Journal of Shanghai University ( English Edition )

Technical Notes
I S S N 1007-6417, V o l . 4 , N o . l ( M a r . 2 0 0 0 ) , pp 18--21

Evaluation of the Formula of Stress Intensity Factor K1

for Semi-Elliptical Surface Crack

X U Jing-jing , W A N G Zhi-ling , SHAO Ren-xing , W U Yi-min

School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China

Abstract The stress-intensity factor (SIF) of the semi-elliptical surface crack in the finite body under extensional stress is sclculated by us-
ing the FEM software ANSYS release 5.5. The correction factor My of SIF at different point along the front of the crack is determined.
The relation between Mf and the semi-elliptical shape a/c, the relative crack depth a/b, the variation of angle 0, the relative crack width
2c/w and the relative height-width ratio h/w are calculated respectively. Finally the application range and the modification of the engi-
neering formula about SIF is proposed.

Key words FEM, semi-elliptical surface crack, stress intensity facotor, extensional stress, finite body

1 Introduction
The stress-intensity factor (SIF) of the semi-elliptical
surface crack needs to be calculated for evaluating the
strength of metal components because many flaws occur
on the component surface due to the nanufacture and
transport procedure. Up to now, solving three-dimen-
sional crack problems are not easy because of the mathe-
matical difficulties and the complicated calculations. In
engineering, the stress intensity factor of the semi-ellip-
tical surface crack in the finite body under the exten-
sional stress is calculated by using the following formu-
la Ill :
c : semi-major axis,
E ( k ) : complete elliptic integral of the second kind,
M :correction factor of SIF,
M1 : front-surface correction factor,
M2 : back-surface correction factor.
In the p a p e r K l f represents the numerical solution of
the semi-elliptical surface crack in the finite body under
extensional stress and is calculated by using ANSYS re-
lease 5 . 5 . My represents the correction factor of K l f and
is determined at different points along the crack front,
and the relation between M f and correlative parametes is
regressed from the FEM data. Eventually the modifica-
tion of the engineering formula about K1 is proposed.

K1 : ~'*
A,f O" % / ~ (
E(k)"l-k2c°s20)l/4 (1) 2 Calculating the SIF of the Semi-Ellip-
tical Surface Crack in the Finite Body
where
under the Extensional Stress
k = 1 - ( a / c ) 2, (2)
The numerical technique of finite element analysis is a
M = M1M2, (3)
useful tool to determine SIF for three-dimensional prob-
M1=1.0+0.12 1-~cc , (4) lems in fracture mechanics. For linear elasticity analysis,
2b ~a .1/2 the stress singularity at the crack front requires that
M2= [~atg ~J , (5) small elements are used in the vicinity of the crack front
if the near-field stresses need to be accurately calculated.
in which In order to meet such requirements, singular elements
a : remote extensional stress,
with 1 / ~ r stress singularity at crack front are utilized,
a :semi-minor axis,
where r is the distance from the crack tip. The expres-
sion of nodal displacements in the vicinity of the crack
Received Apr. 12, 1999 ; Revised Sep. 16, 1999
front is in Ref. [2 ].
 Vol. 4 No. 1 Mar. 2000 XU J.J. : Evaluation of the Formula of Stress Intensity Factor Kl for'" 19

~ Ta T ~b Y ~
h
2 c a
X
Fig. 1 Calculation model of the semi-elliptical surface crack
(model's material properties: Young's modulus E =
2.1 x 105 MPa, Poisson's ratio F =0.3)

Fig. 1 shows the geometry model of the semi-elliptical

surface crack in the finite body under the extensional
Fig.2 FEM model with boundary conditions
stress a. Here solving this problem involves performing a
linear elastic static analysis and calculation desired frac- pared with the solution of the engineering formula K 1 .
ture parameter Klf. In this section,one of two main as- The stress-intensity correction factor My is used to esti-
pects needed to do is meshing the calculation model, es- mate Klf as follows:
pecially paying attention to the crack region, and the
other is calculation Klf.
~ 4 - ~ ~1
Kif = My E - ~ k - ~ ' " - kZc°s20
)1~4. (6)
The F E M model can be established according to the
calculation mode[ of Fig. 1. Firstly, the half-structure is The correction factor My can be determined according
taken as the calculation model due to the symmetry of to the correlative parameters including the semi-elliptical
the structure. Secondly, the most important region shape a/c, the relative crack depth a/b, the angl e 0,
around the edge of the crack front needs to pick up the the relative crack width 2c/w and the relative height-
singularity. The crack faces are coincident and the sin- width ratio h / w . Fig. 3 shows the relation between the
gular elements are utilized. The crack front of the model correction factor ratio ( M f / M ) and a/b for various
is meshed by three-dimensional elements with 20 nodes a/c at 0 = 9 0 " .
whose middle nodes are placed at the quarter of distance
Mf/M
from the crack tip in order to yield the stress singulari- 1.07
• a/c=O. 1

