M. H. J ones,~R. T. Bubsey,~and W. F. Brown, J r.

2
Crack Toughness Evaluation of Hot Pressed and Forged Beryllium
REFERENCE: Jones, M. H., Bubsey, R. T., and Brown, W. F., Jr.,
"Crack Toughness Evaluation of Hot Pressed and Forged
Beryl l i um, " Journal of Testing and Evaluation, JTEVA, Vol. 1,
No. 2, March 1973, pp. 100-109.
Abstract: Fracture toughness tests at room temperature were made
on three*point loaded beryllium bend specimens cut from hot pressed
block and a forged disk. These specimens had plane proportions
conforming to ASTM E 399 and covered a thickness range of from
/1~2 to ~-in. Two sets of bend specimens were tested, one having
fatigue cracks and the other 0.5 mil radius notches. During each test,
records were made of crack (or notch) mouth displacement and electric
potential vs applied load. One objective of the investigation was the
development of techniques to produce fatigue cracks in accordance
with the procedures specified in ASTM E 399. This objective was
achieved for the hot pressed material. In plane cracks were not con-
sistently produced in the specimens cut from forged stock.
Results of the fracture toughness tests showed that specimens with
fatigue cracks had considerably lower values of K~,~ than those with
sharp machined notches. Various anomalies were observed in the
behavior of the beryllium specimens from hot pressed stock. Among
these were nonlinearities in the load-displacement records in what was
expected to be the elastic range, negative crack mouth displacements
on unloading from this range, and a decrease in electrical potential with
increasing load which was recoverable on unloading. While valid KIo
values could not be established, the data indicate that for practical
purposes a value of about 10 ksi-inY~ would characterize both the
hot pressed and the forged stock.
KEY WORDS: fracture properties, beryllium, electric potential,
fatigue cracking, fatigue (materials)
I n a conventional sense beryllium has always been considered
a brittle material in t hat its fracture surfaces appear to be
devoid of any evidence of shear lips, impact resistance is ex-
tremely low at room temperature, tensile elongation values of
one or two percent are frequently reported, and the metal is not
formable at room temperature. Wi t h these characteristics one
would t hi nk t hat beryllium should have a very poor plane strain
fracture toughness and t hat the value could easily be deter-
mined by the methods specified in ASTM Test for Plane Strain
Fracture Toughness of Metallic Materials (E 399-70 T). How-
ever, for a number of reasons, attempts to conduct plane strain
fracture toughness tests have met with very limited success. The
objective of the present investigation was to develop methods
for overcoming the major difficulties and to produce useful
measures of crack toughness for both hot pressed and forged
beryllium.
A major problem in fracture testing of beryllium has been
the production of fatigue cracks in the test specimens. Diffi-
culties arise in maintaining satisfactory control of the crack due
1Strength of Materials Branch, NASA-Lewis Research Center,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Chief, Strength of Materials Branch, NASA-Lewis Research Center,
Cleveland, Ohio.
lOO
to the fact t hat the stress intensity, necessary to start the crack
in normal fatigue cycling (R > 0) is very close to Kic. It
should be noted t hat Fi nn et at {-2J have reported success i n
producing fatigue cracks in 4 in. wide center-slotted panels of
t hi n (0.040 in.) sheet stock using small elox slots (0.2 or 0.4 in.)
as starters. However, this experience is difficult to translate to
the production of standard K~ specimens.
Several approaches have been made to develop plane strain
crack toughness data from beryllium specimens which were not
fatigue cracked. Harrod et al [3] have used wedge opening
loading (WOL) specimens with machined notches having a
2 mil root radii. Double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens with
side grooves have been employed by Harrod et al [-3] and by
Albertin [-~1. I n these cases the crack was initiated from either
a 2 rail radius notch [-31 or a chevron notch [-41. A modification
of the wedge force technique was used by Harris and Dunegan
[-5] to crack single edge notch (SEN) specimens. In this method
a crack is initiated by impact wedging of a machined notch.
The crack is stopped in a compressed zone produced by clamping
nut s with an unspecified force on opposite sides of the specimen
below the notch.
While the above methods of specimen preparation avoid
fatigue cracking they do introduce uncertainties into the result.
Thus, there is no evidence which indicates t hat machined
notches will give the same result as fatigue cracks. I n fact, past
experience indicates this would be highly unlikely for a brittle
material. The DCB specimen is capable of yielding a series of
values of crack toughness for the initiation and arrest of a crack.
However, the initiation values correspond to conditions existing
at the crack tip after arrest, and these may or may not provide
crack toughness values equal to those for fatigue cracked speci-
mens. Side grooves are a necessary feature of the DCB specimen
but introduce an additional uncertainty into the result. Cracks
stopped in a compressed zone are likely to have reinitiation
values t hat are a function of the conditions within this zone. It
is likely t hat plastic flow or twining or both exist in the com-
pressed zone and t hat for a given applied lateral force the
conditions inside the zone and its extent would depend on the
specimen thickness and the applied compressive force.
Another difficulty encountered in the plane strain fracture
testing of beryllium is associated with its high tensile modulus
which results in very steep load displacement records when using
the same instrumentation as employed in testing of steel speci-
mens. Such records are difficult to judge for linearity and the
load at the secan~ intercept (ASTM E 399- 70 T See. 8.1.1)
sometimes cannot be obtained with useful precision. Most
investigators have simply used the maximum load in the test to
calculate the toughness value.

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JONES ET AL ON HOT PRESSED AND FORGED BERYLLIUM
TABLE 1--Chemical composition and properties of specimen stock.
101
Composition, ppm Degree of
Grain orienta- Density,
Form BeO Fe C A1 Mg Si Be size, gm tion lb/in. 2
Tensi l e Properties
Ultimate 0.2% Elonga- Reduc-
Strength, Yield tion, % tion of
ksi Strength, ( 4D) Area, %
ksi
Hot pressed 16700 l l OO 1070 750 40 250 Bal. 13 1N 0.067
block No. 2340
Hot pressed 16500 1180 1000 700 40 300 Bal. 12 1N 0.067
block No. 2172
Forged disk 17100 1280 1300 400 110 260 Bal. 21 4N 0.067
No. 209-2-8341
45.7 39.1 1.2 1.3
46.7 36.3 1 .O 1.3
85.4 60.7 11.1 17.0
Consi deri ng t he above descri bed difficulties, i t is doubt f ul
t ha t t he publ i shed d a t a define an accept abl e pl ane st r ai n cr ack
t oughness val ue for any gr ade of beryl l i um. The da t a of Har r i s
and Dunegan [51 do show a decrease i n t oughness ( based on
maxi mum l oad) wi t h i ncreasi ng t hi ckness and an appar ent
l evel i ng out of t he val ues at t he l ar gest t hi cknesses t est ed.
However, t hei r met hod of st oppi ng cracks i n a compressed zone
coul d well influence t hi s t hi ckness effect. Thus, for t he same
l at er al compressi ve force t he dept h of t he compressed zone wi t h
r espect t o t hi ckness woul d decrease wi t h i ncreasi ng t hi ckness.
Fur t her mor e, t he shape of t he crack f r ont shoul d be a funct i on
of bot h compressi ve force and t hi ckness.
The pur pose of t hi s i nvest i gat i on was t o devel op appr opr i at e
met hods of fat i gue cracki ng and t est i ns t r ument at i on t ha t
woul d per mi t t he det er mi nat i on of val i d val ues of pl ane st r ai n
f r act ur e t oughness for beryl l i um. Test s were made at r oom
t emper at ur e over a range of t hi cknesses for bot h hot pressed
and forged st ock usi ng specimens cont ai ni ng fat i gue cracks or
shar p machi ned notches. Whi l e pr evi ousl y r epor t ed experi-
ment al difficulties were l ar gel y overcome, new ones arose and
our resul t s r eveal var i ous anomal i es in t he f r act ur e behavi or of
ber yl l i um t ha t will make t he met hods of ASTM E 399 in-
appl i cabl e for det er mi nat i on of KIo val ues for some forms of
t hi s mat er i al .
