Fracture Mechanics

Types of fracture
(i) Sudden fracture suffered by brittle materials at ordinary temperatures, structural steels at
low temperature.
(ii) Fracture initiated by pre-existing flaws (cracks). In this case, the design strategy adopted
is for non-propagation or controlled propagation.
(iii) Fatigue-initiated fracture.
(iv) Creep rupture at elevated temperatures.
Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (L.E.F.M.)
In the case of brittle materials, case (ii) above can be studied by assessing the stresses around
a crack tip using the theory of Elasticity.
Griffiths theory: during the formation of a crack of length a:
U
e
(a) = strain energy released
If a is below a critical value, this is compensated by energy stored on the surfaces of the
crack. For a small crack growth a a + a , the material behaviour is stable, i.e. the crack is
stationary, if
U
s
> U
e
where
U
s
(a) = material capacity for surface energy storage
This is satisfied up to a certain crack length a
c
beyond which the inequality is reversed and
the crack propagates. Therefore, the critical condition is
U
s
= U
e
(1)
1
leading to relations between critical design parameters (fracture load, maximum crack length)
and material fracture properties.
Stress intensity factor
Figure 1
The solution for the stresses around an elliptical hole in an infinite plate under tension (see
Fig. 1) can lead to that for the stresses around a crack by letting b/a 0. Then, the ellipse
tends to become a crack of length 2a with

at its tip. For the elliptical hole:
2 2 2
2 2 3
( 1) (3 )( 1)( 1)
( 0) ( 0) 1
2( ) 2( )
yy
m s m m m
y
s m s m

1 +
+ +
1

]
(2)
where
2
,
x x a b
s m m
a b a b a b
_
+

+ + +
,
For a crack, m 1. Hence
2 2
,
yy
x
a x
x a

(3)
2
Figure 2
Moving the origin of the co-ordinate system to the tip of the crack (see Fig. 2) and changing
the horizontal co-ordinate to
r = x a
transforms (3) to
1
2
1
2
yy
r
a
a
r
r
a

+

+
(4)
Very near the tip, that is, for r << a, (4) becomes
2
2
I
yy
K a
r
r

(5)
where K
I
is the stress intensity factor for mode I crack opening given by
K
I
= a (6)
General form:
I
a
K f a
W

_

,
(7)
where W is the critical solid dimension. Function f is often represented by Y in the technical
literature.
Modes of crack displacement
3
These are illustrated in Fig. 3.
I : opening (the more significant)
II : sliding
III : tearing
Figure 3
L.E.F.M.
The theory is initially applied to a crack of length 2a in an infinite plate (unit thickness)
under uniform tension in the direction perpendicular to the crack. Then (accounting for
symmetry with respect to y axis and considering only half of the plate)
U
s
= G a (8)
where G is the energy absorbed per unit area of crack and a an infinitesimal crack growth.
The respective elastic energy release would be (Fig. 4)

1
2 ( d ) d
2
a a a a
e yy yy
a a
U x v v x
+ +


(9)
4
Figure 4 Stress relief and opening displacement during crack growth.
where, assuming plain strain conditions, the crack opening displacement is
2 2 2
2(1 ) , v a x x a
E

(10)
Substitution of (3) and (10) into (9) and change of variable (r << a)
2
2
0

(1 ) 1d
a
e
a a
U r
E r

(11)
The integration is performed using r = a sin
2
. This gives
2 2
2 2
(1 ) (1 )
I
e
K a
U a a
E E

(12)
Condition (1) is satisfied if G and K
I
have reached critical values related to a critical
combination of crack length a and tensile stress by
2 2
2 2
2 2
= , for plane stress
=
(1 ) =(1 ) , for plane strain
IC
C
IC
K a
E E
G
K a
E E

(13)
a

a
2v
r
x
x
y

y
y
5
G
C
is a material property called critical strain energy release rate, or crack extension force.
K
IC
is known as fracture toughness.
As a consequence of Eq. (13), these two properties are related by
2
, for plane stress
=
, for plane strain
(1 )
C
IC
C
EG
K
EG

(14)
The theory has limitations when applied to metals, which are ductile materials. Plasticity
around the crack tip must be restricted to a minimum and this is achieved when plane strain
conditions are satisfied. A criterion of validity is established by linking the experimental K
C
to the specimen thickness B. For plane strain conditions, both B and a should be greater than
approximately 25 times the plane strain plastic zone size, that is,
B, a 2.5
2
IC
Y
K

_

,
(15)
where
Y
is the yield stress of the material.
Example 1
Figure 5
A thin-wall pipe has a longitudinal crack 2a = 10 mm (see Fig. 5). Determine the internal
pressure p that would cause fracture.
6
Fracture will occur when
K
I
= a = K
IC
where is the tensile stress in the direction normal to the crack; in this case, it is the hoop
stress, i.e. =

