Fracture toughness

About: Fracture toughness is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 39642 publications have been published within this topic receiving 854338 citations.

Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials

Abstract: DEFORMATION OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS. Tensile Response of Materials. Elements of Dislocation Theory. Slip and Twinning in Crystalline Solids. Strengthening Mechanisms in Metals. High-Temperature Deformation Response of Crystalline Solids. Deformation Response of Engineering Plastics. FRACTURE MECHANICS OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS. Fracture: An Overview. Elements of Fracture Mechanics. Transition Temperature Approach to Fracture Control. Microstructural Aspects of Fracture Toughness. Environment-Assisted Cracking. Cyclic Stress and Strain Fatigue. Fatigue Crack Propagation. Analyses of Engineering Failures. Appendices. Indexes.

Fracture of Brittle Solids

Abstract: This is an advanced text for higher degree materials science students and researchers concerned with the strength of highly brittle covalent–ionic solids, principally ceramics. It is a reconstructed and greatly expanded edition of a book first published in 1975. The book presents a unified continuum, microstructural and atomistic treatment of modern day fracture mechanics from a materials perspective. Particular attention is directed to the basic elements of bonding and microstructure that govern the intrinsic toughness of ceramics. These elements hold the key to the future of ceramics as high-technology materials - to make brittle solids strong, we must first understand what makes them weak. The underlying theme of the book is the fundamental Griffith energy-balance concept of crack propagation. The early chapters develop fracture mechanics from the traditional continuum perspective, with attention to linear and nonlinear crack-tip fields, equilibrium and non-equilibrium crack states. It then describes the atomic structure of sharp cracks, the topical subject of crack-microstructure interactions in ceramics, with special focus on the concepts of crack-tip shielding and crack-resistance curves, and finally deals with indentation fracture, flaws, and structural reliability.

Crack band theory for fracture of concrete

Abstract: A fracture theory for a heterogenous aggregate material which exhibits a gradual strain-softening due to microcracking and contains aggregate pieces that are not necessarily small compared to structural dimensions is developed. Only Mode I is considered. The fracture is modeled as a blunt smeard crack band, which is justified by the random nature of the microstructure. Simple triaxial stress-strain relations which model the strain-softening and describe the effect of gradual microcracking in the crack band are derived. It is shown that it is easier to use compliance rather than stiffness matrices and that it suffices to adjust a single diagonal term of the complicance matrix. The limiting case of this matrix for complete (continuous) cracking is shown to be identical to the inverse of the well-known stiffness matrix for a perfectly cracked material. The material fracture properties are characterized by only three parameters—fracture energy, uniaxial strength limit and width of the crack band (fracture process zone), while the strain-softening modulus is a function of these parameters. A method of determining the fracture energy from measured complete stres-strain relations is also given. Triaxial stress effects on fracture can be taken into account. The theory is verified by comparisons with numerous experimental data from the literature. Satisfactory fits of maximum load data as well as resistance curves are achieved and values of the three material parameters involved, namely the fracture energy, the strength, and the width of crack band front, are determined from test data. The optimum value of the latter width is found to be about 3 aggregate sizes, which is also justified as the minimum acceptable for a homogeneous continuum modeling. The method of implementing the theory in a finite element code is also indicated, and rules for achieving objectivity of results with regard to the analyst's choice of element size are given. Finally, a simple formula is derived to predict from the tensile strength and aggregate size the fracture energy, as well as the strain-softening modulus. A statistical analysis of the errors reveals a drastic improvement compared to the linear fracture theory as well as the strength theory. The applicability of fracture mechanics to concrete is thus solidly established.

