Effects of characteristic material lengths on mode III crack propagation in couple stress elastic–plastic materials

The asymptotic fields near the tip of a crack steadily propagating in a ductile material under Mode III loading conditions are investigated by adopting an incremental version of the indeterminate theory of couple stress plasticity displaying linear and isotropic strain hardening. The adopted constitutive model is able to account for the microstructure of the material by incorporating two distinct material characteristic lengths. It can also capture the strong size effects arising at small scales, which results from the underlying microstructures. According to the asymptotic crack tip fields for a stationary crack provided by the indeterminate theory of couple stress elasticity, the effects of microstructure mainly consist in a switch in the sign of tractions and displacement and in a substantial increase in the singularity of tractions ahead of the crack-tip, with respect to the classical solution of LEFM and EPFM. The increase in the stress singularity also occurs for small values of the strain hardening coefficient and is essentially due to the skew-symmetric stress field, since the symmetric stress field turns out to be non-singular. Moreover, the obtained results show that the ratio η introduced by Koiter has a limited effect on the strength of the stress singularity. However, it displays a strong influence on the angular distribution of the asymptotic crack tip fields.     

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.     

Mode II dynamic fields near a crack tip growing in an elastic-perfectly-plastic solid

An asymptotic solution is given for Mode II dynamic fields in the neighborhood of the tip of a steadily advancing crack in an incompressible elastic—perfectly-plastic solid (plane strain). It is shown that, like for Modes I and III (Gao and Nemat-Nasser, 1983), the complete dynamic solution for Mode II predicts a logarithmic singularity for the strain field, but unlike for those modes which involve no elastic unloading, the pure Mode II solution includes two elastic sectors next to the stress-free crack surfaces. This is in contradiction to the quasi-static solution which predicts a small central plastic zone, followed by two large elastic zones, and then two very small plastic zones adjacent to the stress-free crack faces. The stress field for the complete dynamic solution varies throughout the entire crack tip neighborhood, admitting finite jumps at two shock fronts within the central plastic sector. This dynamic stress field is consistent with that of the stationary crack solution, and indeed reduces to it as the crack growth speed becomes zero.     

Effect of yield surface vertex on crack-tip fields in mode III

An asymptotic crack-tip analysis of stress and strain fields is carried out for an antiplane shear crack (Mode III) based on a corner theory of plasticity. Because of the nonproportional loading history experienced by a material element near the crack tip in stable crack growth, classical flow theory may predict an overly stiff response of the elastic plastic solid, as is the case in plastic buckling problems. The corner theory used here accounts for this anomalous behavior. The results are compared with those of a similar analysis based on the J₂ flow theory of plasticity.     

Asymptotic fields around an interfacial crack with a cohesive zone ahead of the crack tip

This paper considers an interfacial crack with a cohesive zone ahead of the crack tip in a linearly elastic isotropic bi-material and derives the mixed-mode asymptotic stress and displacement fields around the crack and cohesive zone under plane deformation conditions (plane stress or plane strain). The field solution is obtained using elliptic coordinates and complex functions and can be represented in terms of a complete set of complex eigenfunction terms. The imaginary portion of the eigenvalues is characterized by a bi-material mismatch parameter ε = arctanh(β)/π, where β is a Dundurs parameter, and the resulting fields do not contain stress singularity. The behaviors of “Mode I” type and “Mode II” type fields based on dominant eigenfunction terms are discussed in detail. For completeness, the counterpart for the Mode III solution is included in an appendix.     

Pre-kinking of a moving crack in a magnetoelectroelastic material under in-plane loading

A constant moving crack in a magnetoelectroelastic material under in-plane mechanical, electric and magnetic loading is studied for impermeable crack surface boundary conditions. Fourier transform is employed to reduce the mixed boundary value problem of the crack to dual integral equations, which are solved exactly. Steady-state asymptotic fields near the crack tip are obtained in closed form and the corresponding field intensity factors are expressed explicitly. The crack speed influences the singular field distribution around the crack tip and the effects of electric and magnetic loading on the crack tip fields are discussed. The crack kinking phenomena is investigated using the maximum hoop stress intensity factor criterion. The magnitude of the maximum hoop stress intensity factor tends to increase as the crack speed increases.     

