vol.8 No.

.,~ 20ol

J. CENT. SOUTH UNIV. TECHNOL.

Article ID: 1005-9784(2001)02-0099-06

Semi-analytical weight function method for center-cracked

circular disk subjected to diametral compression
CHEN Feng, SUN Zong-qi, XU Ji-cheng
(The Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Materials Science and Engineering,
Central South University, Changsha 410083, China)
Abstract: Btieckner-Rice weight function method was used to analyse mixed-mode fracture of center-cracked
circular disk subjected to uniaxial compression. Based on Wu-Carlsson procedure semi-analytical modes ~[
and [[ weight functions were derived from corresponding reference displacement fields and stress intensity factors calculated by finite element method. Normalized mode ~ and mode ]] stress intensity factors, f ] , fn ,
were derived from the obtained semi-analytical weight functions. The results were then fitted into polynomials,
the precision is within 0.5 %. It is interesting to note that when the inclined angle 0 of a crack is less than
15, the f~ values are positive, when (9 = 15, the f~ values are positive for the crack length a varying from
0.1 to 0.7, but when a = 0.8, the f~ takes the negative value - 0.51. When O > 15, all the f1 values
become negative, which denotes that the compression-shear mode is achieved at crack tips. These results are
very useful in the investigation of mixed-mode fracture of brittle materials.
Key words: weight function; stress intensity factor; compression; center-cracked circular disk
Document code: A

Since the center-cracked circular disk specimen can be available directly from rock core, and
mixed-mode fracture ranging from pure mode I to
any K I / K I ratio can be easily achieved using
this geometry, it is widely used in the mixed-mode
fracture investigation of brittle materials. The
problem concerning stress intensity factors (SIFs)
in center-cracked disk subjected to diametral compression has been tackled by many authors, but
most solutions were obtained by numerical methods. Atkinson h~ solved the problem using boundmy integral equation method and then solved it numerically. Awaiji et al. [2] studied mixed-mode
fracture problems using complex analysis method,
and Fett [3] obtained mode 11 SIFs for this geometry using weight function method.
In this paper semi-analytical formula for both
mode T and mode 1] SIFs in center -cracked
circular disk due to uniaxial compression were de-

rived using Wu-Carlsson ~4] approximate weight

function method. Firstly, constant normal and
shear stresses are chosen as mode I and mode 1]
reference loads; secondly the corresponding reference displacements of crack face and related reference SIFs computed by finite element method were
used to derive semi-analytical weight functions;
finally, normalized SIFs were derived by combining the obtained weight functions and Edlac crack
line stresses [iI.
1

Outline of weight function method

Based on Btieckner [5] weight function method, the SIFs due to practical load case can be calculated by integrating the product of weight function

Mi

(X, A )

and crack line stress O'li(X) as

follows :

Foundation item: DoctorateProgramFoundof China(No.98053318)

Biography of the first author: CHENFeng, professor, bornin 1947, majoringin fracturemechanics.
Received date: June2, 2000

100

Journal CSUT

E' 3Ui(

m~(x,a)-

A(ref)

( x a)
re) ,
3a

2Psin20 ~

(i=1,2)

(2)

case becomes

ol,(x), m'(x'a)dx
~

(5)

nts, the first five terms Ill are given in Table 1 for
later use.
The comparison of two-term and five-term series approximation of stresses given by Atkinson[1]
shows that five term solution is very close to analytical solution, therefore, we use the five-term
approximation of stress in the following derivation.

I and mode II weight functions. Therefore, the

normalized SIFs f / ( i = 1, 2) in the practical load

Bi(O)(p/R)2i-2

where P is the concentrate force on per unit thickness of a disk, p is the polar coordinate with origin at disk center, R is disk radius and 0 is the
angle between load line and crack orientation,
(see Fig. 1). A~(O) and Bi(O) are angle consta-

where E' is Young's modulus, E' = E for plain

stress and E' = E/( 1 - v ) for plain strain, v is
Poisson's ratio, and a = A / L , x = X / L are nondimensional crack length and coordinate, respectively, L is the characteristic length parameter of
a cracked body, mi ( x, a ) ( i = 1, 2) are mode

f/=

Vol.8

(i=1,2)

(3)
In the present study, ali ( x ) in Eq. ( 3 ) is the
normalized stresses induced on the prospective
crack line of a uncracked circular disk subjected
to diametral compression. Atkinson[~3 developed
this solution into power series, which reads:
P ~ , A,(O)(~,/R) 2'-2
zoo - ~ R i=1'

(4)

Fig. 1 Geometryof circular disk

Table 1 The first five A~(0) and Bi ( 0 ) in Eqs. (4) and (5)
A1

1 -4s-"

