Mode-I fracture toughness testing of thick section FRP composites using the ESE(T) specimen

Experimental and numerical analyses are performed to determine the translayer mode-I fracture toughness of a thick-section fiber reinforced polymeric composite using the eccentrically loaded, single-edge-notch tension, ESE(T) specimen. Finite element analyses using the virtual crack closure technique were performed to assess the effect of material orthotropy on the mode-I stress intensity factors in the ESE(T) specimen. The stress intensity factors for the proposed ESE(T) geometry, are calculated as a function of the material orthotropic parameters. The formula is validated for a class of thick composite materials. The thick composite tested in this study is a pultruded composite material that consists of roving and continuous filament mat layers with E-glass fiber and polyester matrix materials. Data reduction from the fracture tests was performed using two methods based on existing metallic and composite ASTM [ASTM E 1922, Standard Test Method for Translaminar Fracture Toughness of Laminated Polymer Matrix Composites, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, 1997; ASTM E 399, Standard Test Method for Plane-Strain Fracture Toughness of Metallic Materials, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, 1997] fracture testing standards. Criteria for assessing test validity and for determining the critical load used in calculating the fracture toughness were examined. Crack growth measurements were performed to determine the amount of stable crack growth before reaching critical load. The load versus notch mouth opening displacement, for different crack length to width ratios is affected by material orthotropy, nonlinearity, and stable crack propagation. The mode-I translayer fracture toughness and response during crack growth is reported for ESE(T) specimen with roving layers oriented both, transverse and parallel to the loading direction.     

Localized mechanical property assessment of SiC/SiC composite materials

SiC fiber-reinforced SiC matrix composites (SiC/SiC) are under consideration as a structural material for a range of nuclear applications. While these materials have been studied for decades, recently new small scale materials testing techniques have emerged which can be used to characterize SiC/SiC materials from a new perspective. In this work cross section nanoindentation was performed on SiC/SiC composites revealing that both the hardness and Young’s modulus was substantially lower in the fiber compared to the matrix despite both being SiC. Using scanning electron microscopy it was observed that the grain growth of the matrix during formation was radially out from the fiber with a changing grain structure as a function of radius from the fiber center. Focused ion beam machining was used to manufacture micro-cantilever samples and evaluate the fracture toughness and fracture strength in the matrix as a function of grain orientation in the matrix. Additionally microstructural characterization techniques like Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and microtomography were used to evaluate differences in the matrix and fibers of the composite.     

A comparative micro-cantilever study of the mechanical behavior of silicon based passivation films

A comprehensive study on the mechanical behavior of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon oxide, oxynitride and nitride thin films is provided. Hardness, Young's modulus, yield stress, fracture stress and fracture toughness values are determined by the nanoindentation and the micro-cantilever deflection technique. The micro-cantilever deflection technique is discussed in terms of measurement accuracy and reproducibility and the results are compared with standard nanoindentation measurements. Correlations between the yield and fracture behavior, which have been observed for glass fibers, are discussed in this paper for dielectric thin film glasses.     

Hydrogen effect on fracture toughness of thin film/substrate interfaces

The effect of hydrogen on the interface fracture toughness of two nano-film/substrate structures, Ni/Si and Cu/Si, were evaluated using four-point bend specimens with and without hydrogen charging. Hydrogen typically decreases the fracture toughness of materials. However, we found in this study that the interfacial toughness between the Ni film and the Si substrate increased due to the presence of hydrogen, while that of Cu/Si decreased. Nanoindentation experiments for the Ni and Cu films revealed that local plasticity in the Ni and Cu films is promoted by the charged hydrogen. The critical stress intensity at the Ni/Si interface crack considering the plasticity of Ni, namely the true fracture toughness, is scarcely influenced by the existence of hydrogen. The apparent increase in fracture toughness of the Ni/Si interface is due to the large stress relaxation near the crack tip caused by softening due to the presence of hydrogen. Although the promotion of plastic deformation of Cu relaxes the stress intensity at the Cu/Si interface crack, the apparent interfacial toughness still decreases because of the significant decrease in the true toughness due to the presence of hydrogen.     

Pre-cracking technique for fracture mechanics experiments along interface between thin film and substrate

Utilizing the difference in interface strength due to fabrication process, a technique for producing a sharp pre-crack between a thin film and a substrate is proposed. A cracked specimen for examining fracture toughness of interface between a sputtered copper (Cu) thin film and silicon (Si) is made by the method. A vacuum-evaporated Cu thin film, which has poor adhesion to Si, is inserted between the sputtered Cu thin film and the Si substrate as a release layer. The release layer debonds from the Si substrate at very low load, and the sharp pre-crack is successfully introduced along the interface. Using the pre-cracked specimen, the interface fracture toughness test is conducted and the critical J-integral, J_C, is evaluated as about 1 J/m² for the sputtered Cu/Si interface.     