Mode I and mode II crack tip asymptotic fields with strain gradient effects

The strain gradient effect becomes significant when the size of fracture process zone around a crack tip is comparable to the intrinsic material lengthl, typically of the order of microns. Using the new strain gradient deformation theory given by Chen and Wang, the asymptotic fields near a crack tip in an elastic-plastic material with strain gradient effects are investigated. It is established that the dominant strain field is irrotational. For mode I plane stress crack tip asymptotic field, the stress asymptotic field and the couple stress asymptotic field can not exist simultaneously. In the stress dominated asymptotic field, the angular distributions of stresses are consistent with the classical plane stress HRR field; In the couple stress dominated asymptotic field, the angular distributions of couple stresses are consistent with that obtained by Huang et al. For mode II plane stress and plane strain crack tip asymptotic fields, only the stress-dominated asymptotic fields exist. The couple stress asymptotic field is less singular than the stress asymptotic fields. The stress asymptotic fields are the same as mode II plane stress and plane strain HRR fields, respectively. The increase in stresses is not observed in strain gradient plasticity for mode I and mode II, because the present theory is based only on the rotational gradient of deformation and the crack tip asymptotic fields are irrotational and dominated by the stretching gradient. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19704100), National Natural Science Foundation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJ951-1-20), CAS K.C. Wong Post-doctoral Research Award Fund and Post-doctoral Science Fund of China     

Elastic perfectly-plastic asymptotic mixed mode crack tip fields in plane stress

Elastic perfectly-plastic asymptotic plane stress crack tip fields have been constructed by assembling elastic, constant stress and fan sectors under a complete range of mixed mode I/II states of loading. The angular stress distributions are fully continuous, and do not contain the stress discontinuities which have been a feature of many previously proposed solutions. The analytic solutions are verified by finite element solutions under contained yielding conditions. The structure of the elastic perfectly-plastic fields is compared to the structure of the asymptotic strain hardening fields.     

Analyses of steady quasistatic crack growth in plane strain tension in elastic-plastic materials with non-isotropic hardening

Steady state crack propagation problems of elastic-plastic materials in Mode I, plane strain under small scale yielding conditions were investigated with the aid of the finite element method. The elastic-perfectly plastic solution shows that elastic unloading wedges subtended by the crack tip in the plastic wake region do exist and that the stress state around the crack tip is similar to the modified Prandtl fan solution. To demonstrate the effects of a vertex on the yield surface, the small strain version of a phenomenological J₂, corner theory of plasticity (Christoffersen, J. and Hutchinson, J. W. J. Mech. Phys. Solids,27, 465 C 1979) with a power law stress strain relation was used to govern the strain hardening of the material. The results are compared with the conventional J₂ incremental plasticity solution. To take account of Bauschinger like effects caused by the stress history near the crack tip, a simple kinematic hardening rule with a bilinear stress strain relation was also studied. The results are again compared with the smooth yield surface isotropic hardening solution for the same stress strain curve. There appears to be more potential for steady state crack growth in the conventional J₂ incremental plasticity material than in the other two plasticity laws considered here if a crack opening displacement fracture criterion is used. However, a fracture criterion dependent on both stress and strain could lead to a contrary prediction.     

Wedge indentation into elastic-plastic single crystals, 1: Asymptotic fields for nearly-flat wedge

Asymptotic stress and deformation fields under the contact point singularities of a nearly-flat wedge indenter and of a flat punch are derived for elastic ideally-plastic single crystals with three effective in-plane slip systems that admit a plane strain deformation state. Face-centered cubic (FCC), body-centered cubic (BCC), and hexagonal-close packed (HCP) crystals are considered. The asymptotic fields for the flat punch are analogous to those at the tip of a stationary crack, so a potential solution is that the deformation field consists entirely of angular constant stress plastic sectors separated by rays of plastic deformation across which stresses change discontinuously. The asymptotic fields for a nearly-flat wedge indenter are analogous to those of a quasistatically growing crack tip fields in that stress discontinuities can not exist across sector boundaries. Hence, the asymptotic fields under the contact point singularities of a nearly-flat wedge indenter are significantly different than those under a flat punch. A family of solutions is derived that consists entirely of elastically deforming angular sectors separated by rays of plastic deformation across which the stress state is continuous. Such a solution can be found for FCC and BCC crystals, but it is shown that the asymptotic fields for HCP crystals must include at least one angular constant stress plastic sector. The structure of such fields is important because they play a significant role in the establishment of the overall fields under a wedge indenter in a single crystal. Numerical simulations—discussed in detail in a companion paper—of the stress and deformation fields under the contact point singularity of a wedge indenter for a FCC crystal possess the salient features of the analytical solution.     