B1

A2

852 (1 - 4 c 2 )

B2

A3

- 4s 2 (3 - 36c 2 + 48c 4 )

B3

A4

A5

16s z ( - 1 + 2 4 c 2 + 8 0 c 4 + 6 4 c 6 )

- 20s 2( 1 - 40c 2 + 240c 4 - 448c 6 + 256c s )

note: s = sin0,

2.1

-5+8c
- 3 + 8(1

2cz)(2-

3 c 2)

3 + 1 6 ( 1 - 2 c 2 ) - 1 2 ( l - 2 2 )2 _ 3 2 ( 1 - 2 c 2 )3

B4
B5

5-

16(1-2c

z) -60(1-2c2)

z +32(1

-2c2) 2 +80(1-2c2)

c = cos0, cos20 = 2c 2 - 1

Derivation of weight functions for centercracked circular disk and mixed-mode SIF
formula
Mode I weight function and corresponding SIF formula

Consider a center-cracked disk with crack

length 2A, radius R and coordinate X along crack
line(see Fig. 2). The disk radius is chosen as a
characteristic dimension, the normalized quantities
(see Fig. 2c) can then be written as:

a= A/R, x- X/R
The constant normal and shear stresses shown
in Fig. 2a and 2b, respectively, were chosen as
reference loads. The corresponding reference displacement fields and SIFs calculated by FEM were
used to derive modes I and 11 weight functions.
Fig. 3 shows a FEM mesh of a disk with the crack
length a = 0 . 5 , six-node isoparametric triangular
elements were used in FEM analysis, the areas
near crack tips are refined to simulate the stress
singularity.
First , the calculated normalized mode I

No.2

CHEN Feng,

et al: Semi-analyticalWFM for center-crackedcirculardisk

101

(a)

(b)

(~)

(a)--mode I reference toad; (b)--mode H reference load; (c)--non-dimensional quantities in disk specimen
Fig. 2

Geometryof disk specimen and reference loads

(TI)(ct) --4{1+ fao ~S/(ref)(s)]d8

N N
= - -7
~
O~ i=1

"=

ala+

ln(1 - a)
k=2

Substituting Eqs. (6) and (7) into (2) yields the

mode [ weight function for center cracked circular disk:
3
/nl(X,

(~)-

i - 3/2

l i~=lPi(a)[1--(~)2 1
(8)

where

Fig. 3

The FEM mesh of a disk with a = 0.5

SIFs due to reference load a, with the limitation

for a = 1: 2A/(rr 2 - 4 ) ( 1 - a) = 0 . 8 2 6 / , f l are fitted into the following polynomialI4] :

ai~(x)-

fl(ref) ( a ) = K i (r,f) ( ct )/a

(6)

aiai-'/,/1 - a

i=l

The a~ ( i = 1- 8) coefficients are listed in Table 2.

With the same procedure as Wu-Carlsson I43 ,
the related mode I reference displacement field
caused by a can be expressed as:
1

=~Tj_~_~le)(,a)

1--

ace
~a,(O)x2~_2
P/r~R - i=,

a~2(x) = p/r~R
a~o = Zsin2O Z Bi( O) x

= ~

ill(a) =2, ~2(a)=I2a/i(ref)(a)+

3F2( a) ]/f~(ref)( a)
f13( a) = [ aF'2( a) - 2 F 2 ( a ) ]/f~(r) ( a )
Introducing the non-dimensional quantity p / R =
X / R = x into Eqs. (4) and (5) gives the normalized tensile and shear stresses along prospective
crack line (using five term approximation):

--Lt

(O<<.x / a <~l )
(7)
where Fj (j = 1,2) can be determined by crack tip
opening
displacement
and
self-similar
conditions[4J which reads:
Ft ( a ) = 2f~(,,y) ( a )
5

F 2 ( a ) = 3 [ cI)(a) -f,(~,)( a)/2]

(9)
(10)

Substituting Eqs. (8) and (9) into ( 3 ) yields the

normalized mode ]~ SIFs:
f I ( a , O ) = K1/ao
= f2 a l l ( X ) m i ( x , a ) d x

5 3

_ 1 EEA,(O)g(a)"
7['a i= lj= 1

f~x2i-2[1-(~)2]j-312dx

(11)

where ao = PlrcaR, fl coefficients in Eq. ( 11 ) are

tabulated in Table 3(see Wu-Carlsson[4J ).
2.2
Mode ]I weight function and corresponding SIF formula
For reference load case shown in Fig. 2 ( b ) ,

Journal C,$UT

102

normalized mode 1I SIFs for different crack length

fu(r~f)(a)=~a,a

i-1

'=1

/',/1-a

(12)