Nanoindentation and micro-mechanical fracture toughness of electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni-W alloy films

Nanocrystalline nickel-tungsten alloys have great potential in the fabrication of components for microelectromechanical systems. Here the fracture toughness of Ni-12.7 at.%W alloy micro-cantilever beams was investigated. Micro-cantilevers were fabricated by UV lithography and electrodeposition and notched by focused ion beam machining. Load was applied using a nanoindenter and fracture toughness was calculated from the fracture load. Fracture toughness of the Ni-12.7 at.%W was in the range of 1.49-5.14 MPa √m. This is higher than the fracture toughness of Si (another important microelectromechanical systems material), but considerably lower than that of electrodeposited nickel and other nickel based alloys.     

The effects of thin compressive films on indentation fracture toughness measurements

Thin compressive films have been shown to decrease the lengths of radial cracks produced by a Vickers indentation in a variety of non-metallic materials. The intrinsic stress of submicrometre thick films deposited by reactive ion beam sputtering was measured by a cantilever technique. The change in the apparent indentation fracture toughness of the coated material was correlated with film thickness and stress, indentation load, and the nature of the substrate.     

Cone crack initiation induced by contact from cylindrical punch

The critical load for cone crack initiation in a brittle material indented by a rigid cylindrical punch is related to the fracture toughness of the material and the punch radius through the classical energy principles. The strain energy required to form an embryo cone crack on a flaw-free surface adjacent to the punch edge is formulated, from which the critical load for cone cracking is then determined. The present analysis shows that the stress singularity close to the sharp contact edge is akin to that a sharp crack tip. The results in this study can be used to set up a simple and practical technique for evaluating some strength-related properties of brittle materials such as the fracture toughness.     

Interface fracture toughness evaluation for MA956 oxide film

Microelectronics, optoelectronics, and thermal barrier coating technologies are dependent on a thin or thick film of one material deposited onto a substrate of a different material. Fabrication of such a structure inevitably gives rise to stress in the film due to lattice mismatch, differing coefficients of thermal expansion, chemical reactions, and/or other physical effects. Therefore, the weakest link in this composite system often resides at the interface between the film and substrate. In order to assume the long-term reliability of the interface, the fracture behavior of the material interfaces must be known. A new approach of using a spiral notch torsion fracture toughness test system for evaluating interface fracture toughness is described. This innovative technology was demonstrated for oxide scales formed on high-temperature alloys of MA956. The estimated energy release rate (in terms of J-integral) at the interface of the alumina scale and MA956 substrate is 3.7 N-m/m², and the estimated equivalent Mode I fracture toughness is 1.1 MPa √m.     

A new method of fracture toughness determination in brittle ceramics by open-crack shape analysis

Improvement of the fracture toughness of high-quality ceramics remains one of the most important goals in materials development. An associated problem is the accurate measurement of fracture toughness in such brittle or semi-brittle ceramics, particularly in small samples encountered in material development. Previously used methods relying on measurement of the size of fracture mirrors, the indentation load and crack length in Vickers hardness-induced cracking, and a variant of similar techniques, have all been less than satisfactory in discriminating quantitative differences among materials. A hitherto unused technique of inferring the fracture toughness in samples from measurements of open-crack flank displacements, which we have developed, avoids most of the theoretical and experimental difficulties of other methods. While it is somewhat intensive in terms of evaluation and requires high resolution of open cracks, the technique is fundamentally the soundest of all techniques and is capable of furnishing discriminating results. We present results of its application to the measurement of some model materials such as soda–lime glass, single-crystal silicon, alumina, and a reaction-bonded silicon nitride whose porosity would ordinarily present difficulties with other methods. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The performance of isoparametric finite elements in stress intensity factor determination

Analysis of a compact compression specimen used for fracture toughness evaluation of cementitious materials is carried out by the finite element method using isoparametric elements. Both triangular and rectangular elements were used with those surrounding the crack tip being of the quarter point type. Solutions were obtained for different mesh subdivisions and convergenece curves for the stress intensity factor were obtained by several methods based on extrapolation and energy techniques. It is found that monotonic convergence was obtained for all cases considered. Employing uniformly graded rectangular element representations converged solutions for the stress intensity factor (assuming a 1 percent convergence criterion) were obtained by the energy methods using a total of 720 degrees of freedom for solving half the structure.Tests on modified 100 mm cubes with symmetrical notches were conducted to determine the fracture toughness. The fracture toughness was calculated from the stress intensity factor and the maximum load obtained from the tests which were conducted in a stiff Instron testing machine. The fracture toughness is found to be independent of the size of the notch.     