= pR/t, where R is the inner radius of the pipe and t its thickness. The
crack length is assumed much smaller than the length of the pipe so that f = 1. The critical
pressure is therefore
p
f
=
IC
K t
R a
Two cases of pipe material are considered:
Case (i): High strength steel with K
IC
= 48 MPam,
Y
= 1172 MPa.
Then
p
f
= 383
t
R
MPa
For this solution to be valid, conditions (13) must be satisfied. Using the given property
values, we find
2.5
2
IC
Y
K

_

,
= 2.5
2
48
1172
_

,
= 4.2 10
3
m
This is less than a = 5 mm but it must also be less than t, which replaces B in the present
problem.
Case (ii): Titanium alloy with K
IC
= 93 MPam,
Y
= 878 MPa.
Then
7
p
f
= 742
t
R
MPa
but, in this case,
2.5
2
IC
Y
K

_

,
= 2.5
2
93
878
_

,
= 28 10
3
m
which is greater than a = 5 mm, so the solution for p
f
is not valid whatever the value of t.
Example 2
Figure 6
The scarifier hook shown in Fig. 6 has dimensions 2c = 60 mm, d = 250 mm, B = 25 mm, and
material properties K
IC
= 59 MPam,
Y
= 1503 MPa. Determine the magnitude of the force
P that would cause fracture in the presence of an edge crack a = 5 mm.
The application of L.E.F.M. would be valid if conditions (13) are satisfied. We find
2.5
2
IC
Y
K

_

,
= 2.5
2
59
1503
_

,
= 3.85 10
3
m
8
a
P
d
B
2c
which smaller than both a and B. It is thus possible to determine the fracture force P
f
from the
equation
K
I
= K
IC
The cross section of the hook at the location of the crack is subjected to both tension and
bending moment. L.E.F.M. allows superposition, so that the total stress intensity factor at the
crack tip can be considered as the sum of that due to tension and that due to bending moment.
(i) Tension P causes stress
=
2
P
cB
Also from the ratio
=
5
2 60
a
c

= 0.083
we find from the relevant table (Case 4), by linear interpolation between listed values of the
factor f,
f = 1.22
so that the stress intensity factor due to tension is
( )
1.22
2
P
I
P
K a
cB

(ii) The bending moment about the centre of the section is
M = (d + c)P
causing stress
=
2 2
3 3( )
2 2
M d c P
Bc Bc
+

From the relevant table (Case 6), we find, for = 0.083, approximately f = 1.02.
Therefore the stress intensity factor due to bending moment is
9
( )
2
3( )
1.02
2
M
I
d c P
K a
Bc

+

Applying superposition:
1.22 0.005
0.06 0.025
f
P

+
2
3(0.25 0.03)
1.02 0.005
2 0.025 0.03
f
P

+

= 59 10
6
from which we find
P
f
= 23.7 kN
Experimental determination of G
IC
Figure 7
Using identical standard tension specimens such as that shown in Fig. 7, we examine the
change in the displacement u, caused by the same load P, if the crack length a is increased by
a. The specimen is elastic so that u and P are related by
u = C(a)P
where C(a) is the compliance of the specimen for a given crack length a.
10
P, u
P, u
a
Any change in the potential energy of the specimen is equal to the strain energy change
minus the work done by external forces. Thus, a crack extension a results in the potential
energy loss
P u P u = P u
Thus, according to equation (1),
GB a = P u
where B is the width of the specimen and
u = C P
since the load is assumed constant. If the load P
f
causing fracture is known, the critical value
of G
I
can thus be determined from
G
IC
=
2

2
f
P
C
B a
_

,
(16)
The application of the above equation requires the knowledge of the C-a relation so that the
gradient C/ a can be determined for any crack length a (see Fig. 8).
Figure 8
Example 3
11
A cracked tension specimen (see Fig. 7), with crack length a = 20 mm and width B = 25 mm,
fractures at a load P
f
= 185 kN. Two other specimens, with crack lengths of 19.5 mm and
20.5 mm but otherwise identical to the first, are subjected to the same load P = 120 kN
producing displacements of 0.26 mm and 0.263 mm, respectively. Determine G
IC
and the
fracture toughness of the specimen material, if E = 70 GPa and = 0.3.
Around the value a = 20 mm, the gradient C/ a can be approximately estimated using the
given information as
C/ a (C
2
C
1
)/(a
2
a
1
)
where
C
2
= 0.263/120 mm/kN, C
1
= 0.26/120 mm/kN, a
2
= 20.5 mm, a
1
= 19.5 mm
With the above values, we find
C/ a 25 10
9
(mm/N)/mm
Substituting in equation (14):
G
IC
= 17.11 kJ/m
2
and from equation (11), for plane stress
K
IC
= 36.28 MPam
12