= 1-5)

are 1,

where the coetticients a i ( i

0.5, 0. 9273, - 0. 8841, 0. 2823, respectively, and mode II displacements of crack face are

where Gj ( a )

i-~

1- (7) ]

f n ( a, O) = KH lao ~/rraR
=

2]~-

alE(x)m2(x,a)dx

(O<~xla<~l)

(14)

fitted into following polynomial:

__

The coefficients ?', for different crack length are

tabulated in Table 4.
Substituting Eqs. (10) and (14) into ( 3 )
yields the normalized mode 1I SIF as follows:

2va~

m2(x, a) -

calculated by FEM are fitted into the following

polynomial:
5

Vol.8

o
5

_ 2 ~
~a

(13)

sin(20)B,(O)Yi(a).

i=1 j = l

can be determined with the same

procedure as used for Fj. ( a ) through fIl (r~f)( a ) .

The f I , f n values at different angles of crack inclination were oomputed vs erack length a and listed in Tables 5 and 6, respectively.

Substituting Eqs. (12) and ( 13 ) into (2)

gives the mode 1I weight function:
Table 2

O/i

coefficientsin Eq. ( 6 )

0;1

~2

0;3

~4

1.000 0

-0.4963

1.5581

-3.1816

0;5

10.0961

0;6

0;7

~8

-20.7782

20.7781

-7.5066

Table 3 fli coefficientsfor different crack length a

a

8,

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

f12

0.062 7

0.238 9

0.526 7

0.921 8

1.431 9

2. 105 0

3.062 2

4.619 1

f13

0.0002

0.0027

0.0186

0.0680

0.1587

0.7450

0.3906

0.453 1

fll

Table 4

Y~ coefficientsin Eq. (14) for different crack length a

a

7~

0.05

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

7~

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.000 0

2.13000

Y~

0.0103

0.0405

0.1568

0.3476

0.6229

1.0135

1.5905

2.5196

4.2527

Y3

-0.0049

-0.0199

-0.0816

-0.1943

-0.3777

-0.6710

-1.1509

-1.9818

-3.5896

Table 5 f i values at different angles of crack inclination

0/(o)
15

0.01

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.74

0.75

0.77

0.75

0.74

0.72

0.70

0.42

-0.51
-1.72

30

0.00

-0.01

-0.12

-0.24

-0.25

-0.63

-0.90

-1.48

45

-1.00

-I .08

-1.13

-1.25

-1.50

-1.75

-1.90

-2.25

-2.75

60

-2.00

-2.02

-2.09

-2.11

-2.25

-2.50

-2.74

-2.90

-3.61

75

-2.70

-2.72

-2.75

-2.80

-2.91

-3.02

-3.11

-3.50

-4.01

No.2

CHEN Feng, eta/: Semi-analyticalWFM for center-cracked circular disk

103

Table 6 fu values at different angles of crack inclination

0/(o )
0.01

0.1

0.2

0.3

a
0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8
3.26

15

1.00

1.02

1.09

1.23

1.40

1.47

2.05

2.58

30

1.73

1.75

1.84

1.96

2.12

2.30

2.49

2.70

3.01

45

2.00

2.01

2.04

2.07

2.10

2.12

2.15

2.22

2.00

60

1.73

1.72

1.70

1.66

1.60

1.55

1.53

1.56

1.72

75

1.00

0.99

0.96

0.91

0.86

0.81

0.79

0.81

0.89

Table 7

Ci coefficientsin Eq. (16)

0/()
15

C0
0.7300

30

-0.0003

45

- 1.000 1

60

-2.0000

75

-2.7298

C1

C2

-0.0113
0.0672
-0.1500
0.1299
-0.0439

2.1359
-2.6725
-1.8214

Do

D1

C4

-13.4436

35.8979

2.8220

-8.3334

-7.5188

15.5301

C5

C6

-44.4877

16.6669

5.4487

0.000 0

-9.2948

0.000 0

-5.0228

8.7659

-11.6441

10.1268

-5.5580

-2.2288

8.9743

-27.6167

36.7299

-19.4441

Table 8
0/()

Cs

D~ coefficientsin Eq. (17)

D2

D3

04

D5

D6

15

1.0004

-0.0981

3.5842

-5.8898

11.3433

-4.8398

0.000 0

30

1.7300

-0.0123

3.8400

-9.3327

28.3478

-43.6754

24.074 1

45

2.0000

-0.1334

3.4198

-13.4817

30.1999

-37.9920

20.3706

60

1.730 1

- 0. 330 1

4. 363 4

- 27.289 5

63. 372 5

- 67.286 4

75

1.0(300

0.0237

-1.2550

0.5261

-0.3563

fu (a)

