Crack linkup: An experimental analysis

TheT _ɛ ^* integral was used to assess stable crack growth and crack linkup in 0.8 mm thick 2024-T3 aluminum tension specimens with multiple site damage (MSD) under monotonic and cyclic loads. TheT _ɛ ^* values were obtained directly from the recorded moiré fringes on the fracture specimens with and without MSD. TheT _ɛ ^* resistance curves of these fracture specimens of different geometries were in excellent agreement with each other. The results suggest thatT _ɛ ^* is a material parameter which can be used to characterize crack growth and linkup in the absence of large overloading.T _ɛ ^* based crack growth and net-section-yield based crack linkup criteria for MSD specimens are proposed. The crack tip opening angle (CTOA) criterion can also be used to correlate crack growth larger than 2 mm.     

Experimental investigation on the propagation of fatigue cracks emanating from sharp notches

The effect of notch geometry on the propagation of fatigue cracks emanating from sharp V-shaped notches is investigated by means of an experimental campaign performed on Al-7075-T651 specimens carrying notches with opening angles of 45°, 90°, and 135°. The samples were tested using a servohydraulic machine under different loading directions and at several loading levels. The crack deflection induced by the variation in loading direction was determined my measuring the kinking angle and by studying the crack propagation plane through fractographic analysis. A linear elastic fracture mechanics approach was adopted for the analysis of experimental results. Stress intensity factors were calculated using an appropriate weight function set up for studying inclined edge cracks emanating from sharp V-notches. The influence of K _II on the crack propagation was discussed on the basis of theoretical and semi empirical models.     

An Experimental Study of Mixed Mode Crack Initiation and Growth in Functionally Graded Materials

Quasi-static mixed mode crack initiation and growth in functionally graded materials (FGMs) was studied through fracture experiments on polymer-based FGMs manufactured by selective ultraviolet irradiation poly(ethylene carbon monoxide)—a photo-sensitive copolymer that becomes more brittle and stiffer under ultraviolet irradiation. The objective of the study was to determine whether crack kinking criteria for homogeneous materials, e.g., maximum hoop stress criterion, also hold for FGMs. Single edge notched tension specimens with different spatial variations of Young's modulus, failure stress and failure strain, were tested. Near tip mode mixity was introduced either by inclining the crack to the remote loading direction, as in the case of homogeneous materials, or to the direction of material gradient, or both. A full-field digital image correlation technique was used to measure in real-time the displacement field around the crack tip while it propagated through the graded material, and to extract the fracture parameters of stress intensity factor K _I and K _II , and the T-stress. It was found that the nonsingular T-stress term in the asymptotic expansion for stresses plays a very important role in accurately measuring fracture parameters. It was also found that the maximum tangential stress criterion can be applied to the case of FGMs to predict crack kinking provided that the effect of the T-stress is accounted for and the process zone size is small compared to the intrinsic material gradient length scale. However, for accurate crack path prediction at a length scale comparable to the material gradient, detailed material property information is required. In general, the crack will propagate towards a region that exhibits less fracture toughness, but, unlike the case of homogeneous materials, along a path where K _II is not necessarily equal to zero.     

Axial crack propagation and arrest in a pressurized cylinder: An experimental-numerical analysis

The feasibility of using a previously developed crack-kinking criterion to predict crack arrest at a tear strap in a pressurized fuselage was studied with instrumented axial rupture tests of 21 models of an idealized fuselage. A rapidly propagating axial crack, which was initiated from a precrack, kinked immediately upon extension and propagated diagonally until it turned circumferentially and propagated along the tear straps. An elastodynamic finite element analysis of the rupturing model fuselage yielded the mixed-mode stress intensity factors,K _I andK _II , and the remote stress component, σ _OX . This numerical procedure was also used to predict the crack trajectories in full-scale fuselage rupture tests. All numerical results agreed well with their measured counterparts regardless of size.     

Computer simulated analyses on deformation and fracture of non-cracked and cracked specimens

A unified damage and fracture model, the combinatory work density model, which is suitable for either non-cracked body or cracked body has been suggested^[t−7]. In the present paper, the deformation and fracture of the two kinds of tensile spceimen and TPB specimen made of 40Cr steel have been simulated by using the new model together with the large elastic-plastic deformation finite element method. The results give a good picture of the whole deformation and fracture processes of the specimens in experiments; especially, the results on the TPB specimen can be used to obtain the relationship between load and displacement at the loading pointP-Δ, and between crack extension and displacement at the loading point Δa-Δ, the resistance curveJ _R -Δa and the fracture toughnessJ _1C . All the results are in remarkable agreement with those obtained by experiments. Therefore the model suggested here can be used to simulate crack initiation and propagation in non-cracked body and fracture initiation and crack stable propagation in cracked body. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China     