Elementary engineering fracture mechanics

Abstract: I Principles.- 1 Summary of basic problems and concepts.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 A crack in a structure.- 1.3 The stress at a crack tip.- 1.4 The Griffith criterion.- 1.5 The crack opening displacement criterion.- 1.6 Crack propagation.- 1.7 Closure.- 2 Mechanisms of fracture and crack growth.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Cleavage fracture.- 2.3 Ductile fracture.- 2.4 Fatigue cracking.- 2.5 Environment assisted cracking.- 2.6 Service failure analysis.- 3 The elastic crack-tip stress field.- 3.1 The Airy stress function.- 3.2 Complex stress functions.- 3.3 Solution to crack problems.- 3.4 The effect of finite size.- 3.5 Special cases.- 3.6 Elliptical cracks.- 3.7 Some useful expressions.- 4 The crack tip plastic zone.- 4.1 The Irwin plastic zone correction.- 4.2 The Dugdale approach.- 4.3 The shape of the plastic zone.- 4.4 Plane stress versus plane strain.- 4.5 Plastic constraint factor.- 4.6 The thickness effect.- 5 The energy principle.- 5.1 The energy release rate.- 5.2 The criterion for crack growth.- 5.3 The crack resistance (R curve).- 5.4 Compliance.- 5.5 The J integral.- 5.6 Tearing modulus.- 5.7 Stability.- 6 Dynamics and crack arrest.- 6.1 Crack speed and kinetic energy.- 6.2 The dynamic stress intensity and elastic energy release rate.- 6.3 Crack branching.- 6.4 The principles of crack arrest.- 6.5 Crack arrest in practice.- 6.6 Dynamic fracture toughness.- 7 Plane strain fracture toughness.- 7.1 The standard test.- 7.2 Size requirements.- 7.3 Non-linearity.- 7.4 Applicability.- 8 Plane stress and transitional behaviour.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 An engineering concept of plane stress.- 8.3 The R curve concept.- 8.4 The thickness effect.- 8.5 Plane stress testing.- 8.6 Closure.- 9 Elastic-plastic fracture.- 9.1 Fracture beyond general yield.- 9.2 The crack tip opening displacement.- 9.3 The possible use of the CTOD criterion.- 9.4 Experimental determination of CTOd.- 9.5 Parameters affecting the critical CTOD.- 9.6 Limitations, fracture at general yield.- 9.7 Use of the J integral.- 9.8 Limitations of the J integral.- 9.9 Measurement of JIc and JR.- 9.10 Closure.- 10 Fatigue crack propagation.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Crack growth and the stress intensity factor.- 10.3 Factors affecting crack propagation.- 10.4 Variable amplitude service loading.- 10.5 Retardation models.- 10.6 Similitude.- 10.7 Small cracks.- 10.8 Closure.- 11 Fracture resistance of materials.- 11.1 Fracture criteria.- 11.2 Fatigue cracking criteria.- 11.3 The effect of alloying and second phase particles.- 11.4 Effect of processing, anisotropy.- 11.5 Effect of temperature.- 11.6 Closure.- II Applications.- 12 Fail-safety and damage tolerance.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 Means to provide fail-safety.- 12.3 Required information for fracture mechanics approach.- 12.4 Closure.- 13 Determination of stress intensity factors.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 Analytical and numerical methods.- 13.3 Finite element methods.- 13.4 Experimental methods.- 14 Practical problems.- 14.1 Introduction.- 14.2 Through cracks emanating from holes.- 14.3 Corner cracks at holes.- 14.4 Cracks approaching holes.- 14.5 Combined loading.- 14.6 Fatigue crack growth under mixed mode loading.- 14.7 Biaxial loading.- 14.8 Fracture toughness of weldments.- 14.9 Service failure analysis.- 15 Fracture of structures.- 15.1 Introduction.- 15.2 Pressure vessels and pipelines.- 15.3 "Leak-bcfore-break" criterion.- 15.4 Material selection.- 15.5 The use of the J integral for structural analysis.- 15.6 Collapse analysis.- 15.7 Accuracy of fracture calculations.- 16 Stiffened sheet structures.- 16.1 Introduction.- 16.2 Analysis.- 16.3 Fatigue crack propagation.- 16.4 Residual strength.- 16.5 The R curve and the residual strength of stiffened panels.- 16.6 Other analysis methods.- 16.7 Crack arrest.- 16.8 Closure.- 17 Prediction of fatigue crack growth.- 17.1 Introduction.- 17.2 The load spectrum.- 17.3 Approximation of the stress spectrum.- 17.4 Generation of a stress history.- 17.5 Crack growth integration.- 17.6 Accuracy of predictions.- 17.7 Safety factors.- Author index.