Materi al and Procedure
Material
The ber yl l i um S-200 Speci men st ock was furni shed by Br ush
Ber yl l i um Company. Speci mens were cut f r om t wo pressi ngs 3
( appr oxi mat el y 30 in. in di amet er by 32 in. l ong) or from a
forged di sk 1 in. t hi ck by 16 in. i n di amet er . St a nda r d com-
merci al pr act i ce was used t o pr oduce t he hot pressed mat eri al .
The di sk was forged at 1400F wi t h an upset r at i o of 3.75 t o 1.
Oxi dat i on pr ot ect i on was pr ovi ded by encapsul at i ng t he forging
i n steel. Per t i nent i nf or mat i on on t he chemi st r y and physi cal and
mechani cal pr oper t i es of t hese mat er i al s is gi ven in Tabl e 1.
The t ensi l e pr oper t i es shown i n Tabl e 1 are t hose obt ai ned by
t he producer. We obt ai ned essent i al l y t he same resul t s for t he
hot pressed stock, but di d not det er mi ne t he t ensi l e pr oper t i es
for t he forged disk.
These pressings were selected by the producer to be close in chemical
composition and tensile properties. Specimens were not identified as to
which block they were taken from.
Specimens
Thr ee- poi nt bend specimens of t he pl ane pr opor t i ons specified
i n ASTM E 399 were cut from t he st ock and machi ned by Br ush
Ber yl l i um Company. Al l specimens were 1 in. wide except t hose
havi ng a t hi ckness of 0.03 in. whi ch were 1/~ in. wide. Two t ypes
of cr ack st ar t er s were used for fat i gue cracki ng: (1) chevrons
wi t h 10 rail maxi mum r adi us and (2) sl ot s 1/~6 in. wide t er -
mi nat i ng i n 0.5 mi l r adi us V not ches par al l el t o t he speci men
thickness. The l at t er confi gurat i on was also used for speci mens
cont ai ni ng machi ned notches. Al l specimens had i nt egr al kni fe
edges for di spl acement gage at t achment . The or i ent at i on of t he
~peci mens from t he pressed bl ocks was such t hat t hei r l ong axis
coi nci ded wi t h t he pressi ng di rect i on. Specimens from t he forged
di sk had t hei r l ong axis in t he r adi al di r ect i on and t he not ches or
cracks per pendi cul ar t o t he di sk surface. As will be di scussed
l at er t hese speci mens were char act er i zed by crooked f at i gue
cracks.
Fat i gue Cracki ng
Fat i gue cracks were pr oduced by cant i l ever bendi ng at 2000
cpm Using essent i al l y const ant end di spl acement . A l oad cell of
appr opr i at e capaci t y was pl aced i n series wi t h t he l oadi ng t r ai n
and st ress i nt ensi t y fact ors were cal cul at ed from t he measur ed
l oads usi ng t he K cal i br at i on for t hr ee- poi nt bendi ng [-63. Fr om
resul t s r epor t ed by Fi sher and Repko [-7t, i t woul d appear t ha t
t he st ress i nt ensi t i es cal cul at ed in t hi s way woul d be an over -
est i mat e of t he act ual val ues i n cant i l ever bending. We t her ef or e
bel i eve t ha t t he provi si ons of ASTM E 3 9 9 - 70 T (Sect i on
6.5.2) desi gned t o ensure adequat el y shar p fat i gue cracks were
satisfied.
At t e mpt s t o grow fat i gue cracks usi ng r at i os of mi ni mum t o
maxi mum t ensi on l oads near zero (R ~ 0.05) were gener al l y
unsuccessful. Under t hese condi t i ons, if t he Km~x val ues were
r est r i ct ed t o about 50 per cent of t he expect ed K~ val ue t he
cracks woul d not s t a r t i n a reasonabl e l engt h of t i me (500,000
cycl es). The resul t s of t r i al s where t he maxi mum t ensi on l oad
was progressi vel y i ncreased were unsat i sf act or y i n t hat a crack,
once st ar t ed, grew t o fai l ure i mmedi at el y. We found t ha t by
fat i gue cycl i ng using reversed bendi ng we coul d s t a r t and grow
cracks in a cont rol l ed manner, usi ng l oads whose t ensi on com-
ponent corresponded t o a maxi mum st ress i nt ensi t y Iess t han
one-hal f t ha t for crack i ni t i at i on in t he subsequent f r act ur e
t est . However, as t he crack grows in reversed bendi ng t he
i ncreasi ng ar ea of cont act bet ween i t s faces reduces t he effect i ve
compressi ve force at t he crack t i p. For t hi s reason, i t was

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102 JOURNAL OF TESTINO AND EVALUATION
necessary t o use cr ack s t ar t er not ches paral l el t o t he speci men
t hi ckness r at her t han chevrons and t o use t he maxi mum l engt h
of s t ar t er not ch consi st ent wi t h meet i ng t he r equi r ement s of
E 399. Typi cal l y, cracks were s t ar t ed i n a few t hous and cycles
and grown t o t he desi red l engt h i n 200 t o 300 X l 0 s cycles usi ng
a compressi on l oad t wo t o t hr ee t i mes t ha t in tension. The
progress of t he fat i gue cr ack was followed wi t h t he ai d of an oil
base dye penet r ant whi ch was washed from t he s t ar t er not ch
before t est i ng.
The specimens from t he forged di sk whi ch were known t o be
or i ent ed i n a r adi al di r ect i on general l y devel oped fat i gue cr acks
t ha t were consi der abl y out of pl ane wi t h respect t o t he pl ane of
t he s t ar t er not ch. As will be discussed l at er , t hi s behavi or had
no di scerni bl e effect on t he measur ed t oughness val ues.
Te s t i n g
Bot h cr ack mout h di spl acement and electric pot ent i al
measur ement s were made dur i ng t he course of most of t he
f r act ur e t est s. These quant i t i es were recorded agai nst t he out put
of a sui t abl e l oad cell on an X- Y- Y recorder. The measur ement
and recordi ng of l oads and di spl acement s followed t he general
procedures specified in ASTM E 399. Because of t he hi gh
modul us of ber yl l i um and t he l ow f r act ur e l oads encount ered,
i t was necessary t o pr ovi de addi t i onal gai n i n t he di spl acement
channel over what was nor mal l y avai l abl e from t he X- Y- Y
recorder. Thi s was accompl i shed by use of a Kei t hi ey Model
149 mi l l i mi cr ovol t met er i n series wi t h t he recorder. The Kei t hl ey
was oper at ed at a gai n of 330 and i nt r oduced no vi si bl e noise
i nt o t he l oad- di spl acement t race. The di spl acement gage
descri bed in ASTM E 399 has r el at i vel y stiff ar ms and woul d
appl y a st ress i nt ensi t y f act or of about 3 ksi-in. 1/2 t o t he t hi nnest
ber yl l i um speci men t est ed. Thi s is about one quar t er t o one t hi r d
of t he cr ack t oughness of t he mat er i al . The di spl acement gage
was t herefore redesi gned and pr ovi ded wi t h magnesi um arms.
Thi s redesi gn r educed t he wedge force by a f act or of six. Wher e
appr opr i at e t he r epor t ed cr ack t oughness val ues ar e correct ed
for wedge force effects.
Const ant cur r ent for el ect ri cal pot ent i al measur ement s was
suppl i ed from six l ead aci d bat t er i es (60 Ah capaci t y) connect ed
i n par al l el wi t h a wat er-cool ed bal l ast resi st or in series wi t h t he
specimen. The vol t age suppl i ed by t hese bat t er i es at a 30 amp
l oad di d not change by mor e t han 0.1 per cent dur i ng t he course
of a f r act ur e t est . The cur r ent l eads were cl amped t o t he ends of
t he speci mens and t he pot ent i al l eads were connect ed t o t he
di spl acement gage ar ms by means of t he bol t fast eni ng t he ar ms
t o an i nsul at i ng space bl ock whi ch pr ovi ded el ect ri c i sol at i on
bet ween t he gage arms. A Kei t hl ey Model 149 mi l l i mi cro-
vol t met er was used as a vol t age ampl i fi er for pot ent i al measure-
ment s. The i ni t i al pot ent i al (correspondi ng t o a few pounds of
l oad) was suppressed and t he change in pot ent i al dur i ng t he
course of t he t est was recorded on one channel of t he X- Y- Y
recorder at one mi cr ovol t per in. Thi s corresponded t o a gai n
t hr ough t he Kei t hi ey of 105. The general ar r angement of equi p-
ment and connect i ons has been descri bed pr evi ousl y [-8]. For
most of t he t est s descri bed here a West i nghouse Type SW
t r ansf or mer ~ was pl aced i n series wi t h t he a-c suppl y t o t he
Kei t hi eys i n or der t o reduce t he effects of var i ous forms of
i nt erference r i di ng on t he a-c lines.
