Sudden deceleration or acceleration of an intersonic shear crack

Sudden jumps in the crack tip velocity were revealed by numerical simulation (in both continuum/cohesive element and molecular dynamics approaches) and experiments for rapid shear cracking. The cracking velocity may accelerate from a sub-Rayleigh speed to the intersonic range, or from an intersonic speed to a higher one, when the reflected impact wave reloads the crack tip. On the other hand, the cracking velocity may decelerate from an intersonic speed to a lower one or recede to the sub-Rayleigh range when the fracture driving force declines. The velocity change encountered during intersonic cracking plays a different role from that in the acceleration or deceleration of a subsonic crack. A crack propagating at an intersonic speed would leave a shear wave trailing behind. When the crack decelerates or accelerates, the effect of the trailing wave will lead to a transition period from one steady-state solution of crack tip singularity to another. This investigation aims at quantifying these processes. The full field solution of an intersonic mode II crack whose speed changed suddenly from one velocity (intersonic or subsonic) to another (intersonic or subsonic) is given in closed form. The solution is facilitated via superposing a series of propagating crack problems that are loaded by dislocations to seal the unwanted crack-face sliding or by concentrated forces moving at various speeds to negate the crack-face traction. In contrast to the subsonic solution, the results in the intersonic case indicate that the elastic fields around the crack tip depend on the deceleration or acceleration history that is traced back over a long time. Singularity matching dictates the jump that may actually take place.     

Subsonic semi-infinite crack with a finite friction zone in a bimaterial

Propagation of a semi-infinite crack along the interface between an elastic half-plane and a rigid half-plane is analyzed. The crack advances at constant subsonic speed. It is assumed that, ahead of the crack, there is a finite segment where the conditions of Coulomb friction law are satisfied. The contact zone of unknown a priori length propagates with the same speed as the crack. The problem reduces to a vector Riemann–Hilbert problem with a piece-wise constant matrix coefficient discontinuous at three points, 0, 1, and ∞. The problem is solved exactly in terms of Kummer's solutions of the associated hypergeometric differential equation. Numerical results are reported for the length of the contact friction zone, the stress singularity factor, the normal displacement u₂, and the dynamic energy release rate G. It is found that in the case of frictionless contact for both the sub-Rayleigh and super-Rayleigh regimes, G is positive and the stress intensity factor K_II does not vanish. In the sub-Rayleigh case, the normal displacement is positive everywhere in the opening zone. In the super-Rayleigh regime, there is a small neighborhood of the ending point of the open zone where the normal displacement is negative.     

Transition wave in a supported heavy beam

We consider a heavy, uniform, elastic beam rested on periodically distributed supports as a simplified model of a bridge. The supports are subjected to a partial destruction propagating as a failure wave along the beam. Three related models are examined and compared: (a) a uniform elastic beam on a distributed elastic foundation, (b) an elastic beam in which the mass is concentrated at a discrete set of points corresponding to the discrete set of the elastic supports and (c) a uniform elastic beam on a set of discrete elastic supports. Stiffness of the support is assumed to drop when the stress reaches a critical value. In the formulation, it is also assumed that, at the moment of the support damage, the value of the ‘added mass’, which reflects the dynamic response of the support, is dropped too. Strong similarities in the behavior of the continuous and discrete-continuous models are detected. Three speed regimes, subsonic, intersonic and supersonic, where the failure wave is or is not accompanied by elastic waves excited by the moving jump in the support stiffness, are considered and related characteristic speeds are determined. With respect to these continuous and discrete-continuous models, the conditions are found for the failure wave to exist, to propagate uniformly or to accelerate. It is also found that such beam-related transition wave can propagate steadily only at the intersonic speeds. It is remarkable that the steady-state speed appears to decrease as the jump of the stiffness increases.     

Subsonic and intersonic mode II crack propagation with a rate-dependent cohesive zone

A recent experimental study has demonstrated the attainability of intersonic shear crack growth along weak planes in otherwise homogeneous, isotropic, linear elastic solids subjected to remote loading conditions (Rosakis et al., Science 284 (5418) (1999) 1337). The relevant experimental observations are summarized briefly here and the conditions governing the attainment of intersonic crack speeds are examined. Motivated by experimental observations, subsonic and intersonic mode II crack propagation with a rate-dependent cohesive zone is subsequently analyzed. A cohesive law is assumed, wherein the cohesive shear traction is either a constant or varies linearly with the local sliding rate. Complete decohesion is assumed to occur when the crack tip sliding displacement reaches a material-specific critical value. Closed form expressions are obtained for the near-tip fields. With a cohesive zone of finite size, it is found that the dynamic energy release rate is finite through out the intersonic regime. Crack tip stability issues are addressed and favorable speed regimes are identified. The influence of shear strength of the crack plane and of a rate parameter on crack propagation behavior is also investigated. The isochromatic fringe patterns predicted by the analytical solution are compared with the experimental observations of Rosakis et al. (1999) and comments are made on the validity of the proposed model.     

