Fracture Mechanics: 1), The Max. Stress Equation Can Be Approximated by

Materials Engineering Dep.
Subject: Mechanical Behavior of Materials

MSc MSc Lecture 5 Dr. Shakir M. Gatea
Fracture Mechanics
fracture mechanics provides a quantitative treatment of fracture. It allows measurements of the toughness
of materials and provides a basis for predicting the loads that structures can withstand without failure.
Fracture mechanics is useful in evaluating materials, in the design of structures, and in failure analysis.
Stress concentration
The reason that the theoretical predictions are high is that they ignore flaws, and all materials contain flaws.
In the presence of a flaw, an externally applied stress is not uniformly distributed within the material.
Discontinuities such as internal cracks and notches are stress concentrators. For example, the stress at the
tip of the crack, σmax, in a plate containing an elliptical crack as shown in Figure below)
where σ is the externally applied stress and 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜎̂. The term (1 + 2a/b) is called the stress concentration
factor (kt). The radius of curvature, ρ, at the end of an ellipse is given by
So
Substitution of the ρ Equation into max. stress Equation, results in
Because a/ ρ is usually very large (a/ρ >>1), the max. stress Equation can be approximated by
1
Materials Engineering Dep. Subject: Mechanical Behavior of Materials
Energy approach to fracture mechanics

The question arises: -
"If infinite stresses are created at sharp cracks in brittle materials, why can cracked components sustain a
load without failing?"
To answer this question, Griffith adopted an energy approach to the problem. He reasoned that a crack will
propagate only if the energy released by an increment of crack growth, da, is greater than the energy
absorbed with the creation of the new surface.
Constant Displacement
Assuming a uniform tensile stress, σ, is applied to both ends of a flat plate (width L, thickness t) and then the
two ends are fixed (see Figure a). The strain energy accumulated in the plate due to the stress and
displacement is Uo. Now if we assume that a through-thickness crack of length 2a (2a << L) (see Figure (b)) is
made in the plate shown in Figure (a), the strain energy in the plate will be reduced from Uo to Uo – U.
However, a new surface energy S will be produced due to the creation of the crack 2a. Therefore, relative to
the original state (Figure a), the total potential energy of the new system (Figure b) is W = 0 – U + S = -U + S
2
Constant Load
In this case, for the same plate as shown in Figure (a), we assume that the top end of the plate is fixed, but
the bottom end is subjected to a uniformly distributed force, which gives a total force of P. Under this load,
the plate will have a uniform displacement of vo, see Figure (c), and the strain energy accumulated in the
plate due to the stress and displacement is Uo. Now if we assume that a through-thickness crack of length
2a (2a << L) (see Figure (d)) is made in the plate shown in Figure (c), due to the stiffness reduction, the free
end of the plate will have an additional displacement v, and therefore, the strain energy in the plate will be
increased from Uo to Uo + U. Similar to the case shown in Figure (b), a new surface energy S will be produced
due to the crack 2a. Therefore, relative the original state (Figure (c), the total potential energy of the new
system (Figure d) is W = -Pv +U+S
Since U = ½ Pv, Pv = 2U, so

W = -2U +U+S = -U + S
which is the same as that from the Constant Displacement situation. These results indicate that the
condition for a crack to become unstable is independent of boundary conditions.
Therefore, total potential energy:
W = -U + S
Unstable crack growth condition: W = Wmax,
3
Unstable crack growth condition:
Define G = the energy release rate (per length of new crack). Units kJ/m2. i.e. G ≥ Gcrit
For the problem of an infinite plate with a crack of length 2a, it can be shown that under plane stress
conditions,
and under plane strain conditions
4
Therefore, under plane stress, runaway crack growth (i.e. failure) occurs when
Under plane strain, failure occurs when
Thus for a given macroscopic stress level, σ, there is a critical crack length, acrit, when fast failure starts.
Most materials are not linear elastic up to failure. However, the energy approach can still be used if the plastic
strains are restricted to a region very close to the crack tip; small scale yielding. Under these conditions, the
energy release rate can still be reasonably accurately based on a linear elastic analysis. Also, Gcrit (or GIC) now
include a component associated with plastic deformation at the crack tip, as well as the creation of new
surface. Plasticity effects are considered later.
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If G < GIC, the crack will not grow;
if G = GIC, stable crack growth occurs; and
if G > GIC, unstable crack growth occurs.
So far we have only considered the so-called Mode I loading case. There are three modes:-
Mode I - opening mode
Mode II - shearing mode
Mode III - tearing mode
In general, Gtotal = GI + GII + GIII is the energy

