Characterising the process zone in complete fretting contacts using plain fatigue sharp V-notch specimens

The object of this analysis is to demonstrate that it is possible to replicate the conditions prevalent in the process zone of a ‘complete’ locally slipping contact with an equivalent V-notch plain fatigue specimen. The methodology is as follows: using an asymptotic approach, we can determine the eigenvalues and hence spatial distribution of stresses for both the fretting and notch configurations, in the latter case, based on the Williams’ solution. The first step, is to match these eigenvalues, and subsequently, to compare the resulting distribution of stresses. It will be shown that, although there is a comparatively large range of combinations of pad geometry and coefficients of friction where this is feasible, it is only for a very limited range that the resulting stress distributions coincide. This therefore, presents a means of isolating the effects of the differential motion and hence, slip displacement, characteristic of fretting contacts. The experimental implications of these results together with their limitations will be discussed.     

An asymptotic approach to crack initiation in fretting fatigue of complete contacts

The stress state near the corner of a complete contact subject to fretting action is studied using an asymptotic analysis. The spatial distribution of stress, together with the generalised stress intensity factor defining the severity of the stress state are found, and the implications for experimental determination of crack initiation conditions discussed.     

Comprehensive bounded asymptotic solutions for incomplete contacts in partial slip

Solutions for the traction distributions and corresponding sub-surface state of stress adjacent to the edge of an incomplete contact suffering partial slip are found. The effects of frictional shakedown and a synchronously varying in-plane tension on the solution are found in closed form. The value of the asymptote, and its characterisation by just three independent parameters is illustrated by applying it to the finite problem of a rigid, tilted punch pressed onto a half-plane, and suffering partial slip induced by the application of in-plane tension.     

A generalised stress intensity approach to characterising the process zone in complete fretting contacts

The known analytical contact solution for the stress field induced by a rigid, square-ended punch, sliding on an elastic half-plane defines the stress state everywhere in the half-plane. An asymptotic approach is then used to determine the characteristic stress field at the edge of the contact, which is matched with the contact solution. Hence, the regions over which the asymptotic solution is valid are found. Using a method analogous to the crack-tip stress field, a generalised stress intensity factor is defined, with the aim of providing a single variable characterisation of the stress state at the punch corner. The crack initiation process zone for a fretting fatigue crack is therefore captured, and the conditions for small scale yielding explicitly found.     

The application of asymptotic solutions to contact problems characterised by logarithmic singularities

We give the contact pressure distribution near a contacting wedge having a slightly rounded form adjacent to a discontinuity in surface profile. It is shown that, well away from the rounding the pressure is logarithmic in form, just as it is near the apex of a sharp wedge. This pair of solutions may then be used to ‘patch in’ a roundness correction relevant to any punch having a discontinuous gradient. Further, it is noted that the multiplier on the logarithm term is pre-determined by the change in gradient. This process is applied to a finite, slightly blunt wedge, where the exact answer is known, and to a wheel having a worn flat. The agreement with the exact solution in the former case is seen to be very good.     

Propagation of a penny-shaped fluid-driven fracture in an impermeable rock: asymptotic solutions

This paper presents an analysis of the propagation of a penny-shaped hydraulic fracture in an impermeable elastic rock. The fracture is driven by an incompressible Newtonian fluid injected from a source at the center of the fracture. The fluid flow is modeled according to lubrication theory, while the elastic response is governed by a singular integral equation relating the crack opening and the fluid pressure. It is shown that the scaled equations contain only one parameter, a dimensionless toughness, which controls the regimes of fracture propagation. Asymptotic solutions for zero and large dimensionless toughness are constructed. Finally, the regimes of fracture propagation are analyzed by matching the asymptotic solutions with results of a numerical algorithm applicable to arbitrary toughness.     

The singularity in weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics

Material failure by crack propagation essentially involves a concentration of large displacement-gradients near a crack's tip, even at scales where no irreversible deformation and energy dissipation occurs. This physical situation provides the motivation for a systematic gradient expansion of general nonlinear elastic constitutive laws that goes beyond the first order displacement-gradient expansion that is the basis for linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). A weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics theory was recently developed by considering displacement-gradients up to second order. The theory predicts that, at scales within a dynamic lengthscale ℓ from a crack's tip, significant logr displacements and 1/r displacement-gradient contributions arise. Whereas in LEFM the 1/r singularity generates an unbalanced force and must be discarded, we show that this singularity not only exists but is also necessary in the weakly nonlinear theory. The theory generates no spurious forces and is consistent with the notion of the autonomy of the near-tip nonlinear region. The J-integral in the weakly nonlinear theory is also shown to be path-independent, taking the same value as the linear elastic J-integral. Thus, the weakly nonlinear theory retains the key tenets of fracture mechanics, while providing excellent quantitative agreement with measurements near the tip of single propagating cracks. As ℓ is consistent with lengthscales that appear in crack tip instabilities, we suggest that this theory may serve as a promising starting point for resolving open questions in fracture dynamics.     