Dynamic crack growth along a polymer composite-Homalite interface

Dynamic crack growth along the interface of a fiber-reinforced polymer composite-Homalite bimaterial subjected to impact shear loading is investigated experimentally and numerically. In the experiments, the polymer composite-Homalite specimens are impacted with a projectile causing shear dominated interfacial cracks to initiate and subsequently grow along the interface at speeds faster than the shear wave speed of Homalite. Crack growth is observed using dynamic photoelasticity in conjunction with high-speed photography. The calculations are carried out for a plane stress model of the experimental configuration and are based on a cohesive surface formulation that allows crack growth, when it occurs, to emerge as a natural outcome of the deformation history. The effect of impact velocity and loading rate is explored numerically. The experiments and calculations are consistent in identifying discrete crack speed regimes within which crack growth at sustained crack speeds is possible. We present the first conclusive experimental evidence of interfacial crack speeds faster than any characteristic elastic wave speed of the more compliant material. The occurrence of this crack speed was predicted numerically and the calculations were used to design the experiments. In addition, the first experimental observation of a mother-daughter crack mechanism allowing a subsonic crack to evolve into an intersonic crack is documented. The calculations exhibit all the crack growth regimes seen in the experiments and, in addition, predict a regime with a pulse-like traction distribution along the bond line.     

Intersonic crack propagation in homogeneous media under shear-dominated loading: theoretical analysis

The mechanics of cohesive failure under mixed-mode loading is investigated for the case of a steadily propagating subsonic and intersonic dynamic crack subjected to a follower tensile and shear distributed load. The cohesive failure model chosen in this study is rate independent but accounts for the coupling between normal and tangential damage. Special emphasis is placed here on mixed-mode cases with predominantly shear loading. The analysis shows that the size of the mixed-mode cohesive zone is smaller than that obtained in the pure shear case. The relative extent of the shear and tensile cohesive damage zones depends on the crack speed and the mode mixity. In the intersonic regime, the failure process takes place exclusively in shear, even under remote mixed-mode loading conditions.     

Dynamic behaviors of mode III interfacial crack under a constant loading rate

In an earlier study on intersonic crack propagation, Gao et al. (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 49: 2113–2132, 2001) described molecular dynamics simulations and continuum analysis of the dynamic behaviors of a mode II dominated crack moving along a weak plane under a constant loading rate. The crack was observed to initiate its motion at a critical time after the onset of loading, at which it is rapidly accelerated to the Rayleigh wave speed and propagates at this speed for a finite time interval until an intersonic daughter crack is nucleated at a peak stress at a finite distance ahead of the original crack tip. The present article aims to analyze this behavior for a mode III crack moving along a bi-material interface subject to a constant loading rate. We begin with a crack in an initially stress-free bi-material subject to a steadily increasing stress. The crack initiates its motion at a critical time governed by the Griffith criterion. After crack initiation, two scenarios of crack propagation are investigated: the first one is that the crack moves at a constant subsonic velocity; the second one is that the crack moves at the lower shear wave speed of the two materials. In the first scenario, the shear stress ahead of the crack tip is singular with exponent ?1/2, as expected; in the second scenario, the stress singularity vanishes but a peak stress is found to emerge at a distance ahead of the moving crack tip. In the latter case, a daughter crack supersonic with respect to the softer medium can be expected to emerge ahead of the initial crack once the peak stress reaches the cohesive strength of the interface.     

Intersonic crack growth under time-dependent loading

The problem investigated in this paper is a mode II crack extending at a uniform intersonic speed in an otherwise unbounded elastic solid subjected to time dependent crack-face tractions. The fundamental solution for this problem is obtained analytically, which is then used to construct the general solution for an intersonic crack subjected to arbitrary time-dependent loading. For time-independent loading, this solution reduces to Huang and Gao’s [J. Appl. Mech 68 (2001) 169] fundamental solution. We have also studied two crack-face loadings that are of interest for engineering applications.     

