FM Notes by DR - Chetan. B

FRACTURE MECHANICS
1. Introduction
Fracture mechanics is a scientific discipline of fracture formation of defects that occur in a stressed body. It
studies the behaviour regularities of cracks when a body is stressed under various conditions, especially in
terms of brittle failure creation. A fracture is the separation of an object or material into two, or more, pieces
under the action of stress. Fracture is a problem that society has faced for as long as there have been man-
made structures. The problem may actually be worse today than in previous centuries, because more can go
wrong in our complex technological society. Major airline crashes, for instance, would not be possible without
modern aerospace technology. The objective of fracture mechanics is to determine the stressed-body critical
size of a defect that would cause sudden brittle failure of a component under stress.
Fracture mechanics is a failure theory that:
 Determines material failure by energy criteria, possibly in conjunction with strength (or yield) criteria
 Considers failure to be propagating throughout the structure rather than simultaneous throughout the
entire failure zone or surface
It is a useful method of determining:
 Stress and flaw size

 Fracture toughness
 Fatigue crack growth
 Stress-corrosion crack growth behaviour
Fracture mechanics can estimate the maximum crack that a material can withstand before it fails,
taking into consideration:
 Overall dimensions of the structure

 Stress value where crack initiation takes place
 Notch toughness value
 Behaviour of materials
 Fatigue crack growth and stress corrosion crack growth
Fracture mechanics can be used in:
 Design
 Material selection and alloy development
 Determining the significance of defects
 Monitoring and control
 Failure analysis
1 Dr. Chetan Byrappa, Asst. Prof., Dept. of Mech. Engg. B.I.T, Bangalore-04
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture mechanics should attempt to provide quantitative answers to the following questions.
1. What is the strength of the component as a function of crack size?

2. What crack size can be tolerated under service loading, i.e. what is the maximum permissible crack
size?
3. How long does it take for a crack to grow from a certain initial size, for example the minimum
detectable crack size, to the maximum permissible crack size?
4. What is the service life of a structure when a certain pre-existing flaw size (e.g. a manufacturing
defect) is assumed to exist?
5. During the period available for crack detection how often should the structure be inspected for crack
The process of fracture can be considered to be made up of two components, crack initiation followed by
crack propagation. Fractures are classified w.r.t. several characteristics, for example, strain to fracture,
crystallographic mode of fracture, appearance of fracture, etc.
Characteristic Terms used Terms used

Strain to fracture Ductile Brittle
Crystallographic mode Shear Cleavage
Appearance Fibrous and gray Fibrous and gray
Crack propagation Along grain boundaries Through grains
By area of deformation under load, fracture mechanics is divided into:
- Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), applicable for stress of bodies in the elastic strain area,
- Elastic-plastic fracture mechanics (EPFM), extended to stress in the elastic-plastic strain area.
- Dynamic fracture mechanics is considered in cases of dynamic and shock loads.
Definitions:
Fracture Mechanics: Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the
propagation of cracks in materials. Fracture mechanics is used to evaluate the strength of a structure or
component in the presence of a crack or flaw.
Toughness: The ability of a metal to deform plastically and to absorb energy in the process before fracture is
termed toughness.
Fracture toughness: It is defined as material resistance to crack propagation. It is a very important material
property since the occurrence of flaws is not completely avoidable in the processing, fabrication, or service of
FRACTURE MECHANICS
a material/component. Flaws may appear as cracks, voids, metallurgical inclusions, weld defects, design
discontinuities. Fracture Toughness Tests are generally performed on specimens containing a flaw and this
requires an operation, called precracking, to induce a flaw of a specific specification.
Notch toughness: Defined as the ability of the material to resist loads in the presence of notches (or) crack. In
the presence of a flaw, such as a notch or crack, a material will likely exhibit a lower level of toughness.
When a flaw is present in a material, loading induces a triaxial tension stress state adjacent to the flaw. The
material develops plastic strains as the yield stress is exceeded in the region near the crack tip. However, the
amount of plastic deformation is restricted by the surrounding material, which remains elastic. When a
material is prevented from deforming plastically, it fails in a brittle manner. Notch-toughness is measured with
a variety of specimens such as the Charpy V-notch impact specimen or the dynamic tear test specimen.
Material toughness: It is the ability of the material to resist the external load against fracture.
Stress intensity factor (K): Defined as the parameter which defines the characteristics of the crack (or) stress
field at the tip of the crack.