The deformation of the front of a 3D interface crack propagating quasistatically in a medium with random fracture properties

One studies the evolution in time of the deformation of the front of a semi-infinite 3D interface crack propagating quasistatically in an infinite heterogeneous elastic body. The fracture properties are assumed to be lower on the interface than in the materials so that crack propagation is channelled along the interface, and to vary randomly within the crack plane. The work is based on earlier formulae which provide the first-order change of the stress intensity factors along the front of a semi-infinite interface crack arising from some small but otherwise arbitrary in-plane perturbation of this front. The main object of study is the long-time behavior of various statistical measures of the deformation of the crack front. Special attention is paid to the influences of the mismatch of elastic properties, the type of propagation law (fatigue or brittle fracture) and the stable or unstable character of 2D crack propagation (depending on the loading) upon the development of this deformation.     

New stress intensity factor solutions of a periodic array of cracks in residual stress field

Many important applications of crack mechanics involve self-equilibrating residual or thermal stress fields. For these types of problems, the traditional fracture mechanics approach based on the superposition principle has ignored the effect of crack surface contact when the crack-tip propagates into the residual compressive region. Contact between the crack faces and the wedging action are responsible for subsequent crack-tip reopening, which often leads to a much larger mode I stress intensity factor. In this study, an analytical approach is used to study the effect of crack face contact for a period array of collinear cracks embedded in several typical residual stress fields. It is found that the nonlinear contact between crack surfaces dominates the cracking behavior in residual/thermal stress fields, which is responsible for crack coalescence.     

The evolution of the process zone when a complete contact is subject to cyclically varying loads

A rigid punch pressed against an incompressible half-plane by a constant normal load is subject to both a cyclically varying shearing force, and a synchronously varying underlying bulk tension. The evolution of the slip/stick distribution along the contact interface is found during a loading cycle. An asymptotic approach is subsequently used to determine the order of singularity, and hence spatial distribution of the local stress state. A generalised stress intensity factor is then defined to scale the corresponding asymptotic solution, and hence map out the evolution of the process zone. The analysis shows that there is a smooth transition in the form of the asymptotic solution in moving from an ‘adhered’ contact edge to a ‘slipping’ contact edge, and vice versa. The implications of the results to fretting fatigue are discussed.     

Experimental validation of the tip asymptotics for a fluid-driven crack

This paper provides experimental confirmation of the opening asymptotes that have been predicted to develop at the tip of fluid-driven cracks propagating in impermeable brittle elastic media. During propagation of such cracks, energy is dissipated not only by breaking of material bonds ahead of the tip but also by flow of viscous fluid. Theoretical analysis based on linear elastic fracture mechanics and lubrication theory predicts a complex multiscale asymptotic behavior of the opening in the tip region, which simplifies either as or as power law of the distance from the tip depending on whether the dominant mechanism of energy dissipation is bond breaking or viscous flow. The laboratory experiments entail the propagation of penny-shaped cracks by injection of glycerin or glucose based solutions in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and glass specimens subjected to confining stresses. The full-field opening is measured from analysis of the loss of intensity as light passes through the dye-laden fluid that fills the crack. The experimental near-tip opening gives excellent agreement with theory and therefore confirms the predicted multi-scale tip asymptotics.     

Evaluation of the Lazarus-Leblond constants in the asymptotic model of the interfacial wavy crack

