AN ENGINEERING FRACTURE PARAMETER FOR NON-J-CONTROLLED CRACK GROWTH

Abstract— An engineering fracture parameter (CTOA) is studied under non- J -controlled growth. Based on the asymptotic solution of the crack tip field and the concept of the ₁ integral, an analytical relation linking the crack tip opening angle (CTOA) and the ₁ integral is established. A numerical investigation of the process of crack growth is carried out by the finite element method. The whole field solution, fracture parameters and indeterminate parameters are determined by FE analysis. An experimental investigation on a ductile structural steel has also been conducted and the crack resistance curve (CTOA)_R is obtained. The numerical and experimental results validate the theoretical analysis and show that they are consistent. It can be concluded that CTOA is always constant during steady crack propagation.