Where, a=Crack Length
Stress intensity factor ( ):

The stress intensity factor (K) is used in the field of fracture mechanics. It predicts stress intensity near the tip
of a crack caused by a remote load or residual stresses.
The magnitude of K depends on:
 Sample geometry
 Size and location of the crack
 Magnitude of load
 Distribution of load
The stress intensity factor is a single-parameter characterization of the crack tip stress field.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Stress concentration factor

Stress concentration factor (Kt), is a dimensionless factor that is used to quantify how concentrated the stress
is in a material. It is defined as the ratio of the highest stress in the element to the reference stress. Reference
stress is the total stress within an element under the same loading conditions without the stress concentrators,
meaning the total stress on the material where the material is free from holes, cuts, shoulders or narrow passes.
A stress concentration is often called a stress raiser or stress riser. A material is stronger when force is evenly
distributed over its area, so a reduction in area, e.g., caused by a crack, results in a localized increase in stress.
A material can fail, via a propagating crack, when a concentrated stress exceeds the material's theoretical
cohesive strength. The real fracture strength of a material is always lower than the theoretical value because
most materials contain small cracks or contaminants (especially foreign particles) that concentrate
stress. Fatigue cracks always start at stress raisers, so removing such defects increases the fatigue strength.
Determination of Kt value:
The stress-concentration factor associated with a specific geometry and loading condition of a part can be
derived through experimentation, analysis or computational methods.
 Experimental methods: Optical methods, such as photo elasticity, are very dependable and widely
used for experimentally determining the stress concentration at a point on a part. However, several
alternative methods that have been used historically include the grid method, brittle coating, brittle
model and strain gauge.
 Analytical methods: The theory of elasticity can be used to analyse certain geometrical shapes to
calculate stress-concentration factors.
 Computational methods: Finite-element techniques provide a powerful and inexpensive computational
method of assessing stress-concentration factors.
Characteristics of stress-concentration factors:
 Function of the geometry or shape of the part, but not its size or material
 Function of the type of loading applied to the part (axial, bending or torsional)
 Function of the specific geometric stress raiser in the part (such as fillet radius, notch or hole)
 Always defined with respect to a particular nominal stress
 Typically assumes a linear elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Methods of reducing stress concentration:
A number of methods are available to reduce stress concentration in machine parts, including:
 Providing a fillet radius so that the cross-section may change gradually