The paper addresses the problem of a semi-infinite plane crack along the interface between two isotropic half-spaces. Two methods of solution have been considered in the past: Lazarus and Leblond [1998a. Three-dimensional crack-face weight functions for the semi-infinite interface crack-I: variation of the stress intensity factors due to some small perturbation of the crack front. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46, 489-511, 1998b. Three-dimensional crack-face weight functions for the semi-infinite interface crack-II: integrodifferential equations on the weight functions and resolution J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46, 513-536] applied the “special” method by Bueckner [1987. Weight functions and fundamental fields for the penny-shaped and the half-plane crack in three space. Int. J. Solids Struct. 23, 57-93] and found the expression of the variation of the stress intensity factors for a wavy crack without solving the complete elasticity problem; their solution is expressed in terms of the physical variables, and it involves five constants whose analytical representation was unknown; on the other hand, the “general” solution to the problem has been recently addressed by Bercial-Velez et al. [2005. High-order asymptotics and perturbation problems for 3D interfacial cracks. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 53, 1128-1162], using a Wiener-Hopf analysis and singular asymptotics near the crack front.The main goal of the present paper is to complete the solution to the problem by providing the connection between the two methods. This is done by constructing an integral representation for Lazarus-Leblond's weight functions and by deriving the closed form representations of Lazarus-Leblond's constants.     

Asymptotic solutions to the non-linear cantilever elastica

In this work it is shown that by a series of admissible functional transformations the constructed higher-order strongly non-linear differential equation (ODE), describing the elastica of a cantilever due to a terminal generalized concentrated, as well as to a lateral uniformly distributed loading, is reduced to a first-order non-linear integrodifferential equation consisting of the first intermediate integral of the original equation. The absence of exact analytic solutions in terms of known (tabulated) functions of the above reduced equation leads to the conclusion that there are no exact analytic solutions of this complicated elastica problem. In the limits of small values of the slope parameter of the deflected elastica, we expand asymptotically the above integrodifferential equation to non-linear ODEs of the generalized Emden–Fowler types, exact analytic solutions of which are constructed in parametric form.     

An asymptotic iteration method for the numerical analysis of near-critical free-surface flows

Satisfying the boundary conditions at the free surface may impose severe difficulties to the computation of turbulent open-channel flows with finite-volume or finite-element methods, in particular, when the flow conditions are nearly critical. It is proposed to apply an iteration procedure that is based on an asymptotic expansion for large Reynolds numbers and Froude numbers close to the critical value 1.The iteration procedure starts by prescribing a first approximation for the free surface as it is obtained from solving an ODE that has been derived previously by means of an asymptotic expansion (Grillhofer and Schneider, 2003). The numerical solution of the full equations of motion then gives a surface pressure distribution that differs from the constant value required by the dynamic boundary condition. To determine a correction to the elevation of the free surface we next solve an ODE that is obtained from the asymptotic analysis of the flow with a prescribed pressure disturbance at the free surface. The full equations of motion are then solved for the corrected surface, and the procedure is repeated until criteria of accuracy for surface elevation and surface pressure, respectively, are satisfied.The method is applied to an undular hydraulic jump as a test case.     

An extension of the J-integral to piezoelectric materials

This paper provides an analysis of the crack propagation criterion for a thin piezoelectric plate with a symmetry of order six. On the basis of Gol’denveizer’s asymptotic integration method or Destuynder’s unidirectional zoom technique, we obtain an extension of the purely mechanical J-integral to piezoelectric materials, with a dependence of the gradient of energy of the plate only on zeroth order terms of asymptotic expansions.     

An asymptotic approach to the torsion problem in thin rectangular domains

A rather straightforward derivation of the Γ-limit of the torsion problem on a thin rectangle as the thickness goes to zero is obtained. The limit stresses are evaluated and the distributional nature of one of the stress components is clarified.     

Stability of an intersonic shear crack to a perturbation of its edge

A weight function matrix is developed for obtaining the stress singularity coefficients at the edge of a plane crack, moving uniformly at an intersonic speed while subjected to arbitrary shear loading. This is then utilised for deriving, to first order, the perturbations of these coefficients associated with a small spatially and temporally varying perturbation of its edge. The perturbation solution is employed, in conjunction with a simple fracture criterion, to investigate the stability of a uniformly moving intersonic crack, subjected to following loads.     

Fundamental solutions to contact problems of a magneto-electro-elastic half-space indented by a semi-infinite punch

This paper presents the fundamental contact solutions of a magneto-electro-elastic half-space indented by a smooth and rigid half-infinite punch. The material is assumed to be transversely isotropic with the symmetric axis perpendicular to the surface of the half-space. Based on the general solutions, the generalized method of potential theory is adopted to solve the boundary value problems. The involved potentials are properly assumed and the corresponding boundary integral equations are solved by using the results in literature. Complete and exact fundamental solutions are derived case by case, in terms of elementary functions for the first time. The obtained solutions are of significance to boundary element analysis, and an important role in determining the physical properties of materials by indentation technique can be expected to play.