脆性材料在双向应力下的断裂实验与理论分析

研究了脆性材料在双向应力下的断裂特性和失效机理，特别是在平行于裂纹的应力对临界断裂参数的影响方面进行了实验上和理论上的研究．采用玻璃、陶瓷等脆性材料进行了平面双向拉伸和单向拉伸试验，并对实验结果进行比较．观测直通裂纹的启裂和扩展过程，证明了双向应力对裂纹驱动力有明显影响，讨论了裂纹扩展的应变准则．     

K Ic and J-resistance-curve measurements on Nevada tuff

Linear-elastic fracture mechanics and J-integral test methods were used to determine the static fracture behavior of a porous volcanic tuff. Notched and prefatigued specimens of two different sizes were tested in three-point bending. The fracture toughness (K _Ic ) and theJ-resistance (J vs. crack growth) curve for each specimen was determined. The results indicate that there is good agreement between the fracture parameters determined by the two methods; however, there is some dependence of the results on specimen size. Possible reasons for this specimen-size dependence are discussed.     

Fracture mechanics of plates and shells applied to fail-safe analysis of fuselage Part II: Computational results

In this paper, the problem of the fracture of a fuselage stiffened by longitudinal longerons and circumferential frames is analyzed by means of the finite element method. Our research is motivated by the fail-safety design concept of fuselage for civil aircraft. In this study, the total energy release rate are evaluated for five types of basic loading, namely, axial extension, pure bending, twisting, transverse shearing, and radial expansion due to internal pressure. The crack is located either at the mid-point or near the end of the fuselage. It extends in two bays with the stiffener at its center. The stiffener which bisects the crack is assumed to be broken at the location of the crack. Computational results indicate that the total energy release rate G_t increases with the increasing crack length. However, when the crack tip approaches the stiffener, the value of G_t decreases as a result of the reinforcement from the stiffener. For a crack near the end of the fuselage, as a result of boundary effect, the value of G_t is larger in comparison with the case of the crack at the mid-point of the fuselage. We also find that the effect of geometrical nonlinearity can reduce the value of G_t for the fuselage under axial tension or pure bending. For the fractured fuselage under pure bending, shell buckling can occur at the concave side of the fuselage prior to crack growth. The maximum tensile stress in the stiffener in front of the crack tip is also investigated.     

Crack Path Selection in Thermally Loaded Borosilicate/Steel Bibeam Specimen

We have developed a novel specimen for studying crack paths in glass. Under certain conditions, the specimen reaches a state where the crack must select between multiple paths satisfying the K _II = 0 condition. This path selection is a simple but challenging benchmark case for both analytical and numerical methods of predicting crack propagation. We document the development of the specimen, using an uncracked and instrumented test case to study the effect of adhesive choice and validate the accuracy of both a simple beam theory model and a finite element model. In addition, we present preliminary fracture test results and provide a comparison to the path predicted by two numerical methods (mesh restructuring and XFEM). The directional stability of the crack path and differences in kink angle predicted by various crack kinking criteria is analyzed with a finite element model.     

Effect of specimen size and crack depth on 3D crack-front constraint for SENB specimens

Three-dimensional (3D) elastic–plastic finite element analyses (FEA) are performed to study constraint effect on the crack-front stress fields for single-edge notched bend (SENB) specimens. Both rectangular and square cross-section of the specimens with a deep crack of a/W=0.5 are considered to investigate the effect of specimen size. A square-cross-section specimen with a shallow crack of a/W=0.15 is also considered to examine the effect of crack depth. Stresses from FEA at the crack front on different planes of the specimen are compared with those determined by the J–A₂ three-term solution. Results show that in-plane stress fields can be characterized by the three-term solution throughout the thickness even in the region near the free surface. Cleavage fracture toughness data is compared to predict the effects of specimen size and crack depth on fracture behavior. It is found that the distributions of crack opening stress are nearly the same for the SENB specimens at the critical J which is consistent with the RKR model. Furthermore our results indicate that there is a distinct relationship between the crack-front constraint and the cleavage fracture toughness. By introducing the failure curves, the minimum fracture toughness and scatter band can be well captured using the J–A₂ approach.     

平面应变下紧凑拉伸试样的动态断裂韧性的实验研究

材料的动态断裂韧性是衡量材料在动载荷作用下抵杭裂纹扩展能力的重要指标,以往的材料动态断裂韧性测试多采用三点弯曲试样,而针对紧凑拉伸试样的动态断裂韧性研究很少.本文将紧凑拉伸试样(即CT试样)简化成等效弹簧质量模型,得到了CT试样动态应力强度因子的近似表达式.对Hopkinson压杆装置进行了改进,利用改进后的实验装置进...     