ty, and the rest models are meshed by three-dimensional 1.06 -- a/c=0.2
elements with 8 nodes. In addition, symmetry con- 1.05 f =L_--""~ " alc=0.4
straints are applied to the symmetry surface of the F E M 1.04 / f ~N= --.O--.a/c=0.6
model. All of DOFs are constrained at the bottom and
1.03 / / "...,! x a/c=0.8
the extensional tress a is applied to the top. Finally, the
1.02
1.01
--- _a/c--l.O
different Klf can be obtained by varying the dimension 1.00
of the structure. The full F E M model is gotten by AN- 0.99

SYS release 5 . 5 in Fig. 2 and there are 4948 nodes and

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
~ ~ r - r -, f a/b

4008 elements in the model. Fig.3 Curve of Mf/M vs. a/b for various a/c at 0 = 90"
3 Evaluating the SIF Correction Factor Fig. 3 demonstrates that the error between the correc-
M I of the Semi-Elliptical Surface Crack tion factor My and M is less than 1% for the whole
range of a/b when a/c > 0 . 2 and larger error occurs
in the Finite Body
when a/c < 0 . 2 . Utilizing M A T L A B program design
According to the experiment in Ref. [ 3 ] , model size is
language [4] , the back-surface correction factor Mfl and
assumed including major axis 2c = 2 5 m m , width w =
the front-surface correction factor M/2 of the semi-ellip-
300ram and height h = 100mm. The stress ( a = 7 x
tical surface crack can be regressed as follows according
104pa) is applied on the top of model. Utilizing ANSYS
to Fig. 3.
release 5 . 5 , Klf of the F E M model is calculated as corn-
 20 Journal of Shanghai University

M f 1 = O . 1 3 6 ( a / b ) 2 - O . O 2 3 ( a / b ) + l.032, (7) Fig. 5 gives the values of the M f / M with relation to