A knife-edge load traveling on the surface of an elastic halfspace

A load moving on the surface of an elastic halfspace forms a basic problem that is related to different fields of engineering, such as the subsoil response due to vehicle motion or the ultrasound field due to an angle beam transducer. Many numerical techniques have been developed to solve this problem, but these do not provide the fundamental physical insights that are offered by closed form solutions, which are very rare in comparison. This paper describes the development and analysis of the closed form space-time domain solution for a knife-edge load, i.e. a line segment of normal traction, moving at a constant speed on the surface of an elastic halfspace. The various contributions making up the exact solution, obtained with the Cagniard-De Hoop method, produce all the complicated wave patterns from this distributed type of loading. Examples are the transient wave field at the starting position of the load, angled conical and plane waves propagating into the solid, Rayleigh waves propagating along the surface, and head waves spreading and attenuating in specific directions from the loading path. The influence of the load speed on the wave field is investigated by considering the singularities in the relevant complex domains, for each sonic range relative to the bulk wave velocities. The characteristic wave fronts and wave patterns as exhibited by the particle displacements are evaluated for subsonic, transonic and supersonic load speeds.     

楔形杆中弹塑性波的一种渐近展开式

据我们所知,楔形杆中弹塑性波尚未有很好的分析方法。对弹性波有文献[1,2]等,其中文献[1]研究了圆锥壳轴向撞击的波动问题,发现楔形杆是其很好的近似,故后者的研究对圆锥壳具有重要意义。文中采用拉氏变换方法求得两种特殊情况下(波阵面和冲击端附近,的渐近解,而一般情形下的解未能得到。也有人用WKB方法讨论了类似问题,但仅限于波长很短的情形,局限性很大。另外,文献[5]用正则摄动法研究了楔形杆的自振问题。 本文针对楔形杆(和圆锥壳)的特点建议了一种渐近展开式,并求解了弹性波和弹塑性波问题,并与其他一些方法及其结果进行了比较。     

Effect of friction in wedging of elastic solids

In this paper the contact problem for an elastic wedge of arbitrary angle is considered. It is assumed that the external load is applied to the medium through a rigid wedge and the coefficient of friction between the loading wedge and the elastic solid is constant. The problem is reduced to a singular integral equation of the second kind with the contact pressure as the unknown function. An effective numerical solution of the integral equation is described and the results of three examples are presented. The comparison of these results with those obtained from the frictionless wedge problem indicates that generally friction has the tendency of reducing the peak values of the stress intensity factors calculated at the wedge apex and at the end points of the contact area.This work was supported by NASA-Laugley under the Grant NGR 39-007-011 and by NSF under the Grant GK-42771X.     

The three-dimensional steady-state thermo-elastodynamic problem of moving sources over a half space

A procedure based on the Radon transform and elements of distribution theory is developed to obtain fundamental thermoelastic three-dimensional (3D) solutions for thermal and/or mechanical point sources moving steadily over the surface of a half space. A concentrated heat flux is taken as the thermal source, whereas the mechanical source consists of normal and tangential concentrated loads. It is assumed that the sources move with a constant velocity along a fixed direction. The solutions obtained are exact within the bounds of Biot’s coupled thermo-elastodynamic theory, and results for surface displacements are obtained over the entire speed range (i.e. for sub-Rayleigh, super-Rayleigh/subsonic, transonic and supersonic source speeds). This problem has relevance to situations in Contact Mechanics, Tribology and Dynamic Fracture, and is especially related to the well-known heat checking problem (thermo-mechanical cracking in an unflawed half-space material from high-speed asperity excitations). Our solution technique fully exploits as auxiliary solutions the ones for the corresponding plane-strain and anti-plane shear problems by reducing the original 3D problem to two separate 2D problems. These problems are uncoupled from each other, with the first problem being thermoelastic and the second one pure elastic. In particular, the auxiliary plane-strain problem is completely analogous to the original problem, not only with regard to the field equations but also with regard to the boundary conditions. This makes the technique employed here more advantageous than other techniques, which require the prior determination of a fictitious auxiliary plane-strain problem through solving an integral equation.     

Dynamic crack growth under Rayleigh wave

A nonuniform crack growth problem is considered for a homogeneous isotropic elastic medium subjected to the action of remote oscillatory and static loads. In the case of a plane problem, the former results in Rayleigh waves propagating toward the crack tip. For the antiplane problem the shear waves play a similar role. Under the considered conditions the crack cannot move uniformly, and if the static prestress is not sufficiently high, the crack moves interruptedly. For fracture modes I and II the established, crack speed periodic regimes are examined. For mode III a complete transient solution is derived with the periodic regime as an asymptote. Examples of the crack motion are presented. The crack speed time-period and the time-averaged crack speeds are found. The ratio of the fracture energy to the energy carried by the Rayleigh wave is derived. An issue concerning two equivalent forms of the general solution is discussed.     