Re s u l t s a n d Di s c u s s i o n
The resul t s are pr esent ed in t er ms of t ypi cal t es t records of
cr ack mout h di spl acement and el ect ri c pot ent i al agai nst l oad
and as stress i nt ensi t y fact ors cal cul at ed from t hese records
usi ng t he K cal i br at i on gi ven in ASTM E 3 9 9 - 70 T Sect i on
8.1.2. The di spl acement scales shown on t he t est records were
det er mi ned by cal i br at i ng t he di spl acement gage usi ng a super-
mi cromet er, di r ect l y r eadabl e t o 50 #in.
Load-Displacement Records
Load- di spl acement records for t he hot pressed st ock were
nonl i near from i ni t i al l oadi ng t o compl et e f r act ur e of t he
specimen. Typi cal cur ves ar e pr esent ed in Fi g. 1 for speci mens
of several thicknesses. I n or der t o per mi t compar i son bet ween
records from speci mens of di fferent di mensi ons t he cur ves in
Fi g. 1 have been nor mal i zed by pl ot t i ng a f or mal l y comput ed
st ress i nt ensi t y f act or K ( based on i ni t i al crack l engt h) agai nst
a di spl acement ~ nor mal i zed t o an a/ W = 0.5 and W = 1 in.
(see Appendi x A) . The cur ves shown in Fig. 1 exhi bi t t hr ee
char act er i st i cs whi ch bl end i mper cept i bl y i nt o one anot her as
t he speci men t hi ckness decreases. The i ni t i al por t i on shows
r el at i vel y smal l change i n di spl acement wi t h i ncreasi ng K
( appl i ed l oad) . Fol l owi ng t he i ni t i al por t i on t her e is a more
gent l y cur ved region, t he cur vat ur e of whi ch i ncreases wi t h
decreasi ng t hi ckness. Thi s regi on is t er mi nat ed by t he appear -
ance of st eps whi ch are associ at ed wi t h cracki ng. The separ at i on
of t he cur ves for specimens of var i ous t hi cknesses is associ at ed
wi t h decreasi ng t r ansver se const r ai nt as t he t hi ckness decreases
and t he associ at ed effect of pl ast i ci t y.
Load- di spl acement records for t he forged di sk speci mens
were di fferent from t hose of t he hot pressed mat er i al i n t ha t t he
onl y pr onounced nonl i near i t y obser ved was associ at ed wi t h t he
i ni t i al por t i on of t he t est record. Wi t h t he except i on of one
0. 06-i n. -t hi ck specimen, all ot her s gave t est records whi ch
exhi bi t ed a maxi mum l oad and abr upt fai l ure well wi t hi n t he
devi at i on from l i near i t y correspondi ng t o t he 5 per cent secant
line. For t he one except i onal specimen, di scont i nuous cracki ng
occurred under ri si ng load.
12[-- HOTPRESSED 0.061N.--- /
I FATIGUECRACKED 0.25 IN.~\ / - /
8
g
1 I I I I I I I
0 2 4 6 8 I 0 12 14 16xlO -4
DISPLACEMENT,5, IN.
4 This is a passive interference suppressor, voltage stabilizer, and line FIG. 1--Normalized load vs displacement records for beryllium bend
filter, specimens of several thicknesses from hot pressed stock.

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JONES ET AL ON HOT PRESSED AND FORGED BERYLLIUM ] 0 3
E~ct r i cal Pot ent i al Records
The el ect ri cal pot ent i al records for t he speci mens from hot
pressed st ock consi st ent l y exhi bi t ed anomal ous behavi or. A
t ypi cal t est r ecor d is i l l ust r at ed i n Fi g. 2 whi ch shows t he
el ect ri cal pot ent i al and di spl acement t r aces agai nst l oad for a
0. 25-i n. -t hi ck specimen. The pot ent i al i ni t i al l y decreases t o a
mi ni mum val ue and t hen rises smoot hl y unt i l di scont i nuous
j umps are pr oduced by cracking. The mi ni mum is obser ved at
l oad l evel s whi ch ar e welt bel ow t hose pr oduci ng evi dence of
cracki ng and consi derabl e pot ent i al rise is not ed before t he
di scont i nui t i es associ at ed wi t h cracki ng are observed. The
magni t ude of t he i ni t i al decrease i n pot ent i al var i ed from about
0.5 t o 2 per cent of t he pot ent i al measur ed at t he s t a r t of t he
t est . As will be discussed l at er , t hi s loss i n pot ent i al is affect ed
by pr el oadi ng and is al most compl et el y r ecover abl e on un-
loading.
The electric pot ent i al records for t he forged di sk speci mens
general l y showed ve r y smal l pot ent i al change t hr oughout t he
t est . However, a few specimens exhi bi t ed anomal ous but in-
consi st ent pot ent i al changes.
250
200
m 150
. - !
- ' 100
.50
HOTPRESSED
"-- OTENTIAL
DISPLACEMENT~ I"--0.0001 IN.
250
2 4 9
2z18 ~
247 ~
.-!.,
246
245
FIG. 2--Load and electrical potential records for a 0.25-in.-thick beryllium
bend specimen from hot pressed stock.
Crack Toughness and Ef f ect of Not ch Ra d i u s
For t he t est s on t he hot pressed stock, i t was not possi bl e t o
anal yze t he recorded da t a to yi el d Kz~ val ues because of t he
above descri bed nonl i near i t y in t he l oad di spl acement records.
For t hi s mat er i al K~ , was cal cul at ed based on t he maxi mum
l oad and t hese val ues are pl ot t ed agai nst t hi ckness in Fi g. 3
al ong wi t h Ki val ues cal cul at ed from t he first crack i ndi cat i ons
appar ent from t he t est records (for example, see Fi g. 2). The
K~ val ues i ncrease wi t h decreasi ng t hi ckness for speci mens
of t he same wi dt h and ar e r educed by decreasi ng t he wi dt h.
Thi s t r end of K~, ~ wi t h t hi ckness is commonl y obser ved in
steels and al umi num alloys. I n t hese mat er i al s i t is associ at ed
wi t h a fract ure mode t r ansi t i on whi ch is char act er i zed by t he
devel opment of shear l i ps and t hi ckness r educt i on at t he frac-
t ure. I n cont r ast , for t he ber yl l i um specimens we were not abl e
t o measure any t hi ckness r educt i on; and t he f r act ur e surfaces
were al ways fi at and per pendi cul ar t o t he l ongi t udi nal axis of
t he specimen. Wi t hi n t he l i mi t s of scat t er t he Ki val ues are
near l y const ant ove r t he ent i re t hi ckness range i nves t i gat ed
I z~OT PRESSED z~
t
~.- W, IN.
0. 5 1.0
5 o o FIRST CRACK iNDiCATION'LFATIGLJE
MAXIMUMLOAD ICRACKS
" MAXIMUMLOAD,O. 5 MIL RADIUSNOTCH
0 ~ l , l , I
0 .2 .4 .6
THICKNESS,IN.
FIG. 3--Effect of thickness on the toughness of fatigue cracked or sharply
notched beryllium bend specimens from hot pressed stock.
and for a t hi ckness of 0.50 in. Ki is near l y equal t o K . . . . Based
on t hi s behavi or a pl ane st r ai n cr ack t oughness of about 10
ksi -i nY 2 coul d be defined for t he hot pressed stock.
The Kmax val ues for specimens of hot pressed st ock wi t h shar p
machi ned not ches were in all cases consi der abl y above t hose for
fat i gued cracked specimens. El ect ri c pot ent i al measur ement s
were not made for t he shar p not ched specimens and t herefore
no Ki val ues were det er mi ned.
