Influence of shear parameters on mixed–mode fracture of concrete

The influence of the mode II fracture parameters on the mixed mode fracture experimental tests of quasibrittle materials is studied. The study is based on experimental results and numerical analyses. For the numerical study, a procedure for mixed mode fracture of quasibrittle materials is presented. The numerical procedure is based on the cohesive crack approach, and extends it to mixed mode fracture. Four experimental sets of mixed mode fracture were modelled, one from Arrea and Ingraffea and another from a nonproportional loading by the authors, both with bending concrete beams. Two other sets of experimental fracture were modelled, based on double-edge notched testing; in these tests an important mode II is beforehand expected. The numerical results agree quite well with experimental records. The influence of the main parameters for mode II fracture on the mixed mode fracture is studied for the four experimental set of tests and compared with these results. In all them, large changes in the mode II fracture energy hardly modify the numerical results. The tangential and normal stresses along the crack path during the loading proccess are obtained, also with different values of the mode II fracture energy. For the studied experimental tests it is concluded that the crack is initiated under mixed mode but propagated under predominant mode I. This allows a development of mixed mode fracture models, mainly based on standard properties of the material measured by standard methods, avoiding the problems associated with the measurement of mode II fracture parameters, such as mode II fracture energy and cohesion.     

Fracture of case-hardened steel in bending

An analytical model is presented for the fracture of case-hardened steel specimens in bending. The case-hardened steel is characterized as a material having a gradient of fracture toughness in the case and a constant fracture toughness in the core. Linear elastic fracture mechanics is used to predict load/crack length/displacement relationships and absorbed energy. The model is used to explain the influence of case depth, core fracture toughness and residual stress on the maximum fracture load and the influence of core thickness on absorbed energy.     

Prediction of the Brittle Fracture Toughness of Neutron-Irradiated Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels. Part 2

We apply the proposed model to study the effect of irradiation on the temperature dependence of brittle fracture toughness of 15Kh2MFA steel. We analyze also the influence of irradiation and the content of phosphorus and copper on the brittle fracture toughness. It is demonstrated that the probabilistic model, which is based on a new formulation of the brittle fracture criterion, allows an adequate prediction of the irradiation effect on the fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel steels. Alternative models of prediction of fracture toughness are discussed.     

The effect of microstructure and stress state on the fracture behaviour of wood

Based on a general fracture mechanics approach, this paper attempts to correlate macroscopic fracture properties with micromechanical behaviour in wooD. In the first part, the influence of orientation, cell size and other structural features of wood on toughness, fatigue resistance and fracture morphology is described. Subsequently, experimental observations of crack tunnelling effects are reported which, coupled with direct crack tip strain measurements and a verification of the influence of specimen thickness on fracture properties, confirm the existence of stress state variations across a crack front in wood, and the corresponding effects on fracture behaviour. Irreversible crack-tip deformation modes are identified, involving intercellular debonding, cell twisting and buckling, and the role of stress triaxiality is discussed. A strain criteria for the fracture of pre-notched bulk wood specimens is developed, based on an observed linear relationship between notch root radius and crack opening displacement for fracture initiation.     

Interlaminar fracture morphology of carbon fibre/PEEK composites

The interlaminar fracture morphology of a carbon fibre/poly(ether-ether-ketone) composite (Aromatic Polymer Composite, APC-2) has been examined. The techniques used included scanning electron microscopy on fracture surfaces and on polished and etched sections. Two types of interlaminar fracture are observed: stable and unstable fracture. Both fracture surfaces exhibit microductility but it is more extensive for stable fracture. The fracture surfaces are not planar but have surface roughness. Fibre breakage and peeling are also observed and a quantitative examination enables the fracture energy contributions from the various processes to be calculated. The use of an etching technique reveals the spherulite texture and the presence of a deformation zone which extends into the bulk of the composite from the fracture surface. The extent of this zone is greater in the stable fracture region than in the unstable region and its presence indicates that the volume of composite which can be brought into the energy absorbing process extends well beyond the interlaminar region. The size of the zone has also been calculated using the fracture energy contributions and there is moderate agreement between calculated and observed zone size. Patterns of microductility on the fracture surface are seen to be due to spherulite texture, however the spherulite boundaries do not influence the fracture path.     

