Dynamic crack curving—A photoelastic evaluation

A dynamic-crack-curving criterion, which is valid under pure Mode I or combined Modes I and II loadings and which is based on either the maximum circumferential stress or minimum strain-energy-density factor at a reference distance ofr ₀ from the crack tip, is verified with dynamic-photoelastic experiments. Directional stability of a Mode I crack propagation is attained when \(r_o= \frac{1}{{128\pi }}(\frac{{K_r }}{{\sigma _{ox} }})^2 V_o^2 (C,C_1 ,C_2 ) > r_c \) wherer _c =1.3 mm for Homalite-100 used in the dynamic-photoelastic experiments.     

A void–crack nucleation model for ductile metals

A phenomenological void–crack nucleation model for ductile metals with secondphases is described which is motivated from fracture mechanics and microscale physicalobservations. The void–crack nucleation model is a function of the fracture toughness of theaggregate material, length scale parameter (taken to be the average size of the second phaseparticles in the examples shown in this writing) , the volume fraction of the second phase, strainlevel, and stress state. These parameters are varied to explore their effects upon the nucleationand damage rates. Examples of correlating the void–crack nucleation model to tension data in theliterature illustrate the utility of the model for several ductile metals. Furthermore, compression,tension, and torsion experiments on a cast Al–Si–Mg alloy were conducted to determinevoid–crack nucleation rates under different loading conditions. The nucleation model was thencorrelated to the cast Al–Si–Mg data as well.     

Asymmetrical dynamic propagation problems on mode Ⅲ interface crack

By the application of the theory of complex functions, asymmetrical dynamic propagation problems on mode Ⅲ interface crack are studied. The universal representations of analytical solutions are obtained by the approaches of self-similar function. The problems researched can be facilely transformed into Riemann-Hilbert problems and analytical solution to an asymmetrical propagation crack under the condition of point loads and unit-step loads, respectively, is acquired. After those solutions were used by superposition theorem, the solutions of arbitrarily complex problems could be attained.     

Static crack resistance of iron‐based sintered powder materials

A boundaryvalue problem of static crack resistance of structurally heterogeneous sintered materials is formulated within the framework of the structurally phenomenological approach. A numerical algorithm for modeling the mechanical behavior of structurally heterogeneous cracked powder materials is proposed. Crack resistance of some structurally heterogeneous powder materials is estimated. The anomalous character of the crack resistance revealed is studied with the use of fractography. Theoretical findings are supported by results of mechanical cracking tests.     

Steady crack growth in elastic–plastic fluid-saturated porous media

An asymptotic solution is obtained for stress and pore pressure fields near the tip of a crack steadily propagating in an elastic–plastic fluid-saturated porous material displaying linear isotropic hardening. Quasi-static crack growth is considered under plane strain and Mode I loading conditions. In particular, the effective stress is assumed to obey the Drucker–Prager yield condition with associative or non-associative flow-rule and linear isotropic hardening is adopted. Both permeable and impermeable crack faces are considered. As for the problem of crack propagation in poroelastic media, the behavior is asymptotically drained at the crack-tip. Plastic dilatancy is observed to have a strong effect on the distribution and intensity of pore water pressure and to increase its flux towards the crack-tip.     

High-magnification moiré interferometer for crack tip analysis of steels

A high-magnification moiré interferometer, particularly suitable for near-tip field analysis in cracked materials, is described. It has a submillimeter field of view, a high-resolution image sensor (1.4 million pixels), X-Y-Z translation stage and an optical fiber light delivery system. These features enable the microscope head to observe the crack tip while the specimen is loaded in a standard tensile test machine. Automated fringe pattern analysis, using temporal phase shifting and spatial phase unwrapping, enables thex ory displacement component to be measured and the corresponding in-plane strain component computed. The displacement placement accuracy is better than 40 nm, and the effective strain gage dimension is ∼ 25 μm. Furthermore, the interferometer has a built-in white light microscope that allows the observation of the specimen granular microstructure in exact registration with the displacement field. The interferometer has hence been employed to investigate the near-tip fields of a precracked stainless steel specimen under load. The influence of the grain boundaries on the measured displacement fields was relatively minor. The near-tip strain field shows a significant asymmetrical behavior despite pure mode lloading conditions.     

Green’s function for T-stress of semi-infinite plane crack

Green’s function for the T-stress near a crack tip is addressed with an analytic function method for a semi-infinite crack lying in an elastical, isotropic, and infinite plate. The cracked plate is loaded by a single inclined concentrated force at an interior point. The complex potentials are obtained based on a superposition principle, which provide the solutions to the plane problems of elasticity. The regular parts of the potentials are extracted in an asymptotic analysis. Based on the regular parts, Gre...     