评估材料断裂韧性的损伤等效法

以实际结构充实验试件与ＨＲＲ裂尖场的一特征点的损伤相当为原则，建立了ＨＲＲ场的裂尖控制参数与实际试件在结构裂尖控制参数之间的关系．据此可消除不同试件因约束不同而导致的断裂韧性的变化；亦可用来评估实际结构及试件的断裂失效。     

中心直裂纹平台巴西圆盘复合型动态应力强度因子

为了指导用中心直裂纹平台巴西圆盘(CSTFBD)试样进行岩石复合型动态断裂 试验,利用有限元法首先验证了文献中对中心直裂纹巴西圆盘(CSTBD)得到的有关结果,分析 比较了不同无量纲裂纹长度(即裂纹半长和圆盘半径之比)时两种圆盘的I, II型动态应力 强度因子的时间历程,发现两者的差异大部分在10{\%}以内,同时验证了该文数值方法的可 靠性. 然后讨论了CSTFBD试样I, II型动态应力强度因子的复合比、起裂角以及纯II型加 载角. 研究成果可为复合型动态断裂试验中CSTFBD试样的加工、试样上应变片的粘贴、起裂 方向和起裂时间的估计等提供参考.     

Characterization of crack tip stresses in plane-strain fracture specimens having weld center crack

Fracture toughness of metals depends strongly on the state of stress near the crack tip. The existing standards (like R-6, SINTAP) are being modified to account for the influence of stress triaxiality in the flaw assessment procedures. These modifications are based on the ability of so-called ‘constraint parameters’ to describe near tip stresses. Crack tip stresses in homogeneous fracture specimens are successfully described in terms of two parameters like J–Q or J–T. For fracture specimens having a weld center crack, strength mismatch ratio between base and weld material and weld width are the additional variables, along with the magnitude of applied loading, type of loading, and geometry of specimen that affect the crack tip stresses. In this work, a novel three-parameter scheme was proposed to estimate the crack tip opening stress accounting for the above-mentioned variables. The first and second parameters represent the crack tip opening stress in a homogeneous fracture specimen under small-scale yielding and are well known. The third parameter accounts for the effect of constraint developed due to weld strength mismatch. It comprises of weld strength mismatch ratio (M, i.e. ratio of yield strength of weld material to that of base material), and a plastic interaction factor (I_p) that scales the size of the plastic zone with the width of the weld material. The plastic interaction factor represents the degree of influence of weld strength mismatch on crack tip constraint for a given mismatch ratio. The proposed scheme was validated with detailed FE analysis using the Modified Boundary Layer formulation.     

CTS试样I/II混合型断裂特性数值计算研究

采用CTS试样研究I/II混合型断裂特性计算裂纹前缘应力强度因子时可采用解析公式,一旦裂纹发生扩展,解析公式便不再适用。文中采用有限元法研究紧凑拉伸剪切（CTS）试样在I/II平面混合型加载下的裂纹扩展行为。采用ANSYS建立CTS试样I/II混合型测试系统有限元模型,为模拟真实受力状态,在CTS试样-销-扇型夹具以及扇型夹具-销-U型夹具之间分别建立接触对进行接触力学分析。通过与解析公式结果进行对比验证了该数值方法的可靠性。采用最大环向应力准则（MTS）,模拟了CTS试样不同加载角度下的裂纹扩展路径,获得了裂纹扩展路径中应力强度因子随裂纹长度的变化曲线,解释了裂纹扩展路径不与外载荷方向垂直的原因。结合文中计算结果,在CTS试样I/II混合型裂纹扩展速率实验测得裂纹长度与寿命的关系曲线a-N的基础上,便可得到材料I/II型混合型裂纹扩展速率曲线。     

试样疲劳性能尺度效应的概率控制体积方法

试样尺度、缺口和加载方式通常对材料的疲劳性能具有重要影响. 因此,发展关联试样尺度、缺口和加载方式对疲劳强度影响的方法对于从材料疲劳性能到结构件疲劳性能的预测具有重要意义.首先,采用旋转弯曲加载和轴向加载方式对不同几何形状EA4T车轴钢试样进行了疲劳实验.实验结果表明, 由于试样尺度的增加,轴向加载下狗骨形试样的疲劳强度明显低于沙漏形试样; 相同寿命下,缺口显著降低试样的疲劳强度. 疲劳断口扫描电镜观测结果表明,疲劳裂纹均起源于试样表面.沙漏形试样和狗骨形试样疲劳断口大多只有一个裂纹源,而缺口试样疲劳断口均具有多裂纹源特征. 然后,采用概率控制体积方法研究了试样尺度、缺口和加载方式对疲劳强度的影响,并与临界距离和应变能密度方法进行了比较. 结果表明,概率控制体积方法能够更好地关联试样尺度、缺口和加载方式对EA4T车轴钢疲劳强度的影响.最后, 提出一种基于控制体积的结构件疲劳强度预测方法,并用于具有不连续高应力区域车轴钢试样的疲劳强度预测,预测结果与实验结果 吻合.      