Chevronproben zur näherungsweisen Bestimmung der Bruchzähigkeit

Chevron Specimen for the Estimation of Fracture Toughness Fracture toughness is a material property which is presently used in many industrial areas, either as material selection criteria or as material quality requirement. In some areas, nuclear power plants and aerospace, it is also a design parameter for design against catastrophic failures. Determination of the fracture toughness in accordance with ASTM E 399 is relatively elaborate. Depending on the material concerned, a certain minimum material cross section is required to obtain the necessary size of the specimen. Many semi-finished product forms of the different materials can not be tested for fracture toughness due to the specimen size requirements. For these reasons, alternative test methods were sought of which testing of chevron-notched specimens is one method. In the work to be presented, the test method to determine fracture toughness via chevron-notched specimens is briefly described. The most frequently used chevron-notched specimens are shown together with loading grips to be used in conjunctions with universal testing machines. Certain effects associated with some of the chevronnotched specimens are pointed out which result in a large difference between the fracture toughness determined in accordance with ASTM E 399 and that obtained via chevron-notched specimens. The aim of our research effort is to develop a chevron-notched specimen geometry which furnishes fracture toughness values compatible with K_Ic values without complicating the test method. Such a chevronnotched specimen is presented and the fracture toughness values obtained from these specimens of 7475-T 7351 and different Ti-alloys are compared to the K_Ic values obtained in accordance with ASTM E 399 for the same materials.     

Estimation and comparative study of JIC using different methods for 20MnMoNi55 steel

Fracture toughness is one of the key input variables to compute critical load of the structural components. The resistance against ductile fracture can be quantified either by the initiation value or by the entire resistance curve. Different standard methods like J_SZW, JSME and ASTM: E1820 etc. are mainly used to estimate the critical crack initiation value from the resistance curve developed by the J-integral test. However, the results vary from method to method and are even inconsistent for the same method. Pehrson and Landes suggested a simple method for estimation of the critical fracture toughness by identifying the critical point corresponding to the maximum load on load–displacement curve. In the present study, different standard methods along with the one suggested by Pehrson and Landes are used to find out the critical fracture toughness using 1T–CT and ½T–CT specimens of the material 20MnMoNi55 steel for varying temperatures and crack size. The results are analyzed to compare the merits of the different methods of estimation of fracture toughness.     

Progress and development in the instrumented Charpy impact test

Toughness is the most important characteristics for structural component materials and has been evaluated widely by Charpy impact test. Charpy test has been presented firstly in 1901, and instrumentation to record load history during impact has been attempted since 1920's. Various methods to estimate quantitative fracture toughness values under dynamic loading condition have been presented. In the development of fracture mechanics, one of the authors has successfully developed the new dynamic fracture toughness testing and evaluation system using the instrumented Charpy impact test, which is called “CAI system”. This paper introduces history of instrumented Charpy impact test and CAI system. Moreover, instrumented impact testing method on brittle materials is also mentioned. Worldwide standard on dynamic fracture toughness evaluation by the instrumented impact testing is highly expected to be established.     

Bending strength of delaminated aerospace composites

Buckling-driven delamination is considered among the most critical failure modes in composite laminates. This paper examines the propagation of delaminations in a beam under pure bending. A pre-developed analytical model to predict the critical buckling moment of a thin sub-laminate is extended to account for propagation prediction, using mixed-mode fracture analysis. Fractography analysis is performed to distinguish between mode I and mode II contributions to the final failure of specimens. Comparison between experimental results and analysis shows agreement to within 5 per cent in static propagation moment for two different materials. It is concluded that static fracture is almost entirely driven by mode II effects. This result was unexpected because it arises from a buckling mode that opens the delamination. For this reason, and because of the excellent repeatability of the experiments, the method of testing may be a promising means of establishing the critical value of mode II fracture toughness, G(IIC), of the material. Fatigue testing on similar samples showed that buckled delamination resulted in a fatigue threshold that was over 80 per cent lower than the static propagation moment. Such an outcome highlights the significance of predicting snap-buckling moment and subsequent propagation for design purposes.     

Magnetically actuated peel test for thin films

Delamination along thin film interfaces is a prevalent failure mechanism in microelectronic, photonic, microelectromechanical systems, and other engineering applications. Current interfacial fracture test techniques specific to thin films are limited by either sophisticated mechanical fixturing, physical contact near the crack tip, or complicated stress fields. Moreover, these techniques are generally not suitable for investigating fatigue crack propagation under cyclical loading. Thus, a fixtureless and noncontact experimental test technique with potential for fatigue loading is proposed and implemented to study interfacial fracture toughness for thin film systems. The proposed test incorporates permanent magnets surface mounted onto micro-fabricated released thin film structures. An applied external magnetic field induces noncontact loading to initiate delamination along the interface between the thin film and underlying substrate. Characterization of the critical peel force and peel angle is accomplished through in situ deflection measurements, from which the fracture toughness can be inferred. The test method was used to obtain interfacial fracture strength of 0.8-1.9 J/m² for 1.5-1.7 μm electroplated copper on natively oxidized silicon substrates.     