release rate under mixed-mode conditions.
Stress-intensity approach
Elastic crack tip stress fields
Mode I (Westergaard, 1939)
The equations show that the shape of the elastic stress fields is invariant in all components subjected to a
given mode of stress application. The magnitude of the elastic field in the vicinity of the crack tip is described
by KI, the Mode I stress intensity factor, and will be a function of applied stress, crack size and crack shape.
KI has units N/m3/2 or MPa √m.
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Similar expressions exist for mode II and mode III loading situations. For mixed-mode cases, the stress fields
can be added.
It can be seen that KI, KII and KIII characterise the entire stress field (and hence strain field) in the vicinity of
the crack tip. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that, for example, failure will occur when KI reaches
a critical value Kcrit (or KIC under plane strain conditions) under mode-I loading. KIC is the so-called fracture
toughness of the material and is the value generally used in design because it is the minimum, thickness-
independent value and is hence conservative.
For example, for an infinite plate with a crack of length 2a,
Comparing this with the energy release rate, GI, ( = π σ2 a / E ), it can be seen that
Hence the energy and stress-intensity factor approaches are equivalent.
Crack tip plasticity zones

The critical stress intensity values (e.g. KIC) of materials arise from a combination of brittle crack surface
creation and local plastic zone toughening.
Consider the Westergaard equations with θ= 0 under pure mode I loading.
For an elastic-perfectly-plastic material with yield stress σy, obeying the von-Mises yield criterion, yielding
occurs when
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Substituting for the local stresses,
The actual plastic zones are larger because the load which would be carried with an elastic material is shed
onto the rest of the component, thus increasing the stress outside the rp* region. Therefore, better estimates
for the plastic zone sizes, rp, for θ = 0 given by,
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When rp is small (compared to crack and component dimensions), linear elastic fracture mechanics can still
be accurately applied. However, a plastic zone size correction factor, ap, is applied to take the small-scale
yielding into account, i.e. the crack is assumed to be a length (a + ap) instead of 'a' when determining the
stress intensity factor, where
By substituting other values of θ into the Westergaard equations, the first approximation to the 'shape' of
the plastic zone can be obtained, i.e. the variation of rp* with θ.
NOTE: If rp is not small compared to the crack length then a linear elastic fracture mechanics approach to the
problem is inappropriate. Yielding fracture mechanism and/or plastic collapse analyses may be more
appropriate.
Thus (KIC/σy)2, which is related to rp, can be regarded as a defect tolerance parameter. If (KIC/σy)2 is 'small'
failure will occur due to fast fracture. If (KIC/σy)2 is large, failure occurs due to plastic collapse. Intermediate
behaviour can be dealt with using yielding fracture mechanisms. Likewise, valid KIC values cannot be obtained
from test specimens unless rp is small compared with crack and test piece dimensions.
Formal representation of the plastic zone at the crack tip for a through-the-thickness crack in a plate.
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Fracture toughness determination [BS 5447 (now 7448)]