 Using an elliptical fillet
 Using a number of small notches rather than a long one, if a notch is unavoidable
 Using narrow notches rather than wide notches, if a projection is unavoidable
 Using stress-relieving grooves
Few Historical Instances Which Lead to Birth of Fracture Mechanics
The battle predominantly of England and France against Germany during World War II caused a tremendous
usage of resources in these two countries: mostly ammunition, food, oil and fuel. Starting in early 1941,
neither England nor France was able to cover these demands themselves. To support the battle against Nazi-
Germany, the United States provided mostly England and France, but later also Australia and New Zealand,
which were fighting Japan in the Pacific, with various war-related supplies.
Since all these supplies had to be transported across either the Atlantic or the Pacific, a large fleet of cargo
ships was required. In the late 1930s, 90% of the Unites States’ fleet of large merchant vessels, however, was
over 20 years old and neither in number nor in cargo capacity and speed capable of facing this challenge. In
order to meet the demand for cargo ships, the United States started an emergency shipbuilding program in
1940.
Research in the field of fracture mechanics barely existed prior to World War II. Cracks were thought to be
small, insignificant nuisances that could never be a threat to large majestic structures like ships and aircraft.
But during the war, and for a short time afterward, many ships and aircraft failed in sudden, seemingly
inexplicable ways. It was eventually determined that the failures were in fact caused by cracks in their metal
structures.
a. Leonardo Da Vinci [1452-1519] was the first person to make a setup to measure the strength of a
wire. He found out that strength of a wire depends on its length. The quality of a wire in his time was
not high enough & longer wire was likely to have more number of cracks.
b. Many bridges, boilers, buildings, ships were fails due to fraction in 19 th century, for Ex: say
locomotive a very important industry in those days, used to have innumerous accident due to failure
of wheels axes of wheels & rails. Weller in his earlier investigations conducted, stress controlled
cyclic loading on fatigue life of axles of locomotive. This led to development of Goodman diagram &
finding endurance limit.
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c. In 19th century & early part of 20th, the entire industry was obsessed with production. Even the failure
theories were developed quite late. World war-II accelerated the industrial production in a very rapid
rate, due to unusually high demands of war, within 6 years of war, making of aircraft improved
dramatically & ships. Which were being made by riveting the plates together were changed to all
welded frames? Many cargo ships, known liberty ships, were rolled out from American ducks within
a short span. However soon it was discovered that welded structure has serious problem. Many of
them failed in cooled temperature of North Atlantic Ocean. Some of them broken into 2 part each.
Ships made by riveting, plates together did not have such problems because if a crack is nucleated &
grown into a plate it will only split that plate into parts, the crack is not likely to grow into another
plate. A welded structure is a large single continuous part & once crack becomes critical. It will see
through the entire hall of ship. The disaster brought out the importance of temperature effect on
fracture toughness and marked the birth of fracture mechanics
Liberty Ship Failures
The Liberty ship was a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II. Though British in
conception, the design was adapted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced
on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.
Nearly 3000 of the ships were built in an extremely short period; the first ship was built in just 70 days. The
short timescale from design to construction, however, led to the inclusion of several fatal flaws in the ship
design, and many ships were lost due brittle steel failures.
Liberty Ships were based on a British design that was adapted by the US. They were 441.5 feet long, could
travel at speeds up to 13.2 miles per hour, had a range of 23,000 miles, and had a capacity of 10,685 long tons.
Many of these ships were lend-leased to Britain and the Soviet Union to help replace the vessels that were
sunk by the German U-boats. These ships contained a stern-mounted 4 inch deck gun for use against
submarines and had a variety of anti-aircraft guns as well.
The failure of Liberty ships is a well-known and dramatic example of the brittle fracture of steel that was
thought to be ductile. Some of the early ships experienced structural damage when cracks developed in their
decks and hulls. Three of them catastrophically split in half when cracks formed, grew to critical lengths, and
then rapidly propagated completely around the ships’ girths. Subsequent investigations concluded one or more
of the following factors contributed to each failure:
 These Liberty ships were constructed of steel that experienced a ductile-to-brittle transition. Some of
them were deployed to the frigid North Atlantic, where the once ductile metal experienced brittle
fracture when temperatures dropped to below the transition temperature.
 The corner of each hatch (i.e., door) was square; these corners acted as points of stress concentration
where cracks can form.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
 German U-boats were sinking cargo ships faster than they could be replaced using existing
construction techniques. Consequently, it became necessary to revolutionize construction methods to
build cargo ships faster and in greater numbers. This was accomplished using prefabricated steel
sheets that were assembled by welding rather than by the traditional time-consuming riveting.
Unfortunately, cracks in welded structures may propagate unimpeded for large distances, which can
lead to catastrophic failure. However, when structures are riveted, a crack ceases to propagate once it
reaches the edge of a steel sheet.
 Weld defects and discontinuities (i.e., sites where cracks can form) were introduced by inexperienced
operators. The brittle fractures that occurred in the Liberty Ships were caused by low notch toughness
at low temperature of steel at welded joint, which started at weld cracks or stress concentration points
of the structure. External forces or residual stress due to welding progress the fracture. Almost all
accidents by brittle fractures occurred in winter (low temperature)
Remedial measures taken to correct these problems included the following:
 Lowering the ductile-to-brittle temperature of the steel to an acceptable level by improving