Three-dimensional crack tip deformation measurement using combined Moiré-Sagnac interferometry

A combined Moiré-Sagnac interferometry method is developed for in-plane (u andv) and out-of-plane (w) surface deformation measurement. The combined optical setup is used to measure three-dimensional crack tip deformations of AI 2024-0 and AI 2024-T4 specimens at room temperature and an inconel 909 specimen at 570°C. Measured displacements near the crack tip region of the AI 2024-T4 specimen are used as input nodal displacements to determine stress intensity factors based on two-dimensional and three-dimensional Jacobian derivative method. The values compare favorably with theoretical calculations. The extent of the three-dimensional crack tip deformation zone is also discussed.     

A numerical approach for a crack problem by Gauss–Chebyshev quadrature

In this paper, a problem of a crack in an orthotropic strip is studied under plane strain conditions. It is assumed that normal displacements and shear stresses do not act on neither of the boundaries of the strip. Cauchy-type singular integral equation for the crack problem is derived by using the theory of plane elasticity and the Fourier transformation technique. A quadrature collocation approach is adopted for the numerical solutions of the singular integral equation. The effect of relative thickness and mechanical properties of strip on Mode I stress intensity factors (SIFs) are examined under different loading conditions. Some sample results are given for SIFs; also, material orthotropy and geometrical effects are discussed in detail.     

Interface crack problems for mode Ⅱ of double dissimilar orthotropic composite materials

The fracture problems near the interface crack tip for mode Ⅱ of double dissimilar orthotropic composite materials are studied. The mechanical models of interface crack for mode Ⅱ are given. By translating the governing equations into the generalized bi-harmonic equations,the stress functions containing two stress singularity exponents are derived with the help of a complex function method. Based on the boundary conditions,a system of non-homogeneous linear equations is found. Two real stress singularity exponents are determined be solving this system under appropriate conditions about himaterial engineering parameters. According to the uniqueness theorem of limit,both the formulae of stress intensity factors and theoretical solutions of stress field near the interface crack tip are derived. When the two orthotropic materials are the same,the stress singularity exponents,stress intensity factors and stresses for mode Ⅱ crack of the orthotropic single material are obtained.     

Strength or toughness? A criterion for crack onset at a notch

Both energy and stress criteria are necessary conditions for fracture but neither one nor the other are sufficient. Experiments by Parvizi et al. on transverse cracking in cross-ply laminates corroborate this assumption. Thanks to the singularity at the tip of the notch, the incremental form of the energy criterion gives a lower bound of admissible crack lengths. On the contrary, the stress criterion leads to an upper bound. The consistency between these two conditions provides a general form of a criterion for crack nucleation. It enjoys the desirable property of coinciding with the usual Griffith criterion to study the crack growth and with the stress criterion for the uniform traction along a straight edge. Comparisons with experiments carried out on homogeneous notched materials and on bimaterial structures show a good agreement.     

Field structure at mode Ⅲ dynamically propagating crack tip in elastic-viscoplastic materials

An elastic-viscoplastic mechanics model is used to investigate asymptotically the mode Ⅲ dynamically propagating crack tip field in elastic-viscoplastic materials. The stress and strain fields at the crack tip possess the same power-law singularity under a linear-hardening condition. The singularity exponent is uniquely determined by the viscosity coefficient of the material. Numerical results indicate that the motion parameter of the crack propagating speed has little effect on the zone structure at the crack tip. The hardening coefficient dominates the structure of the crack-tip field. However, the secondary plastic zone has little influence on the field. The viscosity of the material dominates the strength of stress and strain fields at the crack tip while it does have certain influence on the crack-tip field structure. The dynamic crack-tip field degenerates into the relevant quasi-static solution when the crack moving speed is zero. The corresponding perfectly-plastic solution is recovered from the linear-hardening solution when the hardening coefficient becomes zero.     

Propagation of a mode-III interfacial crack in a piezoelectric–piezomagnetic bi-material

The transient response of a semi-infinite mode-III interfacial crack propagating between piezoelectric (PE) and piezomagnetic (PM) half spaces is investigated in this paper. The integral transform method together with the Wiener–Hopf and Cagniard–de Hoop techniques is used to solve the mixed boundary value problem under consideration. The existence of generalized Maerfeld–Tournois interfacial wave is discussed and the solutions of the coupled fields are derived for four different cases of bulk shear wave velocity. The dynamic intensity factors of stress, electric displacement and magnetic induction as well as energy release rate (ERR) are obtained in explicit forms. The numerical results of the universal functions and dimensionless ERR for several different material combinations are presented and discussed in details. It is found that the Bleustein–Gulyaev (generalized Maerfeld–Tournois) waves dominate the dynamic characteristics of the interfacial crack propagation in PE–PM bi-material.     

