On Influence of Non-Singular Stress States on Brittle Fracture

In the case of sufficiently brittle material the use of stress intensity factor as a fracture parameter alone is well justified within the Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics. This is because the singular stress field associated with the stress intensity factor is dominant near the crack tip. However, there are numerous experimental evidences that the critical stress intensity factor to cause fracture initiation (or fracture toughness) can be affected by the specimen geometry as well as loading conditions. To address this issue a number of twoparameter criteria have been proposed in the past, which often utilise non-singular terms of the classical asymptotic expansion of the stress field near the crack tip. Therefore, there is a problem of the selection of an appropriate parameter in addition to the stress intensity factor, which could account for various effects induced by the specimen geometry and loading on initiation of brittle fracture. This short paper demonstrates that brittle fracture conditions can be successfully predicted with various two-parameter criteria, and there are no clear advantages in the use of T-stress as the additional parameter in fracture criterion, in comparison with the next non-singular term, A ₁, of the asymptotic expansion.     

Effect of compressive transverse normal stress on mode II fracture toughness in polymeric composites

Effect of transverse normal stress on mode II fracture toughness of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites was studied experimentally in conjunction with finite element analyses. Mode II fracture tests were conducted on the S2/8552 glass/epoxy composite using off-axis specimens with a through thickness crack. The finite element method was employed to perform stress analyses from which mode II fracture toughness was extracted. In the analysis, crack surface contact friction effect was considered. It was found that the transverse normal compressive stress has significant effect on mode II fracture toughness of the composite. Moreover, the fracture toughness measured using the off-axis specimen was found to be quite different from that evaluated using the conventional end notched flexural (ENF) specimen in three-point bending. It was found that mode II fracture toughness cannot be characterized by the crack tip singular shear stress alone; nonsingular stresses ahead of the crack tip appear to have substantial influence on the apparent mode II fracture toughness of the composite.     

Biaxiality Dependence of the Fracture Toughness for Glass in Plane Stress State

The fracture behaviour of glass in biaxial stress state has been investigated. Fracture toughness of disk specimen with a straight-through crack was measured under biaxial tension and uniaxial tension loads respectively. The difference between them and the reasons for the difference are discussed. The influence of the stress parallel to crack on fracture of brittle material was demonstrated in theory and experiments. The results show that plane stress fracture toughness of glass is not a material constant. and that the fracture toughness measured in biaxial tension state is higher than that measured under uniaxial tension. The conventional fracture criterion upon the stress intensity factor is questioned in the case of biaxial stress problem, and the strain dependence of crack growth is discussed.     

Fracture toughness of cement-based materials

Concrete is known to be a brittle material, yet there is no acceptable material parameter to quantify the fracture toughness of concrete. With an increase in efficiency and accuracy possible with numerical methods, a need to define a criterion for crack growth thus becomes evident. In this paper, various theoretical models which describe crack growth are summarized. It is shown that a single parameter such as classical stress intensity factor cannot adequately describe fracture processes in concrete. A recently proposed two-parameter fracture model is described. Some measurements of crack profile as the crack propagates observed using laser holography are also presented. For practical reasons, it was impossible to include this invited paper in the proceedings of the RILEM Congress.     

Transferability of Charpy Absorbed Energy to Fracture Toughness Based on Weibull Stress Criterion

The relationship between Charpy absorbed energy and the fracture toughness by means of the (crack tip opening displacement (CTOD)) method was analyzed based on the Weibull stress criterion. The Charpy absorbed energy and the fracture toughness were measured for the SN490B steel under the ductile-brittle transition temperature region. For the instrumented Charpy impact test, the curves between the loading point displacement and the load against time were recorded. The critical Weibull stress was taken as a fracture controlled parameter, and it could not be affected by the specimen configuration and the loading pattern based on the local approach. The parameters controlled brittle fracture are obtained from the Charpy absorbed energy results, then the fracture toughness for the compact tension (CT) specimen is predicted. It is found that the results predicted are in good agreement with the experimental. The fracture toughness could be evaluated by the Charpy absorbed energy, because the local approach give     

Dynamic fracture mechanics—A scientific tool for the prevention of catastrophic failure

The major area of research in dynamic fracture has been the extension of the concept of static fracture toughness to predict crack arrest for a propagating crack. In this work crack propagation due to a ductile (microvoid) mechanism and cleavage (brittle) mechanism, as well as transition from one mode to another, has been analysed theoretically. Dynamic fracture toughness as a function of crack velocity has been determined. Temperature distribution near a propagating crack tip has been predicted for plane stress condition. The effect of reflected stress wave in a single edge notch specimen under transient crack growth conditions has also been analysed.     

