Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica y Mecatrónica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Sede Bogotá

Failure Theories: Static Failure of

brittle materials
Resistencia de materiales
2020-1S
 Brittle Materials
•  f  0.05; Suc  Sut
• Stress analysis MUST include stress concentration
factors
• Types of fracture:
Tension Test Torsion Test

From NSW HSC Online Website From Missouri S&T IDE120 Website 2
 Static Fragile Theories

• MPS (MNS): Maximum-Principal (Normal)-

Stress Theory: a material fails by fracturing
when the maximum principal stress (either
tension or compression) exceeds the ultimate
strength of the material as obtained from an
standard tensile or compressive test.

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 MPS Theory

 xy

Adapted from Budynas-Nisbett, pgs 76, 83, 213.

Triaxial Principal Sut Suc

1 = ; 3 = −
state of state of N N
stress stress
4 MPS
 MPS Theory: Plane Stress

FAILURE
ZONE
N<1

SAFETY
ZONE
N>1

Adapted from Budynas-Nisbett, pg 226

A, B are the in-plane principal stresses,5 the out-of-plane principal stress is zero.
 Mohr Theory


Simple Compression
Simple tension

Torsion

Failure locus
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 BCM: Brittle-Coulomb-Mohr Theory

Simple
Compression Simple tension

-Suc Sut


BCM
1 3 1  3 1
Linear Failure locus: − =1 − =
Sut Suc S ut S uc N
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 BCM: Plane Stress
FAILURE
ZONE
N<1

SAFETY
ZONE
N>1

Adapted from Budynas-Nisbett, pg 221

A, B are the in-plane principal stresses,8 the out-of-plane principal stress is zero.
 MM: Modified Mohr Theory
MM
(Suc − Sut ) 1 −  3 = 1 FAILURE
ZONE
Sut Suc Suc N
N<1

SAFETY
Torsion load line (-45º)
ZONE
N>1

A, B are the in-plane principal stresses,9 the out-of-plane principal stress is zero.
Comparison of the theories

Biaxial fracture of gray cast iron

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(from Budynas-Nisbett, pg 228)
 Class Activity #1 (20 min)
Using BCM and N = 2.5, the force P than can be applied to the
punch press frame, made of ASTM-A48 gray cast iron (Sut = 170
MPa, Suc = 650 MPa), is:

a. 250.7 kN
b. 829 kN
c. 663.2 kN
d. 313.4 kN

Adapted from Urugal, pg 287 11

 Class Activity #1 (20 min)
Using BCM and N = 2.5, the force P than can be applied to the
punch press frame, made of ASTM-A48 gray cast iron (Sut = 170
MPa, Suc = 650 MPa), is:

a. 250.7 kN
b. 829 kN
c. 663.2 kN
d. 313.4 kN

Adapted from Urugal, pg 287 12

 Resume

• Static strength for brittle materials → ultimate stress

(either tensile or compressive)

• Failure theories for brittle materials: MPS(MNS), BCM

and MM.

• Failure theories for brittle materials can be applied for

ductile materials with ductile-brittle transition

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 Resume
• BCM can be applied for ductile materials with Syc >
Syt, i.e, DCM (Ductile-Coulomb-Mohr):
1 3 1
− =
S yt S yc N

• MM is more suitable for brittle materials with A >

0 and B < 0 (fourth quadrant)

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 References
• Budynas and Nisbett. Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design.
8th ed, 2006.

• Urugal, A.C. Mechanical Design. 2004.

• HSC Online Tensile Testing website:

http://hsc.csu.edu.au/engineering_studies/lifting/3210/index.
html

• Missouri University of Science and Technology Materials

Testing IDE120 website:
http://classes.mst.edu/ide120/lessons/torsion/fracture/index.
html
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