As ment i oned pr evi ousl y t he t est records for speci mens from
t he forged di sk exhi bi t ed onl y smal l amount s of nonl i near i t y,
and i t was t herefore possi bl e t o cal cul at e KQ val ues. These ar e
pl ot t ed in Fi g. 4 agai nst t he speci men t hi ckness. Mos t of t he
fat i gue cracks devi at ed from t he s t ar t er not ch pl ane by sub-
st ant i al amount s as i ndi cat ed by t he @ val ues mar ked next t o
t he pl ot t ed poi nt s. Thi s behavi or is pr obabl y associ at ed wi t h
t he forging t ext ur e and ma y r epr esent f r act ur e on pr i sm pl anes.
FORGED DISK
20- o
v,
1 0 - - N ~
o,
NUMBERS AT POINTS GIVE ~ IN DEGREES
EXCEPT rp= 0 o NOT MARKED
5 - o FATIGUE CRACKS
A 0. 5 MIL RADIUS NOTCH
3 MIL RADIUS NOTCH
o , I , J , I
0 . 2 . 4 .6
THICKNESS, IN.
FIG. 4--Effect of thickness on the toughness of fatigue cracked or sharply
notched beryUium bend specimens from a ~orged disk.

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1 0 4 JOURNAL OF TESTING AND EVALUATION
HOT PRESSED (INITIAL POTENTIAL, 250 IJV)
0. 25 IN. THICK
FATIGUE CRACKED
\
I l p V
i_
I ' a i " : ' POTENTIAL
I I i /
I I ' , / /
/
/ / i / # , 4 / _t
- l - I
I pV I
j . _ PREVIOUS I
CYCLE I
f
DISPLACEMENT -"'I F'~ O. 0001 IN.
FIG. 5 - - L o a d and electrical pot ent i al vs di spl acement records f o r cyclic
l oadi ng of a bend speci men f r o m hot pressed stock.
The measured angles varied over a wide range, but this variation
appears to have no systematic influence on the KQ values. This
behavior is in contrast with the substantial effects of crack
angle reported by Fisher and Repko F7]. The KQ Values appear
to rise with decreasing thickness and this effect is most pro-
nounced in the thickness range below 0.25 in. While all data
except t hat for the 0.06-in.-thick specimens met the ASTM
E 399 - 70 T requirements in terms of crack length, thickness,
and linearity of the load-displacement records, only the two
largest thicknesses were within the specified limits of width to
thickness ( W / B ) . Neglecting the fact t hat most fatigue cracks
deviated substantially from the starter notch plane, 5 the data
for the two largest thicknesses define a crack toughness of about
11 ksi-in. 1/2 for the forged disk material.
Values of K~ determined from forged disk specimens with
machined notches were higher t han those obtained from the
fatigue cracked specimens; however, this difference is less t han
observed from the hot pressed materials. Two tests on specimens
with a three rail notch radius indicated this notch produced
about the same Km~ values as the 0.5 rail radius notch.
Speci al Test s on Hot Pressed St ock
When a decrease in potential (apparent increase in con-
ductivity) during the initial portion of loading (see Fig. 2)
was first encountered, it was judged to be caused by some
ASTM E 399 - 70 T, Section 7.2.4 specifies that if the greatest angle
between the fatigue crack surface and the plane of symmetry of the notch
exceeds 10 degress the test is invalid.
difficulty with the equipment, and the specimen was unloaded
after the potential began to decrease rapidly2 Upon reloading
the potential increased until the previous load was reached, and
then on further loading the potential again decreased. To
further study this anomalous behavior which characterized the
hot pressed stock, a specimen was subjected to a series of
loadings and unloadings at increasingly higher values of the
applied load. The results of typical cycles are illustrated in
Fig. 5 which shows plots made by an X-Y-Y recorder of load
and electrical potential vs displacement (X axis). The current
supply voltage drift during any one loading cycle was less t han
0.03 percent. The final cycle carried the specimen to failure and
this test record is shown in Fig. 6. Before this last cycle the
batteries were recharged and the supply voltage drift during the
test was about 0.1 percent. It should be noted t hat the first load
cycle is not shown in Fig. 5. During this 50 lb preload, the
potential continuously decreased and on unloading returned
essentially to its initial value at zero load.
A number of interesting observations may be made from
these cyclic loading experiments. These are summarized in the
following section and represent behaviors which we have not
encountered previously and for which we have no satisfactory
explanation.
L o a d - D i s p l a c e m e n t R e c o r d s
As mentioned previously, all fracture tests on hot pressed
beryllium specimens exhibited nonlinear load-displacement
records (see Fig. 1). As shown in Fig. 5 the effect of preloading
does not eliminate the initial nonlinearity (hook) in these
records but does produce a region of essentially linear behavior
extending to the maximum load of the previous cycle. The
unloading traces shown in Fig. 5 are linear over a greater range
t han the loading traces and have a somewhat lower slope so
t hat a negative residual displacement appears/ We have ob-
300
250
20O
150
I00
50
I0
HOT PRESSED
-- 0.25 IN. THICK
I
FATIGUE
CRACKED ~ J
=- ~ EVt 0-US-C
249 ELECTRICAL
_ / ~1248 POTENTIAl.,
!
DISPLACEMENT ~l: ~ 0.0001 IN.
FIG. 6 - - L o a d and electrical pot ent i al vs di spl acement records f or f i n a l
l oadi ng cycle of the series shown i n Fi g. 5.
0 Results of some additional tests are described in Appendix B which
show similar electrical behavior for a titanium alloy. They also indicate
that the anomalous electrical behavior observed for beryllium is not likely
associated with some experimental difficulty.
7 Experiments were made on an aluminum specimen using the same
instrumentation as employed in the tests on beryllium. The results of this
experiment showed a small positive residual displacement (10 ~in.) when
the aluminum specimen was loaded and then unloaded in the elastic range.
This positive residual was independent of the applied preload and was
apparently associated with a slight hysteresis in the clip gage.

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JONES ET AL ON HOT PRESSED AND FORGED BERYLLIUM
TABLE 2--Summary of crack toughness values reported for vacuum hot pressed beryllium.
105
Type of Basis for K Number of
Thickness, ~rvs, Specimen Notch or Calcula- Specimens
Type of Be in. Reference ksi Type Crack tions Tested
Crack Toughness, K,
ksi x/in~.
Ini t i at i on Arrest
Range Avg Range Avg
S-200 0.50 5
0.35 5
0.25 3
1.0 3
0.25
to Present
0.5 Investigation
N50A 0.1 5
o.1 14
0.30
to 5
0.35
Brake] Lot 1 0.25
4
Grade~
Block) Lot 2 O. 1.8 4i
40 SEN ~ b Maximum 2 20-26 23
load
40 SEN" b Maximum 3 13-23 17
load
33 DCB c c Maximum 2 14-15 15 12-13
load
33 WOLd d Maximum 9 17-25 20
load
39 Bend Fatigue See text 5
29 SEN ~ b Maximum 9
load
29 SEN" b e 6
29 SEN" b Maximum 3
load
31 DCBI Chevron Maximum 3
load
31 DCB~ Chevron Maximum 1
load
10-11 10
18--22 20
18-21 19
11-15 13
10-14 12 7-11
14-15 14 12-14
12
8
13
SEN; W = 1.5 in., 0.2 < a/ W < 0.45.
Wedge induced crack stopped in compressed zone.
DCB; W = 7 in., B~ = 0.13 in., ao = 1 in. notch radius = 2 mils.
WOL; W = 1.125 in., ao = 0.5 in., notch radius = 2 mils.
* Acoustic emission.
s DCB; W = 5 in., B,~ = 0.19 in., 1.5 < ao < 2i n.
g DCB; W = 5 in., B, = 0.13 in., a0 = 1.5 in.
s er ved a si mi l ar hook i n t he i ni t i al por t i on of t he l oad- di spl ace-
me nt r ecor ds f or mos t of our f r act ur e t est s on ma n y mat er i al s.
Howe ve r , as descr i bed i n Appendi x C, t hi s c ommonl y obs er ved
be ha vi or is pr oba bl y n o t due t o t he s ame ef f ect s of t hos e
pr oduci ng t he hook i n t he t es t r ecor ds of t he ber yl l i um speci mens.