Application of local approach to inhomogeneous welds. Influence of crack position and strength mismatch

In steel welds there is often a large variation in fracture toughness and mechanical properties between the weld metal, base material and the various heat affected zone (HAZ) microstructures. The stress field in front of a crack in a weldment can be noticeably affected by the strength mismatch between the weld metal, HAZ and the base material. The crack position relative to the various microstructures will clearly influence the strength mismatch effect. In this paper the influence of crack tip positioning on the fracture performance of strength mismatched steel welds has been studied both experimentally and by FEM analysis. For a mismatched weld with local brittle zones small changes in crack tip location can give considerable changes in the fracture performance of a CTOD specimen. A high degree of strength mismatch increases the effect of crack positioning. Weld metal overmatch increases the stress level in the heat affected zone due to material constraint and thereby reduces the cleavage fracture resistance of the weldment when the coarse grained HAZ (CGHAZ) controls the fracture. The detrimental effect of high overmatch is most pronounced for specimens with notch position at fusion line and a short distance into the brittle CGHAZ. The Weibull stress has been shown to be a suitable fracture parameter in the case where one microstructure clearly controls the cleavage fracture and the calculation of the Weibull stress therefore can be limited to this zone.     

A statistical model of cleavage fracture

The aim of the paper is to provide a sound theoretical basis to the statistics of cleavage fracture in three-dimensional cracked structures. The probability of critically sized carbide being present in a Fracture Initiation Zone ahead of the crack tip has been derived, and shown to have a two-parameter Weibull distribution, with a shape parameter that is proportional to the strain-hardening exponent of the material. In a three-dimensional structure the cracking of such critically sized, intergranular carbide is necessary, but may not be sufficient to precipitate brittle fracture; this is because intergranular carbide is randomly orientated within the crack-opening stress field, so its orientation must also be unfavourable. It has been hypothesised that in three-dimensional structures the actual probability of fracture will be an extreme from the necessary distribution, in which case a sample of fracture toughness observations will be described by a Gumbel distribution, called here the LED model. After discussing the minimum number of fracture toughness observations needed to fit the model, its strength of evidence is compared with those of other candidate models, including the Master Curve model, and the LED model is shown to be the best.     

On the Effect of Hydrogen on the Fracture Toughness of Steel

A model is developed to quantify the effect of hydrogen on the critical stress intensity factor or fracture toughness of steels. The stress-assisted hydrogen diffusion model proposed by Liu (1970) is assumed and combined with the elastic stress field around the crack tip for quantifying the hydrogen concentration at the crack tip. Introducing a fracture criterion as the critical hydrogen concentration at a critical distance ahead of the crack tip, this model is successfully applied to the interpretation of hydrogen embrittlement behavior in a piping material. Experimental data at constant temperature were used to validate the model. With further development, the model has the potential to predict fracture toughness values at temperatures other than the test temperature.     

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.     