My2=O.O53(a/c)2-O.158(a/c)+1.135, (8) various height-width ratios h / w and various relative
width 2 c / w for O=90*,a/c = 1 and a / b = 0 . 1 .
where, Mfl is expressed as a function of the relative
Fig. 5 shows M f / M > 1. 12 for 2 c / w > 0 . 2 and
thickness a / b when a / c = 1 and Mr2 is a function of
h / w < O . 2 , w h i c h means an error more than 10% be-
a / c when a / b = 0 . 1 . Now we can get the error less
tween the result of F E M and engineering formula. In
than 4 % between M f = Mfl Mfz and M = M1 M 2 at 0
this case, the engineering formula is not suitable for
_- 90 °"
solving SIF of the semi-elliptical surface crack. Fig. 5 al-
Fig. 4 shows a plot of the correction factor M f / M in
so demonstrates that the correction factor ratio M f / M
relation to the angle 0 for various relative thickness a / b
will rise with the increase of the relative width 2 c / w .
at a / c = 1 and testifies that the M T / M will reduce with
T h e structure can be regarded as infinite body because of
the increase of the angle or with the decrease of the rela-
the value of M f / M near to 1 for h / w > O. 6, a / c = 1,
tive thickness for the circle crack. The plot shows that
a / b = 0.1 and 2 c / w < 0 . 1 . As the result of Fig. 5, the
the result of F E M is nearly equal to the result of engi-
correction factor My4 o f the height-width ratio, is re-
neering formula when 0 > 45 ° , but the larger error oc-
gressed as Eq. (10) for 2 c / w = 0 . 0 1 . T h e width correc-
curs when 0 < 45 °. For example, the error is more than
tion factor M f5 is regressed as Eq. ( 11 ) for h / w = 2.2.
30 % when 0 = 0 ° .
In terms of Fig. 4, the angle correction factor Mf3 is My4 = - - 0 . 0 7 ( h / w ) 5 + O. 47( h / w ) 4 - 1 . 1 4 ( h / w ) 3
regressed as follows for a / c = 1 and a / b = O. 1. + 1.23(h/w) 2-0.55(h/w) + 1.05, (10)
My5 = - 1 . 1 ( 2 c / w ) 2 + O . 5 6 ( 2 c / w ) +0.95. (11)
Mf3 = 0. 362sin20 - 0. 622sin0 + 1. 296. (9)
As the result of considering the influence of different
Mf/M
1.50
factors, the correction factor My is obtained as follows:
1.45
~alb=O. 9 Mf = MflMf2Mf3Mf4Mfs. (12)
1.40 -~--alb=O.8
1. 35 ~alb=O. 7
|. 30 "~--alb=O.
4 Conclusion
~a/b=O. 5
1.25 -o-alb=O. 4 (1) For a finite body with the semi-elliptical surface
1.20 +alb=O. 3
--~.-alb=O. 2 crack under the extensional stress, the accurate numeri-
1, 15 +alb=O. 1
1.10
cal solution of the correction factor My of SIF can be ob-
1.05 tained by utilizing the singular elements.
1.00 - fl _, (2) The numerical solution of S I F can be used to esti-
0.95
O.O0 11.25 22.50 33.75 45.00 56.25 67.50 78.75 90.00 mate the stress-intensity factor as Eq. ( 6 ) . The correc-
el(o) tion factor My is related to the semi-elliptical shape
Fig. 4 Curve of Mf/M in relation to the angle 0 for a / c , the relative structure thickness a / w , the angle 0,
various relative thickness a/b the relative structure width 2 c / w and the height-width
Mf/M ratio h / w referring to Eq. ( 7 - - 1 2 ) .
1.35 ¸ ( 3 ) The error between the correction factor My and
1.30 ! 0 2C/ge~0.01
= 2CJW--0.05
M is less than 1% when a / b < 1, a / c > 0 . 2 , and the
1.25
-"-ix-"- 2 ~ . 1 error rises for a / b < 1, a / c < 0 . 2 . The error less than
1.20 X 2~.2
1.15
4 % between My = Mfl Mr2 and M = M 1 M 2 at 0 = 90*
1.10 (the maximum SIF of semi-elliptical surface crack). T h e
1.05 error may be over 30 % due to the various value of a / b
1.00
when 0 < 45", so the error can not be ignored and the
0.9~
relative angle correction factor is given.
0.90
0.2 0'8 110 1', 1'8 2'2 (4) When O=90*,a/c = 1 and a / b = 0 . 1 , t h e Mf/
h/W
M will rise with the increase of the relative width
Fig. 5 Curve of Mf/M vs. h/w various 2c/w at 0 = 90",
a/c = 1 anda/b =0.1 2 c / w . Due to the error more than 10% between the re-
Vol. 4 No. 1 Mar. 2000 XU J.J. : Evaluation of the Formula of Stress Intensity Factor K1 for---
suit of F E M and engineering formula for 2 c / w > 0 . 2
and h / w ~ O. 2 , the engineering formula is not suitable
for solving S I F of the semi-elliptical surface crack. T h e
structure can be r e g a r d e d as infinite body because of the
value of M f / M near to 1 for h / w > O . 6 , a / c = 1,a/b
=0.1 and 2 c / w < 0 . 1 and the engineering formula is
suitable.
( 5 ) Considering the influence of different factors, t h e
numerical formula Eq. ( 6 ) can provide a more general
and precise solution t h a n the engineering formula.
21
References
[ 1] Gao Qing, Engineering Fracture Med~znics,Chongqing U-
niversity Press, 1985 : 35 - 37(in Chinese)
[2] Peter Kohnke,Ph.D. ,ANSYS Theory Reference,O00656,
Seventh Edition, SAS IP, Inc., 1996 : 19 - 38
[3] Albert S. Kobayashi, Experimental Techniques in Fracture
Medmnics, The Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa,
Society for Experimental Stress Analysis, Westport, Con-
nectiant, 1975 : 39 - 45
[4] Lou Shuntian,Yu Wei,Shan Hualiang, MATLAB Program
Design Language, Xian Electronic Science and Technolgy
University Press, 1997 : 112 - 126(in Chinese)