Contact zone assessment for a fast growing interface crack in an anisotropic bimaterial

Summary A plane strain problem for a crack with a frictionless contact zone at the leading crack tip expanding stationary along the interface of two anisotropic half-spaces with a subsonic speed under the action of various loadings is considered. The cases of finite and infinite-length interface cracks under the action of a moving concentrated loading at its faces are considered. A finite-length crack for a uniform mixed-mode loading at infinity is considered as well. The associated combined Dirichlet-Riemann boundary value problems are formulated and solved exactly for all above-mentioned cases. The expressions for stresses and the derivatives of the displacement jumps at the interface are presented in a closed analytical form for an arbitrary contact zone length. Transcendental equations are obtained for the determination of the real contact zone length, and the associated closed form asymptotic formulas are found for small values of this parameter. It is found that independently of the types of the crack and loading, an increase of the crack tip speed leads to an increase of the real contact zone length and the correspondent stress intensity factor. The latter increase significantly for an interface crack tip speed approaching the Ragleigh wave speed.     

An analytical elastic-perfectly plastic contact model

A new formulation for elastic-perfectly plastic contact in the normal direction between two round surfaces that is solely based on material properties and contact geometries is developed. The problem is formulated as three separate domains: the elastic regime, mixed elastic–plastic behavior, and unconstrained (fully plastic) flow. Solutions for the force–displacement relationship in the elastic regime follow from Hertz’s classical solution. In the fully plastic regime, two well supported assumptions are made: that there is a uniform pressure distribution and there is a linear force–deflection relationship. The force–displacement relationship in the intermediate, mixed elastic–plastic regime is approximated by enforcing continuity between the elastic and fully plastic regimes. Transitions between the three regimes are determined based on empirical quantities: the von Mises yield criterion is used to determine the initiation of mixed elastic–plastic deformation, and Brinell’s hardness for the onset of unconstrained flow. Unloading from each of these three regimes is modeled as an elastic process with different radii of curvature based on the regime in which the maximum force occurred. Simulation results explore the relationship between the impact velocity and coefficient of restitution. Further comparisons are made between the model, experimental results found in the literature, and other existing elastic–plastic models. The new model is well supported by the experimental measurements of compliance curves for elastic–plastic materials and of coefficients of restitution from impact studies, and in elastic-perfectly plastic regimes is demonstrated to be more accurate than existing models found in the literature.     

A Method Based on the Radon Transform for Three-Dimensional Elastodynamic Problems of Moving Loads

An integral transform procedure is developed to obtain fundamental elastodynamic three-dimensional (3D) solutions for loads moving steadily over the surface of a half-space. These solutions are exact, and results are presented over the entire speed range (i.e., for subsonic, transonic and supersonic source speeds). Especially, the results obtained here for the tangential loads (one of these loads is along the direction of motion and the other is orthogonal to the direction of motion) are quite new in the literature. The solution technique is based on the use of the Radon transform and elements of distribution theory. It also fully exploits as auxiliary solutions the ones for the corresponding plane-strain and anti-plane shear problems (the latter problems are 2D and uncoupled from each other). In particular, it should be noticed that the plane-strain problem here is completely analogous to the original 3D problem, not only with respect to the field equations but also with respect to the boundary conditions. This makes the present technique more advantageous than other techniques, which require first the determination of a fictitious auxiliary plane-strain problem through the solution of an integral equation. Our approach becomes particularly simple when there is no angular dependence in the boundary conditions (i.e., when axially symmetric problems regarding their boundary conditions are considered). On the contrary, no such constraint needs to be fulfilled as regards the material response (and, therefore, the governing equations of the problem) and/or also possible loss of axisymmetry due to the generation of shock (Mach-type) waves in the medium. Therefore, the solution technique can easily deal with general 3D problems having a largely arbitrary radial dependence in the boundary conditions and involving: (i) material anisotropy in static and dynamic situations, and (ii) asymmetry caused by changes in the nature of governing PDEs due to the existence of different velocity regimes (super-Rayleigh, transonic, supersonic) in dynamic situations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analytical dynamic displacement response of rigid pavements to moving concentrated and line loads

This paper presents the formulation of a plate of infinite dimensions (without boundary conditions) on an elastic foundation, subjected to a moving concentrated and line load of constant amplitude and speed, using a triple Fourier transform. The solution is carried out integration by residues. A closed-form solution of displacement field has been obtained for a moving load with subsonic, transonic and supersonic speeds. It is found that the maximum response of the slab occurs beneath the moving load and travels with the load at the same speed. It is also shown that a critical speed exists. If the moving load travels at critical speed, slab displacement becomes infinite in amplitude.     