The aim of plane strain fracture toughness testing is to obtain reproducible values for the lower limiting
critical toughness of a material, tested in sufficiently thick section for the shear lip contribution to the
toughness to be neglected. The fracture must proceed under quasi-elastic conditions (i.e. size of plastic zone
at fracture must be very much less than the cross-section of the specimen). In addition, the region of interest
at the crack tip must be very much smaller than the crack length, so that the critical fracture event may be
characterised by a single-valued K parameter.
Fracture toughness (KIC) tests are usually performed on one of two types of testpiece, i.e. the single-edge-
notched (SEN) bend specimen or the compact-tension (CT) specimen.
Procedure
A fatigue crack is grown (at low loads compared with those to cause fast fracture) from the notches to provide
a sharp crack tip. The crack length (a/W) must be within specified ranges (around 0.5), and the crack front
should be sufficiently straight.
Then load is applied until fracture occurs. The load-displacement curve is recorded, and a preliminary
toughness value is obtained from:
Y is the compliance coefficient which is a function of specimen type and a/W. The Standard provides tables
to look up Y. Then the validity of the test is checked to see whether the KQ value can be equated to KIC.
Specimen thickness is important as:
(a) plane stress at surface;
(b) mixed behaviour just inside the surface;
(c) approx. plane strain conditions at centre.
Also, the plastic zone size (plane strain zone) must be small compared to other important dimensions,
effectively, a and B.
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For 0.45 < a/W < 0.55
or else the test is not considered to be valid (note: this must be checked after the test). This ensures that
a, B ≥ 25rp
It also means that for materials with a high toughness and low strength, testpieces must be very large for the
toughness values to be valid. Once validity is confirmed:
To determine PQ, the line with 5% reduction in gradient compared with the initial (effectively elastic) load vs
displacement gradient is used. Load is measured by a conventional load-cell. Displacement is measured using
a clip-gauge mounted across the open mouth of the notch.
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As a rule of thumb, avoid engineering materials with KIC less than 15 MN/m3/2.
Effect of temperature on fracture toughness

Within their practical range of use, the KIC value for most materials (metals and metallic alloys) increases with
temperature. At the same time, the yield stress, σy, tends to decrease with temperature.
[NOTE: there are important exceptions to this general behaviour.]
Hence the defect tolerance parameter (KIC/σy)2 tends to increase with temperature and the material
becomes less susceptible to failure by fast fracture.
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Effect of heat treatment on fracture toughness
In general, as strength decreases (for example a steel quenched and tempered to different strengths), the
fracture toughness increases.
Toughness can also be increased by removing inclusions (e.g. cleaner steels); or using specially designed
combinations of alloying additions together with heat treatments. Aircraft undercarriages require very high
strength and toughness – this is achieved in “marageing” steels in which complex, fine precipitates form
within a martensitic microstructure.
FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH
With smooth (plain) specimens without stress concentrations or surface defects the S-N curve exhibits a
combination of initiation-controlled behaviour (low stress range) and propagation control (high stress range).
With many practical components, the design includes stress concentrations. We must design against the
possibility that surface defects are present with the potential for initiating fatigue. Crack detection
techniques can only find cracks greater than a certain size. Fracture mechanics will determine the critical
crack length, acrit , beyond which fast failure occurs. Calculations of crack growth are therefore essential, for
example to predict the minimum time before the critical crack length is reached.
The state of stress around a crack tip is expressed in terms of stress intensity factor, K, where:
K = Y σ √ (π a)
where Y, sometimes called the K-compliance function, is a function of loading condition and the relative
geometry of the component and crack.
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In cyclic loading, K varies over a stress intensity range ΔK, where
ΔK = (Kmax – Kmin), or
ΔK = Y (σmax - σmin ) √ ( π a)
The stress intensity factor range ΔK, causes fatigue crack growth at a rate da/dN (distance per cycle). In
general, crack growth becomes faster as the crack gets longer.
If log (da/dN) is plotted against log (ΔK), three regimes are identified.
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Region I contains ΔKth , a threshold value of ΔK below which crack propagation does not occur. ΔKth occurs at
around da/dN ≈ 10-7 mm/cycle, i.e. ≈ 1 lattice spacing/cycle. Beyond this is the linear regime (region II) about
which most is known. At the other extreme of the plot, region III describes rapid crack growth occurring due
to the presence of relatively large crack tip plastic zones ie. when Kmax → KIC. At this crack length, fast failure
occurs.
To calculate crack growth behaviour in a general component, first it is determined whether the threshold for
crack growth has been exceeded. Then experimentally derived crack growth data are used to predict crack
growth in the linear region, using data obtained under conditions as close to those in practice as possible.
Various expressions have been employed, but the most popular is the Paris-Erdogan equation:
C and m are material constants. For most materials the constant C depends on R (= Kmin/Kmax) and m is
approximately constant, generally around 3.
ΔKth and ΔK (for da/dN = 10-6 mm/cycle) values depend on the R-value; units of C will give da/dN in m/cycle
when ΔK is in MN/m3/2 (= MPa √m).
Effect of mean stress