Modeling of cohesive crack growth in partially saturated porous media; a study on the permeability of cohesive fracture

Modeling the water flow in cohesive fracture is a fundamental issue in the crack growth simulation of cracked concrete gravity dams and hydraulic fracture problems. In this paper, a mathematical model is presented for the analysis of fracture propagation in the semi-saturated porous media. The solid behavior incorporates a discrete cohesive fracture model, coupled with the flow in porous media through the fracture network. The double-nodded zero-thickness cohesive interface element is employed for the mixed mode fracture behavior in tension and contact behavior in compression. The modified crack permeability is applied in fracture propagation based on the data obtained from experimental results to implement the roughness of fracture walls.     

Influence of local fracture energy distribution on maximum fracture load of three-point-bending notched concrete beams

The maximum fracture load of a notched concrete beam has been related to the local fracture energy at the cohesive crack tip region analytically in this paper, and then the correlation between the size effects on the maximum fracture loads and the RILEM specific fracture energy is established. Two extreme conditions have been established, namely zero crack-tip bridging with zero local fracture energy and maximum crack-tip bridging with the maximum size-independent fracture energy. It is concluded that the local fracture energy at the crack tip region indeed varies with the initial crack length and the size of specimen. The tri-linear model for the local fracture energy distribution is confirmed by using the proposed simple analytical solution.     

Statistical character of the failure of multiphase materials due to high pressure water jet impingement

In this study, fracture experiments on multiphase material samples have been carried out using high speed water jets. Based on fracture geometry measurements and on grain analyses it was found that the fracture of this type of materials by water jet impingement is a highly localized process at low pressure ranges. Beyond a critical pressure range of about 30 times the material's tensile strength a change in the material behaviour was observed. This result is in agreement with a theory suggested by Powell and Simpson. To explain the local character of the failure process, a simplified fracture model is introduced which resulted in a relation between a fracture probability parameter and the fracture width in the damaged materials.     

材料断口分形维数分析

本文分析了应用分形维数描述材料断口轮廓形貌几何特征的局限性。结果指出，分形维数对于材料断口粗糙度的变化是不敏感的，该参数与材料断口轮廓几何形态和断裂韧性之间不存在确定性的关系。     

某型船用中速柴油机气阀阀桥导杆断裂问题

某型船用中速柴油机在使用过程中,经常发生气阀阀桥导杆断裂的问题（主要集中在排气阀侧的阀桥导杆,少量进气阀侧的阀桥导杆）。为了找到其断裂的原因,首先对阀桥导杆的断口进行电镜扫描,通过分析断口形式,确定导杆断裂属于疲劳断裂;而后建立整个气阀机构的简化实体模型,基于NASTRON对几种临界状态下的应力进行有限元分析,确定导致导杆断裂的主要原因。     

Numerical prediction of slant fracture with continuum damage mechanics

Ductile specimens always exhibit an inclined fracture surface with an angle relative to the loading axis. This paper reports a numerical study on the cup-cone fracture mode in round bar tensile tests and the slant fracture in plane-strain specimens based on continuum damage mechanics. A combined implicit-explicit numerical scheme is first developed within ABAQUS through user defined material subroutines, in which the implicit solver: Standard, and the explicit solver: Explicit, are sequentially used to predict one single damage/fracture process. It is demonstrated that this numerical approach is able to significantly reduce computational cost for the simulation of fracture tests under quasi-static or low-rate loading. Comparison with various tensile tests on 2024-T351 aluminum alloy is made showing good correlations in terms of the load-displacement response and the fracture patterns. However, some differences exist in the prediction of the critical displacement to fracture.     