Us i ng t he unl oadi ng t r aces i n Fi g. 5, a ppa r e nt va l ue s of
el ast i c modul us wer e cal cul at ed f r om t he di s pl acement r el at i on-
shi ps gi ve n b y Gr oss et al [11]. Thes e val ues ar e s hown i n Fi g.
7 as a f unct i on of t he pr el oad l evel . The a ppa r e nt modul us
decr eases wi t h successi ve l oad cycl es f r om an una c c ount a bl y
hi gh v a l u e of 56 108 psi t o 43 X 106 psi, a va l ue near t h a t
gener al l y r e por t e d [15] for hot pr essed ber yl l i um.
Electrical Pot ent i al Records
Fol l owi ng a ny l oad cycl e, t he pot ent i al exhi bi t s an i ni t i al
i ncr ease and t he n r emai ns essent i al l y cons t ant unt i l t he maxi -
mu m l oad of t he pr evi ous cycl e is r eached af t er whi ch i t begi ns
t o decrease. Dur i ng l oadi ng t o fai l ure, Fi g. 6, t hi s decr ease is
i nt e r r upt e d by cr acki ng whi ch causes a l ar ge and di s cont i nuous
i ncr ease i n pot ent i al . On unl oadi ng dur i ng a ny cycl e, t he
pot ent i al first r ecover s at a r a t e whi ch is ne a r l y equal t o i t s r a t e
of decr ease dur i ng l oadi ng; b u t t he r e c ove r y is onl y pa r t i a l l y
compl et e bef or e t he pot ent i al assumes a near l y c ons t a nt v a l u e
wi t h decr easi ng l oad. Re c o v e r y t o near t he i ni t i al v a l u e t akes
pl ace dur i ng t he l ast s t age of unl oadi ng. Thi s r e c ove r y is ne a r l y
compl et e for t he l owest l oad cycl es; b u t as t he l oads i ncr ease a
pr ogr es s i vel y l ar ger , r esi dual loss i n pot ent i al r emai ns. I t is
i nt er es t i ng t o c ompa r e t he be ha vi or dur i ng t he cycl i c l oadi ng
exper i ment wi t h t h a t obs er ved for t he s ame t hi cknes s (0. 25 i n. )
s peci men under cont i nuous l y i ncr easi ng l oad (see Fi g. 2) . Th e
pot e nt i a l i n t he cycl i c l oadi ng t es t al ways decr eased when t h e
pr el oad l evel was exceeded e ve n t hough t hi s l evel was wel l
a bove t h a t cor r espondi ng t o a l ar ge r e c ove r y i n pot ent i al i n t h e
cont i nuous l y l oaded t est . I t shoul d be me nt i one d t h a t a second
0. 25- i n. - t hi ck s peci men was t e s t e d under cont i nuous l y i ncr easi ng
l oad and t he pot e nt i a l mi n i mu m occur r ed at t he s ame l oad as
i n t he fi rst t est .
El ect r i cal pot ent i al me a s ur e me nt s wer e ma de on s moot h
speci mens cut f r om t he s ame hot pr essed s t ock as wer e t h e
cr acked bend speci mens. Loa d cycl i ng i n t ens i on or i n com-
pr essi on t o near t h e 0.2 per cent yi el d s t r e ngt h pr oduced no
anomol ous behavi or . Th e el ect r i cal pot ent i al va r i e d i n a l i near
ma n n e r consi st ent wi t h t he changi ng cross s ect i on of t h e
s peci men under l oad.
Contributing Factors
The r e ar e t hr ee f act or s t h a t coul d c ont r i but e t o t he unusual
def or mat i on and el ect r i cal behavi or s obs er ved i n t he f r act ur e
t est s on hot pr essed ber yl l i um, na me l y: mi cr ocr acki ng, mi cr o-
pl ast i ci t y, a nd t wi nni ng. Mi cr ocr acki ng mi ght be expect ed i n

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1 0 6
JOURNAL OF TESTING AND EVALUATION
6 0 x ~ 6
F HOT PRESSED
O.251N. THICK
FATIGUE CRACKED
1
55
a .
g s 0
D .
< 4 5
m
"' o
, I , I , I
100 DO 200
CYCLIC PRELOAD, LB
FIG. 7--Apparent elastic modulus as a function of the cyclic preloads used
in the test represented by Fig. 5.
vi ew of t he ver y low basal pl ane f r act ur e pr opagat i on energy of
7000 ergs per cm 2 ( K = 1.3 ksi-in. 1/2) r epor t ed by Govi l a and
Ka md a r [10]. Whi l e decrease in modul us wi t h i ncreasi ng
pr el oad l evel (Fi g. 7) coul d be associ at ed wi t h mi crocracki ng,
t he el ect ri c pot ent i al records do not show any evi dence of
cracking. Thus, cracki ng shoul d pr oduce an increase i n pot ent i al
on l oadi ng and a decrease in pot ent i al on unl oadi ng. Mi cro-
pl ast i ci t y at low l oads coul d r esul t from l ocal i zed sl i p on basal
planes, and t hi s could cont r i but e t o nonl i near i t y in t he l oad-
di spl acement records. Tuer and Kauf man ~16] r epor t a val ue
of about 2000 psi for t he cri t i cal resol ved shear st ress for basal
slip; and, as poi nt ed out by London [17], t hi s val ue is onl y 300
psi for ver y pur e cryst al s. Ber yl l i um exhi bi t s a consi derabl e
ani sot r opy of mechani cal and el ect ri cal pr oper t i es ~16, 12] and
t wi ns r eadi l y F9]. Therefore, i t mi ght be expect ed t ha t t wi nni ng
coul d pl ay an i mpor t ant role i n est abl i shi ng t he observed be-
havi ors. However, we were unabl e t o find a concent r at i on of
t wi ns adj acent t o t he f r act ur e surfaces by exami nat i on ( 500)
i n pol ar i zed l i ght of sections nor mal t o t he fract ure. The t wi nni ng
t ha t was obser ved was scat t er ed t hr oughout t he body of t he
sampl e r at her t han bei ng concent r at ed near t he f r act ur e and
mi ght have been due t o polishing. I t is, of course, possi bl e t ha t
mor e advanced met al l ogr aphi c t echni ques woul d r eveal t wi n
concent r at i on i n t he regi on of t he fract ure.
I t is evi dent t ha t a sat i sf act or y under st andi ng of how var i ous
met al l ur gi cal fact ors coul d i nt er act t o pr oduce t he obser ved
unusual mechani cal and el ect ri cal behavi or s will requi re a con-
si der abl y mor e sophi st i cat ed appr oach t o t he pr obl em t han
r epr esent ed by t hi s i nvest i gat i on. We hope t ha t t he resul t s
pr esent ed will st i mul at e f ur t her st udi es by speci al i st s i n physi cal
met al l ur gy.
Co mp a r i s o n wi t h P u b l i s h e d Re s u l t s
We are not aware of any publ i shed da t a on t he crack t ough-
ness of forged ber yl l i um t ha t woul d be sui t abl e for compari son
wi t h t he r esul t s obt ai ned in t hi s i nvest i gat i on for t he forged
di sk stock. The resul t s of a number of i nvest i gat i ons of vacuum
hot pressed mat er i al s have been r epor t ed and r oom t emper at ur e
da t a from t hese st udi es are summar i zed in Tabl e 2 whi ch also
gi ves t he crack t oughness val ues obt ai ned i n t hi s i nvest i gat i on.
Wi t h t he except i on of t he resul t s r epor t ed b y Har r od et al F3],
t he or i ent at i on of specimens in r el at i on t o t he bl ock pressi ng
di rect i on was not specified. However, no subst ant i al direc-
t i onal i t y effects woul d be expect ed and t hi s is confirmed by t he
da t a of Har r od et al whi ch shows a difference of about 10
per cent bet ween t he crack t oughness measur ed in t he pressi ng
di rect i on and nor mal t o t hi s di rect i on. Tabl e 2 gi ves bot h t he
range of cr ack t oughness val ues r epor t ed and t he average. I t
should be not ed t ha t in t he case of t he DCB speci men t he
ranges r epor t ed r epr esent t he spr ead of t he i ni t i at i on and of t he
ar r est val ues obt ai ned from all t he specimens t est ed.