A finite element study of the near crack tip deformation of a ductile material under mixed mode loading

In ductile fracture, voids near a crack tip play an important role. From this point of view, a large deformation finite element analysis has been made to study the deformation, stress and strain, and void ratio near the crack tip under mixed mode plane strain loading conditions, employing Gurson's constitutive equation which has taken into account the effects of void nucleation and growth. The results show that: (i) one corner of the crack tip sharpens while the other corner blunts, (ii) the stress and strain distributions except for the near crack tip region, can be superimposed by normalizing distance from the crack tip by a crack tip deformation length, i.e., a steady-state solution under a mixed mode condition has been obtained, (iii) the field near a crack tip can be divided into four characteristic fields (K field, HRR field, blunted crack tip field, and damaged region), and (iv) the strain and void volume fraction become concentrated in the sharpened part of a crack tip with increasing Mode II component.     

三维切口/裂纹结构的扩展边界元法分析

在线弹性理论中,三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构尖端区域存在多重应力奇异性,常规数值方法不易求解. 本文提出和建立了三维扩展边界元法 (XBEM),用于分析三维线弹性 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整的位移和应力场. 先将三维线弹性 V 形切口/裂纹结构分为尖端小扇形柱和挖去小扇形柱后的外围结构. 尖端小扇形柱内的位移函数采用自尖端径向距离 $r$ 的渐近级数展开式表达,其中尖端区域的应力奇异指数、位移和应力特征角函数通过插值矩阵法获得. 而级数展开式各项的幅值系数作为基本未知量. 挖去扇形域后的外围结构采用常规边界元法分析. 两者方程联立求解可获得三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整的位移和应力场,包括切口/裂纹尖端区域精细的应力场. 扩展边界元法具有半解析法特征,适用于一般三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整位移场和应力场的分析,其解可精细描述从尖端区域到整体结构区域的完整应力场. 作者研制了三维扩展边界元法程序,文中给出了两个算例,通过计算结果分析,表明了扩展边界元法求解三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整应力场的准确性和有效性.      

Elastic-plastic fields near crack tip growing step-by-step in a perfectly plastic solid

In this paper, based on the three-dimensional flow theory of plasticity, the fundametal equations for plane strain problem of elastic-perfectly plastic solids are presented. By using these equations the elastic-plastic fields near the crack tip growing step-by-step in an elastic incompressible-perfectly plastic solid are analysed.The first order asymptotic solutions for the stress field and velocity fields near the crack tip are obtained. The solutions show the evolution process of elastic unloading domain and the development process of central fan domain and reveal the possibility of the presence of the secondary plastic domain. The second order asymptotic solution for stress field is also presented.     

AN INVESTIGATION ON ASYMPTOTIC NEAR-TIP FIELDS OF DYNAMIC CRACK IN AN ELASTIC-PERFECTLY PLASTIC COMPRESSIBLE MATERIAL

The stress and deformation fields near the tip of a mode-I dynamic crack steadilypropagating in an elastic-perfectly plastic compressible material are considered under plane strain condi-tions. Within the framework of infinitesimal displacement gradient theory, the material is character-ized by the Von Mises yield criterion and the associated J_2 flow theory of plasticity. Through rigorousmathematical analysis, this paper eliminates the possibilities of elastic unloading and continuousasymptotic fields with singular deformation, and then constructs a fully continuous and boundedasymptotic stress and strain field. It is found that in this solution there exists a parameter (?)_0 whichcannot be determined by asymptotic analysis but may characterize the effect of the far field. Lastly thevariations of continuous stresses, velocities and strains around the crack tip are given numerically fordifferent values of (?)_0.     