The R value is a measure of the mean stress, or mean stress intensity.
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The dependence of crack growth rate on mean stress is complex and is dealt with in various ways. In some
analyses, it is assumed that crack growth only occurs during the part of the fatigue cycle when the crack
experiences tensile loading, and a Paris-equation is used with ΔK as the tensile range only. In other
applications or materials, the full ΔK range is used,
including the compressive part because it gives a more accurate answer. It should also be remembered that
unless materials have been stress relieved, local residual stresses can influence the crack growth rate.
Experimentally it is shown that in some materials (e.g. mild steel) crack growth rate is largely independent of
R-value; others such as high strength aluminium alloys are very sensitive to mean stress. For design purposes
it is clearly important to use crack growth data obtained under conditions as close to the operating conditions
as possible.
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Determination of crack growth data
Experimental techniques for determining crack growth data need to control and measure ΔK, and measure
crack growth rate under controlled temperature and humidity conditions.
Usually SEN or CT specimens are used, with a constant applied load range. Crack length can be measured by:
• Potential drop methods – change in electrical resistance due to crack growth;

• Ultrasonic location of crack tip;
• Visually at the surface, but this does not take account of curved crack front.
Plots of a versus N then enable da/dN to be derived for each value of crack length a. Although load range is
held constant, ΔK values will change with crack length. These ΔK values are obtained using the standard
solutions for given geometries, f(a/W). Hence plots of log (da/dN) vs log (ΔK) are produced and values of ΔKth,
m and C derived.
For more detailed determination of crack growth data, specimens designed to give constant K values can be
used.
Ex1// Two flat plates are being pulled in tension. (See Figure below) The flow stress of the materials is 150
MPa.
(a) Calculate the maximum stresses in the plate.
(b) Will the material flow plastically?
(c) For which configuration is the stress higher?
17
Sol.
Ex2// An aluminium-alloy tube, with closed ends, (inside diameter = 150 mm; outside diameter = 170 mm),
is to be subjected to an internal pressure of 40 N/mm2. The yield stress σY, and fracture toughness, KIC of the
alloy are 500 MPa and 25 MN/m3/2 respectively.
If the maximum stress intensity factor for small surface cracks of depth ‘a’ can be estimated using
(where σ is the stress perpendicular to the plane of the crack), what is the maximum permissible depth of
crack, remote from the ends of the tube?
Sol.
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Ex3//If cracks of depth 0.5 mm were found in the tube described in example 2, how many pressure cycles
(zero to 40 N/mm2) could be applied before fracture occurred?
The fatigue crack growth rate for the material can be determined from
Sol.
To calculate the failure cycles with the known initial and final crack lengths using Paris’ law (steady-state
crack growth).
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Materials Engineering Dep.

Subject: Mechanical Behavior of Materials

Substitution of the ρ Equation into max. stress Equation, results in

Energy approach to fracture mechanics

Since U = ½ Pv, Pv = 2U, so

Unstable crack growth condition:

and under plane strain conditions

Under plane strain, failure occurs when

If G < GIC, the crack will not grow;

if G = GIC, stable crack growth occurs; and

if G > GIC, unstable crack growth occurs.

Mode I - opening mode

Mode II - shearing mode

Mode III - tearing mode

In general, Gtotal = GI + GII + GIII is the energy

Mode I (Westergaard, 1939)

For example, for an infinite plate with a crack of length 2a,

Hence the energy and stress-intensity factor approaches are equivalent.

Crack tip plasticity zones

Consider the Westergaard equations with θ= 0 under pure mode I loading.

Substituting for the local stresses,

Fracture toughness determination [BS 5447 (now 7448)]

Specimen thickness is important as:

(a) plane stress at surface;

(b) mixed behaviour just inside the surface;

(c) approx. plane strain conditions at centre.

For 0.45 < a/W < 0.55

Effect of temperature on fracture toughness

[NOTE: there are important exceptions to this general behaviour.]

Effect of heat treatment on fracture toughness

FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH

In cyclic loading, K varies over a stress intensity range ΔK, where

Effect of mean stress

Determination of crack growth data

• Potential drop methods – change in electrical resistance due to crack growth;

(a) Calculate the maximum stresses in the plate.

(b) Will the material flow plastically?

(c) For which configuration is the stress higher?

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