A useful compari son of t he da t a i n Tabl e 2 is compl i cat ed by
a number of fact ors: (1) t he speci mens used var i ed bot h as t o
t ype and met hod of cracki ng and some were not cracked at al l ;
(2) di fferent grades of mat er i al were t es t ed whi ch are di fferent
in i mpur i t y cont ent and per haps in ot her ways; (3) t he t hi ck-
nesses var i ed and t hi s will influence t he r epor t ed t oughness
val ues when t hey are based on maxi mum l oad; and (4) t he basi s
for det er mi ni ng t he l oad used in t he K cal cul at i on was not t he
same t hr oughout . I t is qui t e obvi ous t ha t t he avai l abl e da t a are
by no means sufficient t o charact eri ze t he crack t oughness of
any gr ade of vacuum hot pressed ber yl l i um for speci fi cat i on
purposes. However, some i nt er est i ng obser vat i ons ma y be made
on t he basi s of t he da t a shown in Tabl e 2.
The average val ue of 10 ksi-in. 1/2 for t he crack t oughness
obt ai ned in t hi s i nvest i gat i on is among t he lowest l i st ed in t hi s
t abl e. I t may be compar ed t o a val ue of 23 ksi -i nY 2 r epor t ed by
Har r i s and Dunegan [ 5] for 0. 5-i n. -t hi ck speci mens of 200
gr ade st ock havi ng essent i al l y t he same yi el d st rengt h. Whi l e
t he t oughness val ues from bot h st udi es were based on maxi mum
l oad, our resul t s i ndi cat e t hat maxi mum l oad at t hi s t hi ckness
corresponds ver y closely t o t he i ni t i at i on of det ect abl e cracki ng.
The consi der abl y lower t oughness which we obt ai ned for S-200
gr ade is most l i kel y due t o t he fact t hat a " s har per " cr ack was
pr oduced by t he fat i gue l oadi ng t h a n was pr oduced by st oppi ng
a c r a c k i n a c o m p r e s s e d z o n e . I n t e s t s o n N 5 0 A s t o c k , D u n e g a n
e t a l F I ~ ] u s e d t h i s l a t t e r m e t h o d o f c r a c k i n g ; b u t t h e s e t e s t s
e m p l o y e d a c o u s t i c t e c h n i q u e s t o d e t e r m i n e t h e l o a d u s e d f o r
c a l c u l a t i o n o f t h e K v a l u e s . A s w i l l b e n o t e d f r o m T a b l e 2 , t h e
t o u g h n e s s v a l u e s s o o b t a i n e d f o r 0 . 1 - i n . - t h i c k s p e c i m e n s d i d n o t
d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y f r o m t h o s e b a s e d o n t h e m a x i m u m l o a d .
E v i d e n c e t h a t n a t u r a l c r a c k s c a n p r o d u c e l o w e r t o u g h n e s s
v a l u e s t h a n m a c h i n e d n o t c h e s i s a l s o p r o v i d e d b y t h e d a t a o f
H a r r o d e t a l [ 3 ] . O n e - i n . - t h i c k W O L s p e c i m e n s w i t h 2 r a i l
n o t c h r o o t r a d i i a n d 0 . 2 5 - i n . - t h i c k D C B s p e c i m e n s w e r e c u t
f r o m t h e s a m e S - 2 0 0 s t o c k a n d , a s n o t e d i n T a b l e 2 , t h e D C B
s p e c i m e n s g a v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y l o w e r t o u g h n e s s v a l u e s . U n f o r t u -
n a t e l y , t h e a v a i l a b l e d a t a d o n o t p e r m i t a c o m p a r i s o n o f t h e
r e s u l t s o b t a i n e d ( f o r t h e s a m e s t o c k ) f r o m D C B s p e c i m e n s w i t h
t h o s e o b t a i n e d f r o m s p e c i m e n s p r e p a r e d a n d t e s t e d i n a c -
c o r d a n c e w i t h A S T M E 3 9 9 .
T h e d a t a g i v e n i n T a b l e 2 d o n o t s u p p o r t t h e i d e a t h a t a n
i n c r e a s e i n p u r i t y o f t h e h o t p r e s s e d s t o c k i s a c c o m p a n i e d b y a n
i n c r e a s e i n t h e c r a c k t o u g h n e s s . T h u s , t h e r e i s e s s e n t i a l l y n o
c l e a r d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e t o u g h n e s s v a l u e s r e p o r t e d b y H a r r o d
e t a l E $ ] f o r S - 2 0 0 g r a d e a n d t h o s e r e p o r t e d b y A l b e r t i n F I ~ - ]
f o r t h e h i g h e r p u r i t y b r a k e b l o c k . B o t h t h e s e i n v e s t i g a t o r s u s e d

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JONES ET AL ON HOT PRESSED AND FORGED BERYLLIUM | 0 7
DCB speci mens s a nd t e s t e d mat er i al of ne a r l y t he s ame yi el d
s t r engt h. Th e s ame concl usi on can be ma de on t he basi s of t h e
d a t a r e por t e d b y Ha r r i s and Du n e g a n [ 5 ] f or S-200 s t ock as
c ompa r e d wi t h t he hi gher pur i t y N50A gr ade. I n t hi s case, 0. 30
t o 0. 35- i n. - t hi ck speci mens of N50A ha d a l ower yi el d s t r e ngt h
a nd l ower t oughnes s t h a n 0.35 or 0. 50- i n. - t hi ck speci mens of
S-200 gr ade.
Co n c l u s i o n s
I n f or mul a t i ng t he f ol l owi ng concl usi ons, pa r t i c ul a r emphas i s
has been pl aced on i dent i f yi ng t hos e poi nt s whi ch ar e of i mpor -
t a nc e t o t he de ve l opme nt of pr act i cal f r act ur e t es t me t hods f or
ber yl l i um. Howe ve r , i t shoul d be ke pt i n mi nd t h a t we t es t ed
onl y hot pr essed s t ock and a f or ged disk. I t is l i kel y t h a t t he
f r act ur e pr oper t i es of ber yl l i um wi l l be s t r ongl y i nf l uenced b y
f abr i cat i on hi s t or y a nd t h a t i nves t i gat i on of ot he r f or ms shoul d
be unde r t a ke n bef or e f r act ur e t es t me t hods for be r yl l i um ar e
f or mul at ed.
1. Ber yl l i um f r act ur e t oughnes s t es t speci mens wer e success-
f ul l y f at i gue cr acked usi ng r ever s ed cycl i ng wi t h a compr essi on
l oad t wo t o t hr e e t i mes t he t ens i on l oad. Typi cal l y, cr acks wer e
s t a r t e d i n a f ew t hous a nd cycl es and gr own under s at i s f act or y
cont r ol t o t he desi r ed l e ngt h i n 200,000 t o 300,000 cycl es wi t h
t h e ma x i mu m st ress i nt ens i t y i n f at i gue less t h a n one- hal f t he
K v a l u e f or cr ack i ni t i at i on i n t he s ubs equent f r act ur e t est .
2. I n wor ked ber yl l i um, t ext ur es ma y be pr oduced whi ch
r es ul t i n f at i gue cr acks t h a t ar e out of pl ane wi t h t he s t a r t e r
not ch. Subs t ant i al devi at i ons of t hi s t ype wer e obs er ved i n our
t es t s on f or ged di sk s t ock; however , t he y pr oduced no s ys t em-
at i c i nf l uence on t he meas ur ed f r act ur e t oughness.
3. Becaus e of t he hi gh modul us and l ow f r act ur e l oads whi ch
char act er i ze ber yl l i um, i t is necessar y t o use ext r a ampl i f i cat i on
i n t he cl i p gage o u t p u t channel be yond t h a t nor ma l l y avai l abl e
f r om X- Y recorders. Wi t h o u t t hi s ampl i f i cat i on, t he l oad-
di s pl acement t r ace cannot be a de qua t e l y exami ned for devi a-
t i ons f r om l i near i t y.