Dynamic steady crack growth in elastic-plastic solids—propagation of strong discontinuities

The near-tip field of a mode I crack growing steadily under plane strain conditions is studied. A key issue is whether strong discontinuities can propagate under dynamic conditions. Theories which impose rather restrictive assumptions on the structure of an admissible deformation path through a dynamically propagating discontinuity have been proposed recently. Asymptotic solutions for dynamic crack growth, based on such theories, do not contain any discontinuities. In the present work a broader family of deformation paths is considered and we show that a discontinuity can propagate dynamically without violating any of the mechanical constitutive relations of the material. The proposed theory for the propagation of strong discontinuities is corroborated by very detailed finite element calculations. The latter shows a plane of strong discontinuity emanating from the crack tip (with its normal pointing in the direction of crack advance) and moving with the tip. Elastic unloading ahead of and/or behind the plane of discontinuity and behind the crack tip have also been observed.The numerical investigation is performed within the framework of a boundary layer formulation whereby the remote loading is fully specified by the first two terms in the asymptotic solution of the elasto-dynamic crack tip field, characterized by K₁, and T. It is shown that the family of near-tip fields, associated with a given crack speed, can be arranged into a one-parameter field based on a characteristic length, L_g, which scales with the smallest dimension of the plastic zone. This extends a previous result for quasi-static crack growth.     

The collinear crack problem for an orthotropic functionally graded coating–substrate structure

A theoretical treatment of antiplane crack problem of two collinear cracks on the two sides of and perpendicular to the interface between a functionally graded orthotropic strip bonded to an orthotropic homogeneous substrate is put forward. Various internal cracks and crack terminating at the interface and crack crossing the interface configurations are investigated, respectively. The problem is formulated in terms of a singular integral equation with the crack face displacement as the unknown variable. The asymptotic stress field near the tip of a crack crossing the interface is examined, and it is shown that, unlike the corresponding stress field in piecewise homogeneous materials, in this case, the “kink” in material property at the interface does not introduce any singularity. Numerical calculations are carried out, and the influences of the orthotropy and nonhomogeneous parameters and crack interactions on the mode III stress intensity factors are investigated.     

Grain–boundary interactions and orientation effects on crack behavior in polycrystalline aggregates

A dislocation-density grain–boundary interaction scheme has been developed to account for the interrelated dislocation-density interactions of emission, absorption and transmission in GB regions. The GB scheme is based on slip-system compatibility, local resolved shear stresses, and immobile and mobile dislocation-density accumulation at critical GB locations. To accurately represent dislocation-density evolution, a conservation law for dislocation-densities is used to balance dislocation-density absorption, transmission and emission from the GB. The behavior of f.c.c. polycrystalline copper, with different random low and high angle GBs, are investigated for different crack lengths. For aggregates with random low angle GBs, dislocation-density transmission dominates at the GBs, which can indicate that the low angle GB will not significantly change crack growth directions. For aggregates with random high angle GBs, extensive dislocation-density absorption and pile-ups occur. The high stresses associated with this behavior, along the GBs, can result in intergranular crack growth due to potential crack nucleation sites in the GB.     

Analysis of mode Ⅲ crack perpendicular to the interface between two dissimilar strips

The present work is concerned with the problem of mode Ⅲ crack perpendicular to the interface of a bi-strip composite. One of these strips is made of a functionally graded material and the other of an isotropic material, which contains an edge crack perpendicular to and terminating at the interface. Fourier transforms and asymptotic analysis are employed to reduce the problem to a singular integral equation which is numerically solved using Gauss-Chebyshev quadrature formulae. Furthermore, a parametric study is carried out to investigate the effects of elastic and geometric characteristics of the composite on the values of stress intensity factor.     

A penny-shaped crack in a filament-reinforced matrix—I. The filament model

This study deals with the elastostatic problem of a penny-shaped crack in an elastic matrix which is reinforced by filaments or fibers perpendicular to the plane of the crack. An elastic filament model is developed in the first paper. The second paper considers the application of the model to the penny-shaped crack problem in which the filaments of finite length are symmetrically distributed around the crack. The reinforcement problem for the cracked matrix with elastic fibers of different diameter, modulus, and relative location is considered in the third paper. Since the primary interest is in the application of the results to studies relating to the fracture of fiber or filament-reinforced composites and reinforced concrete, the main emphasis of the study will be on the evaluation of the stress intensity factor along the periphery of the crack, the stresses in the filaments or fibers, and the interface shear between the matrix and the filaments or fibers.