Numerical simulation study of shale gas reservoir with stress-dependent fracture conductivity using multiscale discrete fracture network model

The exploitation of shale gas has increasingly become the focus of worldwide energy industry. Due to the existence of natural/hydraulic fractures, most of the shale gas reservoirs exhibit high degree of heterogeneity and complexity which leads to the stress-dependent fracture conductivity of shale gas reservoir. Discrete fracture network (DFN) model is adopted in this research since the conventional continuum model cannot meet the numerical simulation requirements of fractured shale gas reservoir. A series of experiments about the fracture properties stress-dependent have been conducted on some shale core samples, the stress-dependent fracture conductivity correlation is selected and incorporated into the mathematical model to characterize the reduction of fracture conductivity potential with the reservoir pressure drop. The DFN model is applied to a shale gas reservoir with fracture network to study the effect of the stress-dependent fracture conductivity on the shale gas well performance. The results show that the effect of fracture conductivity reduction with pressure drop on the shale gas well performance depends on both the initial fracture conductivity and matrix permeability. The complex interactions between the fracture and matrix permeability should be considered when select the appropriate size of proppants for fracturing.     

新型耐火耐候钢材高温力学性能与本构模型研究

火灾下钢构件断裂破坏是导致整体结构连续性倒塌的主要原因之一,掌握钢材高温断裂性能是研究钢结构抗火承载性能和评估高温后结构安全性的基础。以Q355钢为研究对象,设计光滑圆棒和缺口圆棒试件,进行火灾全过程(升温段、降温段、高温后)拉伸断裂试验,研究复杂应力状态(应力三轴度)和温升历程(峰值温度和拉伸温度)对钢材工程和真实应力-应变曲线、断裂应变的影响,并通过电镜扫描研究其微观断裂机理,结合数值模拟对高温断裂模型进行参数标定。研究表明：火灾全过程下Q355钢材呈现韧性断裂特征,拉伸温度和应力三轴度对其断裂性能影响较大;拉伸温度和峰值温度越高,断裂应变越大,延性越好,高温后断裂性能与常温相似;应力三轴度影响材料断裂性能对温度的敏感性,温升历程影响真实应力-应变曲线塑性段斜率;SMCS断裂模型适用于预测Q355钢材火灾全过程断裂行为,需采用不同参数表征钢材升温段和降温段断裂性能。

     

Radiation embrittlement modelling in multi-scale approach to brittle fracture of RPV steels

The purpose of the present article is to develop a multi-scale brittle fracture modelling for irradiated RPV materials. For this development, applicability of local brittle fracture criteria for radiation embrittlement modelling is analysed through comparison of the predicted and test results on radiation embrittlement of RPV steels in terms of ductile-to-brittle transition temperature and fracture toughness. The influence of radiation-induced defects on the processes of cleavage microcrack nucleation and propagation is clarified. The physical-and-mechanical models of the effect of irradiation-induced defects on cleavage microcrack nucleation are developed on the basis of dislocation and brittle fracture theories. Stress-and-strain controlled fracture criterion is developed that allows the adequate prediction of radiation embrittlement by various mechanisms. The differences and commonalities are revealed in the nature of material embrittlement due to cold work and neutron irradiation. The mechanism is explained of significant recovery of fracture resistance properties with simultaneous increase of fraction of intercrystalline fracture after post-irradiation annealing. Engineering approach for prediction of the temperature dependence of fracture toughness as a function of neutron fluence is justified.     

Effect of pre-strain on fracture toughness of ductile structural steels under static and dynamic loading

The ductile fracture process consists of void nucleation, growth and coalescence. The whole ductile process can be divided into two successive steps: (I) the initial state to void nucleation, followed by (II) void growth up to void coalescence. Based on this suggestion, resistance to ductile fracture could be divided into the resistance to stage I and stage II, and accordingly the whole fracture toughness could be regarded to be due to contributions from stages I and II. The fracture toughness contributed from the two steps is, respectively, denoted as void nucleation-contributed fracture toughness and void growth-contributed fracture toughness. The effect of plastic pre-strain on the fracture toughness of ductile structural steels under static and dynamic loading (4.9 m/s) within the ductile fracture range was evaluated by summing contributions due to void nucleation-contributed and void growth-contributed fracture toughness. The effect of strain rate on fracture toughness was also investigated by the same means. The results show that both plastic pre-strain and high-speed loading decrease the void nucleation-contributed fracture toughness while their effects on the void growth-contributed fracture toughness depend on the variations in strength and ductility. Moreover, fracture toughness of structural steels generally decreases with increasing strain rate.     