4. Speci mens of hot pr essed s t ock exhi bi t ed I oad- di spl ace-
me n t r ecor ds whi ch wer e nonl i near t hr oughout t hei r course.
Thi s nonl i near i t y decr eased wi t h i ncr easi ng s peci men t hi ckness
b u t was suffi ci ent l y pr onounced f or t he t hi ckes t s peci men (0.5
i n. ) t h a t t he i ni t i al sl ope of t he t es t r ecor d coul d not be un-
ambi guous l y est abl i shed. For t hi s r eason, t he pr ocedur es of
AS T M E 399 - 70 T Me t h o d of Te s t for Pl ane St r a i n Fr a c t ur e
Toughnes s of Met al l i c Ma t e r i a l s coul d not be appl i ed. Speci -
mens f r om t he f or ged di sk exhi bi t ed l i near l oad- di s pl acement
r ecor ds and wi t h one except i on t he ma x i mu m l oad i n t he t es t
occur r ed bef or e 5 per cent devi at i on i n l i near i t y was r eached.
5. Fr a c t ur e d speci mens of bot h hot pr essed and f or ged s t ock
s howed essent i al l y no r educt i on of t hi cknes s and t he f r act ur e
sur f aces wer e fl at and nor mal t o t h e l oad axis. Howe ve r , t he
st ress i nt ens i t y f act or a t ma x i mu m l oad Km~ i ncr eased wi t h
decr easi ng t hi cknes s whi l e t he st ress i nt ens i t y f act or Ki corre-
s pondi ng t o t he first cr ack i ndi cat i ons was essent i al l y i nde-
pe nde nt of t hi ckness.
6. Val ues of K . . . . obt ai ned wi t h v e r y shar p (0.5 mi l ) ma -
chi ned not ches wer e hi gher t h a n cor r espondi ng va l ue s f r om
f at i gue cr acked speci mens. I n t hi s r espect t he behavi or of
s The first crack initiation value reported by Albertin was not included
in Table 2 because it corresponded to initiation from the tip of the chevron
notch and as might be expected was considerably lower than subsequent
val ues.
ber yl l i um is i n l i ne wi t h t h a t obs er ved for br i t t l e st eel s and
t i t a n i u m al l oys.
7. Fo r r easons di scussed i n t hi s paper , va l i d KI va l ue s coul d
not be de t e r mi ne d for ei t her t h e hot pr essed or f or ged be r yl l i um
st ock. Howe ve r , t he da t a do defi ne a v a l u e of a bout 10 ksi -i n, m
f or cr ack i ni t i at i on i n bot h t hes e f or ms under pl ane s t r a i n
condi t i ons and f or t h e l oadi ng r at es speci fi ed i n AS T M E 399
f or pl ane s t r ai n f r act ur e t oughnes s t est s.
8. Loa d- di s pl a c e me nt a nd el ect r i c pot ent i al r ecor ds f or t h e
h o t pr essed be r yl l i um' s peci mens exhi bi t ed s ever al anomal i es.
I nc l ude d a mong t hese wer e ne ga t i ve r esi dual cr ack mo u t h di s-
pl acement s f or s peci mens whi ch wer e l oaded i n t he " el as t i c
r a n g e " a nd t he n unl oaded and a decr ease i n el ect r i cal pot e nt i a l
( i ncr ease i n c onduc t i vi t y) wi t h i ncr easi ng l oad whi ch is r e-
cover abl e on unl oadi ng.
APPENDIX A
P r o c e d u r e Us e d f o r No r ma l i z i n g L o a d - Di s p l a c e me n t Cu r v e s
The load-displacement curves for specimens of various t hi cknes s es are
best compared after normalizing them to account for variations in specimen
plane dimensions. This may be accomplished by reducing the load-displace-
ment records to a plot of K vs ~ where ~ is the displacement normalized
to an a / W = 0.5 and W = 1 in. For the three-point bend specimen with
a 4W span
4 P Y
K =
BWI/2
and
v =PF
E B
where P is the applied load, W the specimen width, B the specimen thick-
ness, and E the elastic modulus. Y and F are functions of a / W where a is
the initial crack length. Values for Y can be found in ASTM 399 - 70 T
Section 8.1.3.2 and values of F are gi ven by Gross et al Fl l ] . Substituting
for P
K Wm F
4 E Y
For W = 1 in. and a / W = 0.5, F / Y = 13.4. Therefore the normalized
displacement
13.4 Y
= Wm F v
where v is the measured displacement for a particular specimen, and the
remainder of the terms take values corresponding to the plane dimensions
of the specimen. Curves of K vs 6 obtained in this way will coincide pro-
vided the specimens behave in a linear elastic manner and the constraint
is constant. Separation of the curves in Fig. 1 is in part due to decreasing
constraint with decreasing thickness and in part to nonlinear behavior
which increases with decreasing thickness.
APPENDIX B
El e c t r i c a l P o t e n t i a l Me a s u r e me n t s o n a T i t a n i u m Al l o y
A test was made on a titanium bend specimen with the object of deter-
mining whether the anomalous electrical behavior observed for beryllium
would also characterize another hexagonal metal. A 1 in. thick specimen
of standard proportions (E 399) was cut from alpha-beta forged and mill
annealed Ti-6A1-4V plate, fatigue cracked in bending (R ~ 0.1), and
instrumented in the same way as were the beryllium specimens. A second
set of potential leads was clamped to the specimen near the crack mouth
in order to determine whether the method of potential sensing through the
clip gage used with beryllium specimens might have introduced some
spurious effects. The results of this test are given in Fig. 8 which shows
t he toad and the electrical potential as a function of the crack mouth dis-
placement. The electrical potential rises rapidly as the load is applied due

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108
O
m
d
TITANIUM BEND SPECIMEN
FATIGUE CRACKED(R = 0.1)
POTENTIALLEADS
CLAMPEDTO SPECIMEN
~ L (INITIAL POT., 670 pV) -,,
3
pV
POTENTIALVIA
CLIP GAGE ARMS
(INITIAL POT., 6501JV)
DISPLACEMENT"-~ O.0051N. ~'-
FI G. 8~-Load and electrical potential vs displacement records for a 1-in.-
thick annealed Ti-6A1-4 V bend specimens.
to t he openi ng of t he f at i gue crack whi ch was pr oduced by t ensi on- t ensi on
l oadi ng and is t herefore closed at t he s t a r t of t he f r act ur e t est . I t shoul d
be not ed t h a t t hi s initial rise in pot ent i al was not observed for t he ber yl l i um
speci mens because t he y were f at i gued in reversed cycling, and t herefore,
t he crack faces were not in cont act at t he s t a r t of t he f r act ur e t est . Follow-
i ng t he initial rise, t he pot ent i al r emai ns cons t ant over a r at her nar r ow l oad
r ange and t hen passes t hr ough a pr onounced mi n i mu m as was obser ved for
t he beryl l i um. The t races for each me t hod of pot ent i al sensi ng are es-
sent i al l y identical.
Hi gh s ens i t i vi t y pot ent i al me a s ur e me nt s @ere also ma de on a l umi num
(5083-0 and 6061-T6) bend speci mens of s t a nda r d pr opor t i ons. Thes e re-
veal ed no t r ace of t he pot ent i al mi n i mu m obser ved for t he ber yl l i um and
t i t a ni um st ock. Te s t s on t hese a l umi num al l oys pr oduced pot ent i al records
whi ch show t he expect ed a br upt rise followed by a region of c ons t a nt
pot ent i al whi ch t er mi nat es in a s t e a dy rise due to crack ext ensi on.
APPENDI X C
Nonl i neari t i es i n Load- Di spl acement Records at Smal l
Di s pl acement s
Fr e que nt l y in pl ane st r ai n crack t oughnes s t es t s a smal l nonl i near i t y or
" hook" is obser ved in t he i ni t i al port i on of t he l oad- di spl acement record.