木材断裂解离分形特征与分形断裂力学模型研究

目的 以椴木为研究对象,研究冲击载荷作用下椴木试件的断裂解离形貌特征和断裂力学特性,建立适用于木材原料断裂解离的分形断裂力学模型,并对其断裂解离力学行为进行描述。方法 对椴木试件进行冲击加载试验,分析试件断口的形貌特征和断裂力学特性,构建适用于木材原料断裂解离的分形断裂力学模型。结果 椴木试件横向冲击断裂断口裂纹形状和断口形貌特征比纵向冲击复杂,横、纵向冲击断裂断口均具有分形特征;椴木试件纵向冲击断裂韧性均值是横向冲击断裂韧性均值的1.112倍,椴木试件横、纵向冲击断口的分形维数均值分别为2.063 5和2.075 1,椴木试件横、纵向冲击韧性与其断口分形维数之间存在线性正相关关系,拟合优度分别为0.778 7和0.812 2;构建的木材原料断裂解离临界解离应力和断裂韧性的分形断裂力学模型也适用于脆性材料。结论 在木材原料冲击断裂解离时,木材原料初始裂纹长度越短,断裂解离断口越粗糙复杂,木材原料断裂解离所需要的能量越大;当裂纹沿着与冲击加载力方向垂直成大约1.055rad方向扩展时所需的能量最小,木材原料最易沿该方向进行断裂解离。     

T应力对Ⅰ-Ⅱ复合型裂纹扩展的影响

利用最大周向正应力判据MTS重新分析研究了脆性破坏的Ⅰ-Ⅱ复合型裂纹扩展,其中考虑了平行于裂纹方向的非奇异项T应力。以平板中的斜裂纹处于双向受力为研究对象,通过两个方向力的不同组合以及裂纹与受力方向的夹角变换得到包括纯I型和纯II型在内的Ⅰ-Ⅱ复合型裂纹,分析了T应力对裂纹扩展方向以及断裂时的应力强度因子的影响,并将预测结果与现有的实验数据进行了比较。在此基础上,给出了不同T应力条件下通用的Ⅰ-Ⅱ复合型裂纹扩展条件,可用于给定几何试件的脆性断裂判定。分析结果表明:裂纹尖端非奇异项T应力对裂纹扩展的影响是不可忽略的,尤其是对II型断裂的影响更为明显。     

Crack growth in ferroelectric ceramics under electric loading

Summary A crack with growth in ferroelectric ceramics under purely electric loading is analyzed. The crack tip stress intensity factor for the growing crack under small scale conditions is evaluated by employing the model of nonlinear domain switching. The electrical fracture toughness is obtained from the result of the stress intensity factor. It is shown that the ferroelectric material can be either toughened or weakened as the crack grows. Fatigue crack growth in a ferroelectric material under cyclic electric loading is also examined. The incremental fatigue crack growth under cyclic electric loading is obtained numerically. The fatigue crack growth rate is affected strongly by the electrical nonlinear behavior. It is found that the curve of fatigue crack growth rate versus electric field intensity factor is linear on the log-log plot at intermediate values of the electric field intensity factor.     

Why do cracks branch? A peridynamic investigation of dynamic brittle fracture

In this paper we review the peridynamic model for brittle fracture and use it to investigate crack branching in brittle homogeneous and isotropic materials. The peridynamic simulations offer a possible explanation for the generation of dynamic instabilities in dynamic brittle crack growth and crack branching. We focus on two systems, glass and homalite, often used in crack branching experiments. After a brief review of theoretical and computational models on crack branching, we discuss the peridynamic model for dynamic fracture in linear elastic–brittle materials. Three loading types are used to investigate the role of stress waves interactions on crack propagation and branching. We analyze the influence of sample geometry on branching. Simulation results are compared with experimental ones in terms of crack patterns, propagation speed at branching and branching angles. The peridynamic results indicate that as stress intensity around the crack tip increases, stress waves pile-up against the material directly in front of the crack tip that moves against the advancing crack; this process “deflects” the strain energy away from the symmetry line and into the crack surfaces creating damage away from the crack line. This damage “migration”, seen as roughness on the crack surface in experiments, modifies, in turn, the strain energy landscape around the crack tip and leads to preferential crack growth directions that branch from the original crack line. We argue that nonlocality of damage growth is one key feature in modeling of the crack branching phenomenon in brittle fracture. The results show that, at least to first order, no ingredients beyond linear elasticity and a capable damage model are necessary to explain/predict crack branching in brittle homogeneous and isotropic materials.     

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.     