steel quality (e.g., reducing sulfur and phosphorus impurity contents).
 Rounding off hatch corners by welding a curved reinforcement strip on each corner.[4]
 Installing crack-arresting devices such as riveted straps and strong weld seams to stop
propagating cracks.
 Improving welding practices and establishing welding codes.
In spite of these failures, the Liberty ship program was considered a success for several reasons, the
primary reason being that ships that survived failure were able to supply Allied Forces in the theater
of operations and in all likelihood shortened the war. In addition, structural steels were developed
with vastly improved resistances to catastrophic brittle fractures. Detailed analyses of these failures
advanced the understanding of crack formation and growth, which ultimately evolved into the
discipline of fracture mechanics
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Recent trends in Fracture Mechanics research
 More sophisticated material models are being included in Fracture Mechanics Analysis.
 To incorporate time – dependent non-linear material behavior into Fracture Mechanics Analysis,
Viscoelasticity or Viscoelasticity is employed.
 Viscoelasticity is motivated by the use of tough, creep – resistant high temperature materials.
 Viscoelasticity reflects the increasing proportion of Polymeric materials in engineering applications.
 Fracture Mechanics has also been used (and sometimes abused) in the characterization of laminated
composite materials.
 Development of micro structural models and models to relate local and global fracture behavior of
materials. A related topic is the effort to characterize and predict geometry dependence of fracture
toughness.
 New approaches where traditional single – parameter fracture mechanics breaks down
Critical stress intensity factor (KIC):

It is the SIF of the material at fracture, it is also known as fracture toughness. Critical stress intensity factor
depends upon many factors.
1. Heat treatment which controls the σys of the material
2. Speed of the crack
3. Test method
4. Test specimen
5. Process of manufacturing
In the above equation if the value of ‘K’ reaches critical value, then it is said to be critical S.I.F.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture control plan: Defined as the control of the fracture in the components (or) structure so that
fracture should not occur in the component. It is implemented to minimizing the “strength of the material
taken into account to increase the fracture toughness of the material” (design consideration).
A typical fracture-control plan includes the following.
 Plane strain fracture toughness, KIc. Actually, the applied stress intensity factor must be KI ˂ KIc so
that it can be used as a constraint, and the designer controls it. This design constraint assures structural
integrity since crack propagation is restricted.
 Use of the following inequality B ≥ 2.5 (KIc /σys)2 for brittle materials assures that the thickness of
designed parts do not fall below a minimum thickness.
 If use of welding is necessary, then it must be used very cautiously since it can degrade the toughness
of the welded material especially in the heat affected zone (HAZ), which may become brittle as a
consequence of rapid cooling leading to smaller grains. Consequently, flaws development is
detrimental to the structure or component since the local stresses may amplify at the crack tip.
 The environment in which a structure is put into service. For instance, a corrosive environment may
degrade the structure by developing stress corrosion cracks (SCC).
 Limitations of the allowable crack size can be predicted by equation ac=1/π (KIc /ασ)2
 Use of nondestructive test (NDT) techniques. NDT techniques must be employed in order to avoid
catastrophic failure by examining structural components for flaws or cracks.
A Crack in Structure:
Different cracks
1) Slanting edge 2) Kinked crack 3) Branch crack 4) Arrange of crack
Fracture Mechanics Principle:

F.M. is the study of flaws in engineering Materials. This involves characterizing a materials ability to resist
crack onset & propagation, as well as understanding how the propagation occurs. The important aspect of this
field is failure analysis, where engineers attempt to explain why a component has failed during operation. The
most imp aspect of studying FM. Is to be able to accurately predict service life of a part, so that disastrous
failures can be prevented. Sources of the cracks in a structure of the component are blow holes, voids cracks at
the time of manufacture in spite of regular inspection procedure & also presence of irregular size atoms which
decreases the difference in the process of binding.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Brief History:
A.A. Griffith published a paper entitled “The phenomenon of rupture & flow in solids” (1920), has been credited as the
father of the field of fracture mechanics. It was the first known use of an energy approach to describe fracture criterion in
flawed brittle solids by balancing the stored elastic energy & the surface energy of the material. According to Griffith’s
theory fracture occurs when the tensile stress at some crack tip exceeds theoretical cohesive strength of the
material.
G.R. Irwin: He included local plasticity in analyzing fracture & developed the energy release rate ‘G’ which
is related to the Griffith theory but is in a form that is more useful for solving engineering problems. The
analysis became useful when ‘G’ was related to a parameter called SI.F (K) in most cases the ‘K’ value of a
material corresponds to KI [mode I for uniaxial tensile opening]. Mode II for in plane shear mode III for out-
of-plane shear. KI measures the strength of near tip-stress, strains & displacements & relates to the far field
applied load. The stress intensity factor is useful for small scale yielding. It loses validity for highly ductile
solids because of large plastic process zone in front of crack tip.
The research resulted in the division of F.M in to linear elastic F.M. (LEFM). In elastic brittle materials &
nonlinear FM for ductile materials (NLFM). In NLFM, two parameters are used CTOD [crack tip opening
displacement] & energy release rate to non-linear materials ‘J’- integral [A path in dependent line integral
evaluated along on arbitrary contour around the crack tip]
Irwin, Dug dale & wells (1960-61) undergone several researches & developed analysis to correct for yield at
the crack tip. P.C Paris applied LEFM principles to cyclic (or) fatigue loading condition which enables life
prediction for materials under cyclic loading condition.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the first person to make a setup to
measure the strength of a wire. He found out that the strength of a wire depended on its length. A wire in his
time were not of high quality and a long wire was likely to possess many cracks. However, fracture mechanics
was not studied as a separate discipline for a long time
Sources of defecting:
 Basic material ( grain boundary level )
 Manufacturing process ( casting, welding, forming )
 Environmental condition ( corrosion & oxidation )
 Wear
 Radiation
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture process & crack front

Fracture process zone:
If a small region surrounding the crack where the fracture develops through successive stages of
inhomogeneous slip, void growth & loud sense & bond breaking on atomic scale obviously macroscopic
theory can’t describe what happens on the zone.
Fig. The size of the process zone is neglected compare to the macroscopic.
Crack front:
It is a line connecting all the adjacent sides where separation may occur simultaneously during continued
separation. This line will move along geometric surface termed as fracture surface. The area of this surface
(crack) wills increases as the crack grows.
Sources of Micro cracks

The following are the sources of micro & macro cracks
1) Surface contamination:
i) Contact damage:
Is occur to the handling of components. The interaction of dust particles on a surface is another possibility. If
the small dust particles are wedged between the under surface of a specimen and the surface on which it is
placed, the resulting stresses are sufficient to rupture bonds. Ex: Silicate glass
ii) Residual Stresses:
Certain materials (metals) sometimes produce a ‘tensile skin’ on the surface layer of specimen; such stresses
are called residual stresses (no external load). If surface of a brittle material is subjected to internal tensile
stresses, it will enhance the formation of surface cracks. If a compressive skin is produced on the surface.
Surface cracks may be avoided.
iii) Surface Protection: In most dense & highly brittle materials the fracture strength is controlled by surface
cracks, these materials are sometimes protected by applying coatings of a suitable material. This is not always
feasible especially when the component has to withstand high temperatures. Another method is to grind &
polish surface.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
2) Fabrication effects:
Voids are very common & serious problem to be overcome in the presence of pores (or) air Bubbles in a
material [inclusions in materials]
3) Chemical effects (corrosion environmental factors):