Significance of K-dominance zone size and nonsingular stress field in brittle fracture

Stress intensity factor has been used to characterize the fracture toughness of a brittle material. This practice is apparently based on the assumption that the singular stress alone at the crack tip is responsible for fracture and that the nonsingular part of the near tip stress has no effect on fracture. In this study, mode I fracture experiments were conducted on a brittle material (PMMA) with four different specimen configurations. The result indicated that fracture toughness cannot be described by stress intensity alone and that a second parameter representing the influence of the nonsingular stress is needed. A two-parameter fracture model was proposed and validated with the experimental result. This two-parameter model was shown to be able to account for various effects created by specimen configurations, crack sizes, and loading conditions, on the fracture behavior of brittle materials.     

Composition and size dependent torsion fracture of metallic glasses

The fracture of metallic glasses(MGs)of different compositions and sizes down to micrometers under torsion loading were systematically investigated.Contrary to the flat shear fracture along the circumfer-ential plane as commonly supposed under torsion,we find that the torsion fracture of metallic glasses can deviate from flat shear plane,and the fracture angle is closely dependent on the composition and the size of MG samples.With a conversion method,we show that the torsion fracture of both millimeter-and micrometer-sized MGs can be described by the ellipse fracture criterion as originally proposed for the tension fracture.The deviation from the circumferential shear plane under torsion is further shown to intrinsically relate to the fracture toughness of MGs.The tougher MG tends to have a smaller fracture angle with respect to the maximum shear plane,and vice versa,indicating a correlation between the fracture toughness and pressure/normal stress sensitivity in MGs.Our results provide new insights on the fracture mechanism and are helpful to design and control the deformation and fracture behavior of MGs under torsion loading.     

Investigation of mixed mode brittle fracture in rounded-tip V-notched components

A criterion is proposed for brittle fracture analysis in rounded-tip V-notched components. This criterion, called RV-MTS, is developed based on the maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion proposed earlier for investigating mixed mode brittle fracture in sharp cracks. Using the RV-MTS criterion, a set of fracture curves is presented based on the notch stress intensity factors (NSIFs) for predicting mixed mode and also pure mode II fracture toughness of rounded-tip V-notches. The criterion is also able to predict fracture initiation angles under mixed mode loading. The validity of the criterion is evaluated by several fracture tests performed on the rounded-tip V-notched Brazilian disc (RV-BD) specimens made of PMMA. A good agreement is shown to exist between the theoretical predictions and the experimental results for various notch opening angles and different notch radii.     

Fracture toughness of epoxy/multi-walled carbon nanotube nano-composites under bending and shear loading conditions

The effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the mechanical properties of epoxy/MWCNT nano-composites were studied with emphasis on fracture toughness under bending and shear loading conditions. Several finite element (FE) analyses were performed to determine appropriate shear loading boundary conditions for a single-edge notch bend specimen (SENB) and an equation was derived for calculating the shear loading fracture toughness from the fracture load. It was seen that the increase in fracture toughness of nano-composite depends on the type of loading. That is to say, the presence of MWCNTs had a greater effect on fracture toughness of nano-composites under shear loading compared with normal loading. To study the fracture mechanisms, several scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures were taken from the fracture surfaces. A correlation was found between the characteristics of fracture surface and the mechanical behaviors observed in the fracture tests.     

Inherent flaw size and fracture energy of polystyrene

The effect of sharp cracks of various lengths on the fracture behaviour of polystyrene under conditions of constant strain rate and constant load have been investigated. The fracture surfaces can be divided into regions similar in character to those identified on uncracked specimens. The geometry of the crazed fracture surfaces has been studied.The relation between fracture stress and crack length follows the Griffith equation where the crack length is taken as the total length of the slow crack growth region. The value of fracture energy obtained is compared with that for other grades of polystyrene and other polymers.In uncracked specimens tested under constant strain-rate and constant load conditions the slow growth region is identified as the inherent flaw. Measurement of the slow growth size allows a calculation of the fracture energy as a function of strain rate or constant load. The fracture energy is found to depend on the shape and dimension of the craze and rate of craze growth.