Transition of mode II cracks from sub-Rayleigh to intersonic speeds in the presence of favorable heterogeneity

Understanding sub-Rayleigh-to-intersonic transition of mode II cracks is a fundamental problem in fracture mechanics with important practical implications for earthquake dynamics and seismic radiation. In the Burridge-Andrews mechanism, an intersonic daughter crack nucleates, for sufficiently high prestress, at the shear stress peak traveling with the shear wave speed in front of the main crack. We find that sub-Rayleigh-to-intersonic transition and sustained intersonic propagation occurs in a number of other models that subject developing cracks to intersonic loading fields. We consider a spontaneously expanding sub-Rayleigh crack (or main crack) which advances, along a planar interface with linear slip-weakening friction, towards a place of favorable heterogeneity, such as a preexisting subcritical crack or a small patch of higher prestress (similar behavior is expected for a small patch of lower static strength). For a range of model parameters, a secondary dynamic crack nucleates at the heterogeneity and acquires intersonic speeds due to the intersonic stress field propagating in front of the main crack. Transition to intersonic speeds occurs directly at the tip of the secondary crack, with the tip accelerating rapidly to values numerically equal to the Rayleigh wave speed and then abruptly jumping to an intersonic speed. Models with favorable heterogeneity achieve intersonic transition and propagation for much lower prestress levels than the ones implied by the Burridge-Andrews mechanism and have transition distances that depend on the position of heterogeneity. We investigate the dependence of intersonic transition and subsequent crack propagation on model parameters and discuss implications for earthquake dynamics.     

Dynamics of a system comprising a pre-stressed orthotropic layer and pre-stressed orthotropic half-plane under the action of a moving load

This paper investigates the dynamic response to a moving load of a system comprising an initially stressed covering layer and initially stressed half-plane, within the scope of the piecewise-homogeneous body model utilizing three-dimensional linearized wave propagation theory in the initially stressed body. It was assumed that the materials of the layer and half-plane are anisotropic (orthotropic), and that the velocity of the line-located moving load is constant as it acts on the free face of the covering layer. The investigations were made for a two-dimensional problem (plane-strain state) under subsonic velocity of the moving load for complete and incomplete contact conditions. Corresponding numerical results were obtained for the stiffer layer and soft half-plane system in which the modulus of elasticity of the covering layer material (for the moving direction of the load) is greater than that of the half-plane material, which was assumed to be isotropic. Numerical results are presented and discussed for the critical velocity and stress distribution for various values of the problem parameters. In particular, it was established that, the critical velocity of the moving load is controlled mainly with a Rayleigh wave speed of a half-plane material and the initial stretching of the covering layer causes to increase these values.     

Dynamic coupling of fluid and structural mechanics for simulating particle motion and interaction in high speed compressible gas particle laden flow

In this work, structural finite element analyses of particles moving and interacting within high speed compressible flow are directly coupled to computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer analyses to provide more detailed and improved simulations of particle laden flow under these operating conditions. For a given solid material model, stresses and displacements throughout the solid body are determined with the particle–particle contact following an element to element local spring force model and local fluid induced forces directly calculated from the finite volume flow solution. Plasticity and particle deformation common in such a flow regime can be incorporated in a more rigorous manner than typical discrete element models where structural conditions are not directly modeled. Using the developed techniques, simulations of normal collisions between two 1 mm radius particles with initial particle velocities of 50–150 m/s are conducted with different levels of pressure driven gas flow moving normal to the initial particle motion for elastic and elastic–plastic with strain hardening based solid material models. In this manner, the relationships between the collision velocity, the material behavior models, and the fluid flow and the particle motion and deformation can be investigated. The elastic–plastic material behavior results in post collision velocities 16–50% of their pre-collision values while the elastic-based particle collisions nearly regained their initial velocity upon rebound. The elastic–plastic material models produce contact forces less than half of those for elastic collisions, longer contact times, and greater particle deformation. Fluid flow forces affect the particle motion even at high collision speeds regardless of the solid material behavior model. With the elastic models, the collision force varied little with the strength of the gas flow driver. For the elastic–plastic models, the larger particle deformation and the resulting increasingly asymmetric loading lead to growing differences in the collision force magnitudes and directions as the gas flow strength increased. The coupled finite volume flow and finite element structural analyses provide a capability to capture the interdependencies between the interaction of the particles, the particle deformation, the fluid flow and the particle motion.