= ~ C i ai
i=0
6

= ~Oia i
i=0

(i

=0-6)

28.703 7
-1.8519

These data are fitted into six order polynomials:

fI (a)

3.1625

fI(O)= ~ mff

(18)

i=0
5

(16)

in(0)=

n,O'

(19)

i=0

(i

=0-6)

(17)

where, 0 in radian is the inelined angle of a

mi,

where the coefficients C/and Di ( i = 0-6) for dif-

crack, the coefficients

ferent angles of crack inclination are listed in Ta-

in Table 9.
The eomparison of SIF values obtained by

bles 7 and 8.
Graphical representations of Eqs. (16) and
(17) are illustrated in Fig. 4 ( a ) and 4 ( b ) , respectively. Results from Atkinson~1] and Fett E3] are

ni ( i = 0-5) are listed

Eqs. (18) and (19) and numerieal solutions from

literatures [1'3] is shown in Fig.5.
It can be seen from Fig. 5 that Eqs. (18)

also given in Fig. 4 for comparison. It can be seen

that results calculated by Eqs. (16) and (17) are

and (19) present almost the same estimation of

normalized SIFs as those given by Atkinson[1] and

in good agreement with the numerical solutions

from literatures E1'33 .

Fett[3],

The SIF values versus the angles of crack inclination are also given in the following polynomials
for a fixed crack length a = 0.5.

fI

varies from the maximum value at 0 =

13' to its minimum negative value at 0 = 9if, while

at the angle at which f1 is near zero, the f u
reaches its maximum value, which is consistent
with the results reported by Chen and SunE63.

Joumal CSUT

104

VoI.8

3.0

3
|

"~- 2 . 0 ~ . , ,

~ , ~ 4 5

1.5 ' r ~ ' ~

-"---,a...~......,--.-e30o

~ -'-'~'~60
5

60
- . 3 5 ~ .Atkinson - ~ ~ ' ~ - - e
~..?.~l_.ol
| oFett
13 I
-5.0|
.
.
.
.
I
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
normalized crack length a

Atkinson
o Fett
0.0

0:2
014
026
0:8
normalized crack length a

(,a)--mode I ; (b)--mode n

Fig. 4 Normalized SIFs for different angles of crack inclination

1.5' m,~
"N
0.5
X

Atkinsin
O Fett

3.0 (b)

(a)

At kinsin
o Fett

~" - 0 . 5
< - 1.5

1.0

- 2.5

t~tq.eo ~

-3.5

.
15

.
30

. .
,
0.0~
,
0
15
45 60 75 90
0/()
(a)--mode I ; (b)--mode [I

,
30

,
45
0/()

60

,XX~

75

90

Fig. 5 Normalized SIFs vs the angle of crack inclination(for fixed crack length a = 0 . 5 )
Table 9

0
mi

n,

1.3368
-0.0127

m~, n~ coefficients in Eqs. (18) and (19)

i
3

2
0.0466
0.1417

-0.0098
-0.001 7

Conclusions

Approximate weight function method was applied to the analysis of mixed-mode fracture of center-cracked circular disk loaded by diametral compression. The proposed semi-analytical formula for
normalized stress intensity factors is quite consistent with the numerical solutions from literatures.
The obtained f~ , f~ results are very useful and
convenient in practical SIF calculations, since the
only information needed is the concentrate force P
on per unit thickness of disk, and combined-mode
fracture with any K 1 / K I ratio can be easily
achieved by adjusting the angle of crack inclination
with respect to load line.

4
0.0003
- 3 . 1 7 x 10-5

5
- 2 . 8 0 x 10 -6
6.34x 10 -7

1.09x 10 -s
-2.98 x 10 -9

References
[ 1]

AtldnsonC, Smelser R E, Sanchez J. Combined mode fracture via the cracked Brazilian disk test [J]. Int J of Fract,
1982, 18(4) : 279-291.
[2] AwaijiH, Sato S. Combined mode fracture toughness measurement by the disk test [J]. J Engng Mat Tech, 1978,
100: 175-182.
[ 3 ] Fett T. Mode U weight function for circular disk with internal
radial crack and application to the Brazilian disk test [J]. Int
J of Fract, 1988, 89:L9-L13.
[4] WU X R, Carlsson A J. Weight function and stress intensity
factor solutions [M]. New York: Pergamon Press, 1991.
[5] BOecknerH. A novel principle for the computation of stress
intensity factors [J]. Z Angew Math Mech, 1970, 50: 529546.
[6] CHEN Feng, SUN Zong-qi, XU Ji-cheog. A crack closure
model subjected to compression-shear loading [ J ]. Trans
Nonfenous Met Soc China, 1999, 12(1) : 427-432.