Thi s hook gi ves t he appear ance of a decreasi ng speci men st i ffness wi t h
i ncr easi ng l oad and has been at t r i but ed t o seat i ng of t he speci men and
t he clip gage ( ASTM E 3 9 9 - 70 T Not e 6). Some f ur t her i nf or mat i on
concerni ng t hi s nonl i near i t y can be obt ai ned f r om preci si on di s pl acement
me a s ur e me nt s t h a t we ma de on f at i gue cracked ( t ensi on- t ensi on) a nd on
sl ot t ed speci mens dur i ng a compl i ance i nvest i gat i on. The general geomet r y
of t hese a l umi num alloy speci mens is s hown in Fig. 9. One s peci men con-
r ai ned a f at i gue crack ext endi ng f r om t he edge t o t he cent er of t he wi dt h.
The f at i gue cracki ng pr ocedur es out l i ned in ASTM E 399 were followed
wi t h t he except i on t h a t shal l ow si de grooves were used to gui de t he crack.
An oil base dye pe ne t r a nt was used to ma r k t he progress of crack gr owt h.
JOURNAL OF TESTING AND EVALUATION
I00
80
60
40
20
7075-T651 ALUMINUM
LOADING / /
_ n o UNLOADING / / , ~
_FATIGUE CRACK -- " / o ~ MACHINEDSLO T
/ / 0.010IN. WIDE
- / / _/ i
_/ /
~ , ~ I 1 1 1 - " I - I 1 7 -
1 2 3 4 5
DISPLACEMENT, 0.0001 INCH
I~IG. 9- - Hi gh sensitivity load and elastic displacement measurement f or a
fatigue cracked and for a slotted 7075-T6 al umi num bend specimen.
Af t er f at i gue cracking, t he crack s t ar t er and t he side grooves were r emoved
and i nt egr al kni fe edges were pr ovi ded for a t t a c h me n t of t he di s pl acement
gage. The ot her speci men was pr ovi ded wi t h a s quar e bot t omed nar r ow
sl ot (0.01 in. wide) havi ng a l engt h of one-hal f t he speci men wi dt h. Si gnal s
f r om t he l oad and di spl acement t r ans ducer s were r ead f r om a di gi t al
vol t met er , and t he r esul t i ng da t a are pl ot t ed in Fi g. 9 whi ch shows t he
behavi or on l oadi ng and unl oadi ng wi t hi n t he el ast i c range.
The speci men wi t h t he machi ned sl ot shows l i near behavi or on bot h
l oadi ng and unl oadi ng. The speci men wi t h t he f at i gue crack exhi bi t s an
i ni t i al nonl i near i t y (hook) whi ch f ades out at smal l di spl acement s and
shows compl et el y reversible di spl acement s on unl oadi ng. We bel i eve t hi s
hook was associ at ed wi t h t he crack cl osure phenomenon descri bed by El bur
[18] and not due to difficulties wi t h seat i ng of t he speci men and t he clip
gage. I t is our opi ni on t ha t in mos t pl ane st r ai n crack t oughnes s t est s,
crack closure forces act to pr oduce a hook in t he l oad- di spl acement records
of speci mens t h a t ha ve been f at i gue cracked i n t ensi on-t ensi on. Th e magni -
t ude of t he effect will, of course, depend on t he l engt h of t he f at i gue crack;
and i t shoul d be not ed t h a t we empl oyed a ver y l ong crack.
However, i t is doubt f ul t h a t t he hook observed i n t he l oad- di spl acement
records for t he hot pr essed ber yl l i um can be expl ai ned i n t he s a me way for
t he following r easons : (1) The crack in t he ber yl l i um speci mens is pr obabl y
open aft er f at i gue cycl i ng because of t he rel at i vel y hi gh compressi on l oads
t h a t were used. Electrical pot ent i al me a s ur e me nt s confi rm t hi s because
t he y do not show a s har p rise in pot ent i al a t t he s t a r t of t he f r act ur e t es t
whi ch woul d be char act er i st i c of t he openi ng of a t i ght crack. (2) Th e
di spl acement s in t he ber yl l i um speci mens were not compl et el y reversi bl e
on unl oadi ng. (3) The hook , i n rel at i on t o t he size of t he f at i gue crack,
was mu c h l arger in ber yl l i um t h a n in a l umi num speci mens.
Re f e r e n c e s
[1] Pari s, P. C. and Har r i s, D. 0. , " An Engi neer i ng Eval uat i on of t he
St at us of Ut i l i zat i on of Ber yl l i um f r om t he Vi ewpoi nt of Fr a c t ur e
Mechani cs , " Proceedings of the Beryllium Conference, NMAB- 272,
Nat i onal Mat er i al s Advisor), Board, J ul y 1970.
[2] Fi nn, J. M. , Koch, L. C., and Ri ch, D. L. , "Des i gn Fabr i cat i on,
Tes t i ng and Eval uat i on of Da ma ge Tol er ant Ber yl l i um St r uct ur es , "
AFFDL- TR- 68- 108, McDonnel l Company, Aug. 1968.
[3] Har r od, D. L. , Hengs t enber g, T. F. , and Manj oi ne, J. , " Fr a c t ur e
Toughnes s of Ber yl l i um, " Journal of Materials, J MLSA, Vol. 4, Sept .
1969, p. 618.
[4] Al bert i n, L., " Be nd For mabi l i t y and Fr act ur e Toughne s s of Var i ous
Ber yl l i um Foil, Sheet and Br ake Gr ade Bl ock Mat er i al s , " r epor t No.
T2-121746-1, The Boei ng Compa ny, Feb. 1970.
[5] Harri s, D. O. and Duuegan, H. L. , " Fr act ur e Toughnes s of Ber yl l i um, "
Journal of Materials, J MLSA, Vol. 3, Mar ch 1968, p. 59.
[6] Gross, B. and Srawley, J. E. , "St r ess I nt e ns i t y Fact or for Thr ee- Poi nt
Bend Speci mens, " NASA TN- D3092, Dec. 1965.

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JONES ET AL ON HOT PRESSED AND FORGED BERYLLIUM 109
[7] Fisher, D. M. and Repko, A. J., "Note on Inclination of Fatigue
Cracks in Plane Strain Fracture Toughness Test Specimens," Materials
Research and Standards, MTRSA, May 1969, p. 28.
[8] Brown, W. F., Jr. and Srawley, J. E., Plane Strain Crack Toughness
Testing of High Strength Materials, AS TM STP 410, American Society
for Testing and Materials, 1966.
[9] London, G. J., Damiano, V. V., and Conrad, H., "Microstraiu Com-
pression of Beryllium and Beryllium Alloy Single Crystals Parallel to
the (0001)"--Part I: Crystal Preparation and Microstrain Properties,
Transactions of the Metallurgical Society of AI ME, Vol. 242, June 1968,
p. 979.
[10] Govila, R. K. and Kamdar, M. H., "Determination of Fracture
Propagation and Initiation Engines for Beryllium," AFML TR 69-176,
July 1969.
[11] Gross, B., Roberts, E., and Srawley, J. E., "Elastic Displacements for
Various Edge Cracked Plate Specimens," International Journal of
Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 4, Sept. 1968, p. 267.
[12] Meaden, G. J., Electrical Resistance of Metals, Plenum Press, New
York 1965.
[131 Stevenson, F. R. and Peiffer, H. R., "Effect of Impurities on Electrical
Resistivity Increase During Elongation of Cadmium at 78K, '' Nature,
Vol. 200, 23 Nov. 1963, p. 771.
[14] Dunegan, H. L., Harris, D. O., and Tatro, C. A., "Fracture Analysis
by Use of Acoustic Emission," Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 1,
1968, p. 105.
[15] Aerospace Structural Metals Handbook, Code 5100, Mechanical Proper-
ties Data Center, Belfour-Stulen Inc., Traverse City, Michigan, 1971.
[16] Tuer, G. L., and Kaufman, A. R., "Ductility of Beryllium as Related
to Single Crystal Deformation and Fracture" in The Metal Beryllium,
ASM, 1955, p. 372.
[17] Damiano, V. V., London, G. J., Kaufman, D. F., and Aronin, L. R.,
"Deformation and Fracture of Beryllium Bicrystals," Transactions of
the Metallurgical Society of A. I. M. E. , Vol. 242, Dec. 1968, p. 2423.
[18] Elbur, W., "Fatigue Crack Closure under Cyclic Tension," Engineering
Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 2, No. 1 July 1970, p. 37.

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