THE RELATION BETWEEN STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR AND ENERGY RELEASE RATE IN THE PRESENCE OF R-CURVE BEHAVIOUR

Abstract— Failure of ceramic materials occurs when the stress intensity factor of the most serious crack in a component reaches a critical value K_I,_C, the fracture toughness of the material. In case of ideal brittle materials the fracture toughness is independent of the crack extension and, consequently, identical with the stress intensity factor K_I,_Onecessary for the onset of stable crack growth. It is a well-known fact that failure of several ceramics is influenced by an increasing crack-growth resistance curve. The effect of increasing crack resistance has consequences on many properties of ceramic materials. In this report the authors discuss some aspects of R -curve behaviour as represented by stress intensity factors or energies.     

Fracture of slightly plasticized polyvinyl chloride

Impact tests and fracture toughness tests using compact tension specimens were carried out on a number of slightly plasticized PVC compositions. These measurements, together with calculations from the craze thickness profile were used to determine the fracture mechanisms operating in the various tests. The marked decrease in the impact strength of PVC on addition of small amounts of a conventional plasticizer was found to be due to the plasticizer decreasing the stress intensity necessary to nucleate a craze at the notch tip of the impact specimen. The fracture toughness of the compact tension specimens which failed by a crazing mechanism increased with increasing plasticizer content. It is thought that the fracture of these specimens is controlled by the stress intensity necessary to propagate the pre-existing crack/craze system through the material.     

Fracture toughness of layered structures: Embrittlement due to confinement of plasticity

The fracture toughness of a layered composite material is analyzed employing a combined two dimensional dislocation dynamics (DD)-cohesive zone (CZ) model. The fracture mechanism of an elastic-plastic (ductile) material sandwiched within purely elastic layers approaches ideally brittle behaviour with decreasing layer thickness. We investigate the influence of different constitutive parameters concerning dislocation plasticity as well as the effect of cohesive strength of the ductile material on the scaling of fracture toughness with layer thickness. For a constant layer thickness, the results of the numerical model are consistent with the expectation that fracture toughness decreases with increasing yield strength, but increases with the cohesive strength of the material. The scaling behaviour of the fracture toughness with layer thickness depends on these material parameters, but also on the dislocation microstructure in the vicinity of the crack tip. Strain localization due to easy dislocation generation right at the crack tip improves toughness in thin layers and leads to a jump-like increase of fracture toughness with layer thickness. However, the fracture toughness for films that are thick enough to exhibit bulk behaviour proves to be higher when the distribution of dislocations is more homogeneous, because in this case the crack grows in a stable fashion over some distance.     

Effects of residual stress on toughening of brittle polycrystals

The effects of residual stress on toughening of brittle polycrystalline materials, in the absence of microcracking, were investigated by considering the mode I stress intensity factor reduction at the tip of a stationary crack under combined applied and residual stress loading. Toughness enhancement associated with a number of model singular and non-singular residual stress fields was evaluated. The singular residual stress fields were used to model grain-sized thermal expansion anisotropy due to grain-orientation differences in a polycrystal. The numerical results indicate that residual stress can significantly toughen a stationary crack against initiation. For the same average value of residual stress, toughness enhancement due to singular residual stress fields is more substantial than that due to non-singular residual stress fields. Sample toughness enhancement results are presented for a single-phase polycrystal failing by intergranular fracture.     

Fem prediction of the influence of warm prestressing on fracture toughness of heat-resistant steel

We present a procedure of prediction of the influence of warm prestressing combined with cycling on the brittle strength of steel 15Kh2MFA. Using a finite-element method, the effect of the combined warm prestressing on the stress-strain state at a fatigue crack tip is studied in an elastic-plastic statement. Electron microscopic observations of fracture surfaces have revealed that fracture is initiated at some distance from the fatigue crack front. Based on the pattern of influence of the plastic prestrain level on the cleavage stress of steel 15Kh2MFA and the experimental CID value, a method is put forward for finite-element modeling of the stress-strain state at a crack tip during the specimen fracture. Using the results of the finite-element modeling, the relevant curves have been plotted and an approximating formula has been proposed to represent the influence of the combined warm prestress level on the fracture toughness of steel 15Kh2MFA.