Chapter 3 Chapter 3

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N734bwi9kmw
OOVERVIEW VERVIEW
2
I Introduction ntroduction
o K
IC
has well defined values for brittle materials
(ceramics, glasses, and brittle polymers).
o In ductile materials a plastic zone develops at the
crack tip. If this is small compared to all dimensions
of the test sample the measurement remains valid; if
not, a more complex characterization is required.
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not, a more complex characterization is required.
o If the plastic zone size exceeds the sample thickness
the crack does not propagate at all; the sample yields
before it breaks.
o Small scale yeilding is the idea that non-linear effects
such as crack tip plasticity, blunting and micro defects
are contained within the zone characterized by the
linear elastic region.
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Role of Material Thickness Role of Material Thickness
K
I
, represents the level of stress at the
tip of the crack and K
IC
, is the highest
value of K
I
that a material under very
specific (plane-strain) conditions can
withstand without fracture.
5
Plane Plane- -Strain and Plane Strain and Plane- -Stress Stress
When a material with a crack is loaded in
tension, the materials develop plastic strains as
the yield stress is exceeded in the region near
the crack tip.
Material within the crack tip stress field,
situated close to a free surface, can deform
laterally (in the z-direction of the image) laterally (in the z-direction of the image)
because there can be no stresses normal to the
free surface.
The state of stress tends to biaxial and the
material fractures in a characteristic ductile
manner, with a 45
o
shear lip being formed at
each free surface. This condition is called
plane-stress" and it occurs in relatively thin
bodies where the stress through the thickness
cannot vary appreciably due to the thin section.
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Ceramics and glasses (brittle materials) have very high yield strengths, giving them
no way to relieve this stress by plastic flow (Figure 4(a)).
For ductile materials like metals and many polymers the picture is different
(Figure 4(b)). The stress still rises as the crack tip is approached, but at the point
that it exceeds the yield strength the material yields, relieving the stress, and
except for some work hardening the stress cannot climb higher than
y
.
7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9GbhHFaTmk
Based on the equation, at r = 0 (at the crack tip)
y
approaches
infinity. However in practice the stress at the crack tip is limited
to at least the yield strength of the material.
Hence linear elasticity (LEFM) cannot be assumed within a
certain distance of the crack.
This nonlinear region is called crack tip plastic zone
I I
K K
= =
8
p
I
ys
I
y
r
K
r
K

2 2
= =
( ) strain plane
K
r
stress plane
K
r
ys
I
p
ys
I
p
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2

=
=
Hence
Where
ys
= yield strength
Evolution of Plastic Zone Size Evolution of Plastic Zone Size
For most components the size of the plastic zone is fairly small
but concerns must be raised for the validity of LEFM in the case
of structural steels. In practice the ASTM standard requires
these conditions;
This mean that r
p
< a/8 for LEFM to apply.
Plotting r the shape of plastic zone is as follows;
http://school.mech.uwa.edu.au/~dwright/DANotes/fracture/plasticity/plasticity.ht
ml#top
Plotting r
p
the shape of plastic zone is as follows;
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Example 3.1
A thin plate of steel contains a central through-
thickness flaw of length 16 mm, which is subjected to a
stress of 350 MPa applied perpendicularly to the flaw
plane. The yield stress of the material is 1400 MPa.
Calculate the plastic zone size and the effective stress
intensity level at the crack tip, making reasonable intensity level at the crack tip, making reasonable
assumptions about the state of stress.
If, after heat treatment, the yield stress of the steel
dropped to 385 MPa, what would the plastic zone size
be under the applied stress of 350 MPa, and what
conclusions would you draw about the use of LEFM?
10
http://www.tech.plym.ac.uk/sme/interactive_resources/tutorials/fracturemechanics/StressIntensity/So
lutions/Solution7.htm
Solution
Need 2 simple assumptions assumption 1- the plate is large
compared to the size of the crack; this allows us to use the simple
infinite plate formula for stress intensity factor, i.e;
the length of a central through-thickness crack is defined as 2a,
hence we use half the length (8 mm) in the stress intensity equation.
Assumption 2 - the steel plate is in a state of plane stress - this is Assumption 2 - the steel plate is in a state of plane stress - this is
reasonable, as it is stated to be 'thin'. An accurate assessment of
stress state would require a comparison to be made between plate
thickness and plastic zone size - if this ratio tends towards 1, plane
stress prevails, while if it tends towards 15 we are dealing with
plane strain.
Plastic zone correction factor to crack length is given by:
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Solution contd Solution contd
r
p
is small compared with the crack length, a and its effect on K
will be correspondingly small:
This is around a 1.5% change and thus a single iteration of the
calculation is sufficient.
However, if the yield stress drops to 385 MPa after heat However, if the yield stress drops to 385 MPa after heat
treatment, the situation is quite different. The plastic zone size
now becomes:
This represents a correction of around 18.9% and the use of LEFM
becomes dubious. This is confirmed by the fact that the applied
stress (350 MPa) is now some 91% of the yield stress. A yielding
fracture mechanics parameter should be used to characterise the
propensity for fracture.
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Plane Plane- -Stress and Transitional Stress and Transitional- -Stress Stress
States States
For cases where the plastic energy at the crack tip is not
negligible, other fracture mechanics parameters, such as the J
integral or R-curve, can be used to characterize a material.
The toughness data produced by these other tests will be
dependant on the thickness of the product tested and will not be a
true material property.
The requirements for the minimum specimen test piece size for The requirements for the minimum specimen test piece size for
LEFM to be valid are very stringent for ductile materials in order
to obtain valid K
IC
.
Lead to the scale could well exceed the size of the component the
results are to be applied to. Under these circumstances we still
need a measure of the fracture toughness of these materials in
order to predict and avoid possible failure. Two methods have
been developed which enable small scale testing to be applied to
the failure of ductile materials. These are the Crack Opening
Displacement and the J Integral method.
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ASTM E561-98 Standard Practice for R-Curve
Determination
LEFM - crack extension occurs when the energy release rate
G equals R, the material's resistance to crack extension.
A plot of R versus crack extension is called a crack
resistance curve, or R curve.
The corresponding plot of energy release rate, G versus crack
extension is called a driving force curve.
R and G Curves R and G Curves
extension is called a driving force curve.
The material resistance to crack extension, R, consists of the
energy to create two new surfaces, 2Gs together with any
mechanism which absorbs energy as the crack grows.
The R curve for an ideally brittle material is flat because the
surface energy is a fixed property.
Nonlinear behavior, like ductile fracture, can result in a
rising R curve as the plastic zone at crack tip increases in
size with extension.
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Crack growth resistance, R curve Crack growth resistance, R curve
Types of R-curve
o Generally, materials display either a flat R curve or a rising R
curve. For a flat R curve, material resistance is constant with
respect to crack extension. When the resistance curve is flat, it
exhibits a critical value of energy release rate G
c
. A material with a
rising R curve, however, cannot be uniquely characterized with a
single toughness value.
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single toughness value.
Crack resistance Curve
o A flawed structure fails when
the driving force curve is
tangent to the R curve, but this
point of tangency depends on
the shape of the driving force
curve, which depends on the
configuration of the structure.