Exponential stress and strain singularity at tip of mode I growing crack in power hardening plastic material

The stress-strain distribution near the tip of a Mode I growing crack in a power hardening plastic material is reconsidered. Two types of asymptotic equations are derived and solved numerically. It is shown that when the crack tip is approached, the stress is singular of the order r^−δ, while the strain is singular of the order r^−nδ, where r is the distance measured from the crack tip. The parameter δ is a constant; it depends on the hardening exponent n being greater than one.     

ANALYSIS OF 3-D NOTCHED/CRACKED STRUCTURES BY USING EXTENDED BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD 1)

在线弹性理论中,三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构尖端区域存在多重应力奇异性,常规数值方法不易求解. 本文提出和建立了三维扩展边界元法 (XBEM),用于分析三维线弹性 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整的位移和应力场. 先将三维线弹性 V 形切口/裂纹结构分为尖端小扇形柱和挖去小扇形柱后的外围结构. 尖端小扇形柱内的位移函数采用自尖端径向距离 $r$ 的渐近级数展开式表达,其中尖端区域的应力奇异指数、位移和应力特征角函数通过插值矩阵法获得. 而级数展开式各项的幅值系数作为基本未知量. 挖去扇形域后的外围结构采用常规边界元法分析. 两者方程联立求解可获得三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整的位移和应力场,包括切口/裂纹尖端区域精细的应力场. 扩展边界元法具有半解析法特征,适用于一般三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整位移场和应力场的分析,其解可精细描述从尖端区域到整体结构区域的完整应力场. 作者研制了三维扩展边界元法程序,文中给出了两个算例,通过计算结果分析,表明了扩展边界元法求解三维 V 形切口/裂纹结构完整应力场的准确性和有效性.     

Perfectly plastic stress field at a stationary crack tip

Under the hypothesis that all the perfectly plastic stress components at a orach tip are the functions of θ only, making use of yield conditions and equilibrium equations. we derive the generally analytical expressions of the perfectly plastic stress field at a crack tip. Applying these generally analytical expressions to the concrete cracks, the analytical expressions of perfectly plastic stress fields at the tips of Mode Ⅰ Mode Ⅱ, Mode Ⅲ and Mixed Mode Ⅰ-Ⅱ cracks are obtained.     

Anisotropic plastic stress fields at a slowly propagating crack tip

Under the condition that any perfectly plastic stress components at a crack tip are nothing but the functions of 0 only making use of equilibrium equations. Hill anisotropic yield condition and unloading stress-strain relations, in this paper, we derive the general analytical expressions of anisotropic plastic stress fields at the slowly steady propagating tips of plane and anti-plane strain. Applying these general analytical expressions to the concrete cracks, the analytical expressions of anisotropic plastic stress fields at the-slowly steady propagating tips of Mode I and Mode III cracks are obtained. For the isotropic plastic material, the anisotropic plastic stress fields at a slowly propagating crack tip become the perfectly plastic stress fields.     

Stress field of a damaged material near the crack tip

In this paper, a deformation theory of plasticity for damaged materials is proposed. An asymptotic expression forH near a crack tip is obtained. Finally, the stress and strain fields near the crack tip are presented.     

Plasticity aspects of interfacial fracture for polymer/glass specimens

Experimental results suggest that the interfacial fracture resistance is minimal for approximate near tip Mode I accompanied by positive and negative near tip Mode II. Finite-strain FE analysis is made for an elastic–plastic medium bonded to an ideally elastic medium with an interface crack. Small-scale plasticity conditions are invoked and examined in relation to the elastic–plastic stress distribution along the bond line. Plasticity engenders a tendency to turn near tip biaxiality towards pure Mode I regardless of the mixed-mode loading. High levels of hydrostatic stress are attained. For different mode mixities of the applied load, the dependence of the elastic–plastic normal bond stress on load level is examined. It is found that under positive Mode II loading, the normal bond stress σ_yy tends to saturate as the load level rises. This does not occur for Mode I and negative Mode II loading. In addition, deformation patterns inside the plastic zone are examined for mixed-mode situations. A displacement criterion based on the normal bond crack opening suggests a dependence of the critical load level on the extent of mixed mode. Under positive mode II fracture, traces of the ductile material are found at the top of the elastic substrate. Some of these conclusions appear to be consistent with the fracture patterns observed for LD-polyethylene/glass interfacial mixed-mode fracture.