Experimental and numerical studies on dynamic crack growth in layered slate rock under wedge impact loads: part I—plane strain problem

The experimental and numerical investigations presented in this paper were carried out to determine the splitting forces and crack propagation scenarios of naturally bedded layered slate rock. Splitting loads were determined by impact splitting of regular‐sized slate blocks under plane strain test loading conditions, using a hydraulic actuator with a wedge‐shaped indenter. The mechanical properties of slate blocks required for numerical analyses were obtained from detailed experimental testing. The velocity of dynamic crack propagation in slate blocks under indenting wedge impact loading was determined using a series of strain gauge sensors. Numerical studies were carried out using ABAQUS, a general purpose, finite element analysis (FEA) program. Mode I dynamic crack propagation was simulated numerically by the gradual releasing of the restrained node on the symmetric plane of the specimens. Mode I stress intensity factors were computed for different crack lengths and the results were compared with the plane strain material fracture toughness obtained from earlier experiments/FEA. Very good agreement was obtained between analysis results and the measured fracture toughness value of slate, for the applied impact splitting load. Using the equation derived from a parametric study, of results obtained from the numerical analysis of different sizes of slate blocks, the maximum theoretical impact splitting force was determined using the plane strain fracture toughness value obtained from FEA. The difference between the loads obtained from the experimental studies and the derived empirical equation, varied between + 4.96% and −32.34%.     

A new method for evaluating fracture toughness of brittle materials

A new testing procedure is suggested for measuring the fracture toughness of brittle materials as superconductors and ceramics. The idea is to perform a compression test on a subcompact square specimen which contains a central hole. The presence of the hole induces a tensile stress at a certain small region attached to the hole. In this region an artificial notch is introduced such that the fracture path satisfies a pure tensile opening mode (mode I) to which the linear fracture mechanics rules apply. The stress distribution on the fracture plane guarantees a certain amount of stable crack extension. The relationship between the critical compressive load and the stress intensity factor is formulated via an available Green function along with a numerical solution (FEM with ANSYS code). The testing procedure is demonstrated with specimens made of two types of tungsten carbide which differ by their grain size only. Test results are examined via fracture toughness and strength values produced by other conventional methods and the agreement is very good. The geometry and loading direction enable the fracture toughness results to be relatively insensitive to the notch tip radius and the crack length, thereby relaxing the requirements for accurate measurements.The small size of the suggested specimen (12.70mm×12.70mm×5mm) and the avoidance of gripping interfaces provide the major cost-wise advantages.     

超高强结构钢AF1410的断裂韧度试验研究

平面应变断裂韧度是材料进行损伤容限设计时用到的重要力学性能指标,因此如何通过试验手段获得该指标显得格外重要。本文对超高强结构钢AF1410进行了平面应变断裂韧度和延性断裂韧度的试验研究,结果表明:由于该材料的断裂韧度值较高,使得确保处于平面应变状态的试样尺寸过大,难以在普通低吨位的试验机上完成,而选用合适的试样尺寸,通过延性断裂韧度试验和相关的公式计算,则可以间接地获得超高强结构钢材料的有效平面应变断裂韧度值。     

A non-contact, thermally-driven buckling delamination test to measure interfacial fracture toughness of thin film systems

Interfacial fracture toughness measurements of thin film-substrate systems are of importance in many applications. In the microelectronics industry, the interfacial adhesion between the dielectric-barrier-metal layers on a semiconductor chip is critical for chip reliability. In this paper, we propose a thermally-driven patterned buckling delamination test that does not use a pre-existing weak interface. The test relies on causing a patterned film to debond from its substrate by inducing a compressive stress due to heating of the film on a thick silicon substrate. The compressive stress causes the film to buckle and debond from the substrate. A model for the propagation of the buckling-induced debond is then developed to estimate interfacial fracture toughness. The efficacy of the thermally-driven buckling test is demonstrated on a model Al/SU8/Si film-substrate system wherein the Al film debonds along its interface to SU8. The interfacial toughness of the Al/SU8 interface is estimated using the proposed test and is compared to the toughness for the same system obtained using an alternative test with a weakened interface to validate the developed elastic-plastic model for buckling-induced debond propagation.