor was obtained in terms of the radius and fringe order of various isochromatic fringe loops using an extrapolation law. An apparent stress-intensity factor was obtained from several isochromatic fringe patterns away from the crack tip and then extrapolated to the crack tip to determine the true value. Results obtained by the photoelastic-coating method are higher than those obtained by the compliance method for all loads, due to the bluntness of the crack tip in the first set of specimens. Theoretical predictions fall between the compliance method and photoelastic-coating results. Paper was presented at V International Congress on Experimental Mechanics held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on June 10–15, 1984.     

On the fracture toughness of ferroelastic materials

The toughness enhancement due to domain switching near a steadily growing crack in a ferroelastic material is analyzed. The constitutive response of the material is taken to be characteristic of a polycrystalline sample assembled from randomly oriented tetragonal single crystal grains. The constitutive law accounts for the strain saturation, asymmetry in tension versus compression, Bauschinger effects, reverse switching, and strain reorientation that can occur in these materials due to the non-proportional loading that arises near a propagating crack. Crack growth is assumed to proceed at a critical level of the crack tip energy release rate. Detailed finite element calculations are carried out to determine the stress and strain fields near the growing tip, and the ratio of the far field applied energy release rate to the crack tip energy release rate. The results of the finite element calculations are then compared to analytical models that assume the linear isotropic K-field solution holds for either the near tip stress or strain field. Ultimately, the model is able to account for the experimentally observed toughness enhancement in ferroelastic ceramics.     

Crack-tip field on mode Ⅱ interface crack of double dissimilar orthotropic composite materials

Two systems of non-homogeneous linear equations with 8 unknowns are obtained.This is done by introducing two stress functions containing 16 undetermined coefficients and two real stress singularity exponents with the help of boundary conditions.By solving the above systems of non-homogeneous linear equations,the two real stress singularity exponents can be determined when the double material parameters meet certain conditions.The expression of the stress function and all coefficients are obtained based on the uniqueness theorem of limit.By substituting these parameters into the corresponding mechanics equations,theoretical solutions to the stress intensity factor,the stress field and the displacement field near the crack tip of each material can be obtained when both discriminants of the characteristic equations are less than zero.Stress and displacement near the crack tip show mixed crack characteristics without stress oscillation and crack surface overlapping.As an example,when the two orthotropic materials are the same,the stress singularity exponent,the stress intensity factor,and expressions for the stress and the displacement fields of the orthotropic single materials can be derived.     

Small-scale crack bridging and the fracture toughness of particulate-reinforced ceramics

Theoreticalanalyses of small-scale bridging of crack surfaces by elastic-ideally plastic springs are presented and applied to the study of the fracture toughness of ceramics reinforced by small particles. The dependence of toughening on particle size, concentration, strength, and ductility is explored, and relations between toughening and bridge length at fracture are given. Available experimental information is examined in the light of the analyses.     

Identification of damage mechanism and validation of a fracture model based on mesoscale approach in spalling of titanium alloy

The subject of this paper is identification of the physical mechanisms of spalling at low impact velocities for Ti–6Al–4V alloy and determination of the macroscopic stress of spalling via meso-macro approach. Spalling is a specific mode of fracture which depends on the loading history. The aspects of the initial microstructure and its evolution during plastic deformation are very important. In order to identify the spalling physical mechanisms in titanium alloy, numerous pictures by the optical microscopy of the spall surfaces created by plate impact technique have been taken. The scenario of failure observed is in complete agreement with known physical micro-mechanisms: namely nucleation, propagation and coalescence by adiabatic shearing of micro-voids. The most interesting point in spall fracture of Ti–6Al–4V alloy is the nucleation of micro-voids. A significant amount of small micro-voids in the region of the expected spall plane has been observed. It appears that microstructural effects are important due to dual α–β phase microstructure, called Widmanstätten structure. The orientation of microstructure has a direct influence on nucleation mechanism by means of distribution of nucleation sites and decohesion between the softer particles (α-phase lamellae) and the harder lattice (β-phase). According to these observations, a fracture model has been developed. This model is based on the numerous post-mortem microscopic observations of spall specimens. The goal is to determine the macroscopic stress of spalling in function of loading time and damage level via a meso-macro approach.     

Influence of aggregate size on fracture toughness of concrete

Employing an extension of the splitting tensile by using a notched cylinder specimen, we have studied effects of initial notch length and maximum aggregate size on fracture toughness of concrete. Experimental results show that maximum aggregate size does influence ductility, with increasingly ductile behavior associated with increasing aggregate size. The results also support previous work in that initial notch length and maximum load do not yield a constant value for fracture toughness, whereas maximum linear load and initial notch length minimize the effects of slow crack growth and do produce a more constant value.     

An experimental method for determining dynamic fracture toughness

The boundary and loading conditions in many dynamic fracture test methods are frequently not well defined and, therefore, introduce a degree of uncertainty in the modeling of the experiment to extract the dynamic fracture resistance for a rapidly propagating crack. A new dynamic fracture test method is presented that overcomes many of these difficulties. In this test, a precracked, three-point bend specimen is loaded by a transmitter bar that is impacted by a striker bar fired from a gas gun. Different levels of energy can be imparted to the specimen by varying the speed and length of the striker to induce different crack growth rates in the material. The specimen is instrumented with a crack ladder gage, crack-opening displacement gage and strain gages to develop requisite data to determine toughness. Typical data for AISI 4340 steel specimen are presented. A simple quasi-dynamic analysis model for deducing the fracture toughness for a running crack from these data is presented, and the results are compared with independent measurements.     

Discontinuous crack-bridging model for fracture toughness analysis of nacre

Studying the structure–property relation of biological materials can not only provide insight into the physical mechanisms underlying their superior properties and functions but also benefit the design and fabrication of advanced biomimetic materials. In this paper, we present a microstructure-based fracture mechanics model to investigate the toughening effect due to the crack-bridging mechanism of platelets. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates the crucial contribution of this mechanism to the high toughness of nacre. It is found that the fracture toughness of nacre exhibits distinct dependence on the sizes of platelets, and the optimized ranges for the thickness and length of platelets required to achieve higher fracture toughness are given. In addition, the effects of such factors as the mechanical properties of the organic phase (or interfaces), the effective elastic modulus of nacre, and the stacking pattern of platelets are also examined. Finally, some guidelines for the biomimetic design of novel materials are proposed based on our theoretical analysis.