Crack kinking from an interface crack with initial contact between the crack lips

The authors recently theoretically studied crack kinking and opening from an initially closed crack (without friction) in some homogeneous medium. The same problem, but for an interface crack, is considered here. Comninou has shown that the asymptotic stress field prior to kinking is governed by a single, mode II stress intensity factor (SIF). Using this result, plus a homogeneity property of the problems of elastic fracture mechanics with unilateral contact envisaged, a change of scale, and two reasonable hypotheses, we establish the expression of the SIF at the tip of the small, open crack extension. It is shown that whatever the geometry of the external boundary and the crack and whatever the loading, these SIF depend solely upon the initial (mode II) SIF (in a linear way), the kink angle and Dundurs' parameters α and β. Using this result and Goldstein and Salganik's “principle of local symmetry” to predict the kink angle, one finds that it is independent of the loading but does depend upon Dundurs' parameters α and β. This contrasts with the case of an ordinary (initially closed) crack in some homogeneous medium, for which the kink angle was not only independent of the loading but an absolute constant. However, it is numerically found that the influence of the mismatch of elastic properties upon the kink angle is rather weak.     

An improved experimental method for the determination of the critical stress intensity factor KIc of brittle materials

The critical stress intensity factor K_Ic is determined by a simple and accurate method, using small test specimens and a simple procedure in this paper.Single edge V-notched tension specimens made of PMMA are subjected to a load which is slowly increased until the crack begins to move from the notch tip. During the crack propagation event shadow patterns at the tip of the crack are recorded in a video recorder. Under these loading conditions, the creating real crack propagate slowly until the crack propagation velocity take an abrupt increase and the entire fracture of the specimen takes place. The stress intensity factor which correspond to the transition from the slow to fast crack speed, is the critical stress intensity factor K_Ic and it can be the fracture toughness of the material.The results are accurate and in good agreement with those values of K_Ic which are calculated by approximate theoretical expressions.The purpose of this paper is to introduce an improved, simple and accurate experimental method for the determination of fracture toughness of brittle materials.     

Brittle fracture: Variation of fracture toughness with constraint and crack curving under mode I conditions

The effect of constraint on brittle fracture of solids under predominantly elastic deformation and mode I loading conditions is studied. Using different cracked specimen geometry, the variation of constraint is achieved in this work. Fracture tests of polymethyl methacrylate were performed using single edge notch, compact tension and double cantilever beam specimens to cover a bread range of constraint. The test data demonstrate that the apparent fracture toughness of the material varies with the specimen geometry or the constraint level. Theory is developed using the critical stress (strain) as the fracture criterion to show that this variation can be interpreted using the critical stress intensity factorK _Cand a second parameterT orA ₃,whereT andA ₃are the amplitudes of the second and the third term in the Williams series solution, respectively. The implication of this constraint effect to the ASTM fracture toughness value, crack tip opening displacement fracture criterion and energy release rateG _Cis discussed. Using the same critical stress (strain) as the fracture criterion, the theory further predicts crack curving or instability under mode I loading conditions. Experimental data are presented and compared with the theory.     

Dynamic crack kinking from a PMMA/Homalite interface

The behavior of a pre-existing, dynamically loaded, interfacial crack kinking away from the interface separating two materials was experimentally investigated under dynamic loading conditions. Dynamic fracture experiments were performed on pre-cracked bimaterial panels of PMMA bonded with Homalite-100 impact loaded using a high-speed gas gun. By varying the location of impact, a large range of mixed mode loading at the crack tip was produced. Information about the stress state surrounding the crack tip was obtained through use of the lateral shearing interferometer of coherent gradient sensing in conjunction with high-speed photography. The high-speed interferogram corresponding, to the time of crack initiation was analyzed in each case to find the preinitiation mode mixity at the crack tip. Measurement of both the local initiation mode mixity and the crack kink angle allows for possible extension of existing quasi-static interface crack kinking criteria, such as maximum opening stress or maximum energy release rate, to the case of dynamic loading. It was found that for bimaterial systems with small material property mismatch, such as the PMMA/Homalite system, the maximum opening stress criterion accurately predicts the relation between crack tip mode mixity and resulting kink angle for small initial crack kinking speeds.