Oxide layers are very easily formed on the surfaces of some materials. This is because of, the total free
energy of the system is lowered by such formation & this effect is enhanced at high temp in some career an
oxide layer may serve to protect a surface, where as in others it can introduce cracks.
Structural effects (Micro):

(i) Dislocation pile ups:
Plastic deformation occurs, which dislocation moves on slip plane. In poly crystalline materials, grain
boundaries serve as on obstruction to the movement of dislocation
(ii) Coalescence of dislocation:

Zenith suggested that the dislocation at the head of a pile – up may coalescence to nucleate a crack, therefore
by this method, cracks are formed normal to the slip plane.
(iii) Dislocation interaction on 2 planes: BCC (Body centered cubic) at low temp
(iv) Crack mechanism in slip planes: HCP (Hexagonal closed pack materials) (Cleavage plane & slip –
plane)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture criteria based on stress cone and theoretical strength:

It is found experimentally that the brittle material process, low fracture strength relative to the theoretical
strength was due to flaws (weaker), Facture cannot occur unless the stress at the atomic level exceeds the
cohesive strength of the material.
The first quantitative evidence for the stress cone effect of flaws was provided by Ingles’. Who analyzed the
elliptical holes in flat plates? His analysis included elliptical holes in flat plates. His analysis included on
elliptical hole 2a long 2b wide with an applied stress perpendicular to major axis of the ellipse.
At the elliptical crack tip
Where ‘a’ & ‘b’ are the semi major & semi miner axis of the elliptical flaw.
He also found the theoretical stress necessary to rupture bonds is given by
Where ‘bo’ is the equilibrium inter atomic separation distance.

Assume that the fracture will occur only when tip reaches the theoretical strength.
Let tip = the
Square & rearrange.
----------------------------------- (1)
The radius of curvature at θ=0 is given by x = a Cos y = b Sin
 ------------------------------------ (2)
The elliptical flaw is a crack by making to we can assume that radius of curvature at tip of the crack
is approximately equal to .
FRACTURE MECHANICS
 Eqn (2) reduces to
----------- -------------------------- (3)
S.S.Curves
2) Field of fracture mechanics

3) Crack growth curve & strength curve
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Brittle Fracture:
In many cases brittle fracture gives rise to fast growth of crack in the body. The metals which are usually
ductile can behave in brittle manner, leading to fast crack propagation, even when the applied stress is less
than the yield stress of the uncracked region.
Some Characteristics of Brittle Fracture
 There is no gross, permanent deformation of the material.

 The surface of the brittle fracture tends to be perpendicular to the principal tensile stress although
other components of stress can be factors.
 Characteristic crack advance markings frequently point to where the fracture originated.
 The path the crack follows depends on the material’s structure. In metals, trans granular and
intergranular cleavage are important
Brittle fracture crystalline metals can be divided into two groups. Intergranular & Trans granular. A crack of
intergranular failure moves along the gram boundaries. Trans granular fracture occurs through with in grains.
Fig. The Three Micro mechanisms of Fracture in Metals: (a) Ductile Fracture, (b) Cleavage Fracture, (c) Intergranular
Fracture. Within a grain, cleavage failure occurs along a weak crystallographic plane. Cleavage fracture is the most form
of fracture.
Ductile fracture:
It occurs by process of shearing of one plane of atoms relative to the stress. In ductile fracture material
undergoes considerable plastic deformation prior to fracture. Ductile fracture is preferable because plastic
deformation takes place prior to the fracture. Stable crack growth & no catastrophic failure.
Some Characteristics of Ductile Fracture
 There is permanent deformation at the tip of the advancing crack that leaves distinct patterns in SEM
images.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
 As with brittle fractures, the surface of a ductile fracture tends to be perpendicular to the principal
tensile stress, although other components of stress can be factors.
 In ductile, crystalline metals and ceramics it is microscopically resolved shear stress that is operating
to expand the tip of the crack.
 The fracture surface is dull and fibrous.
 There has to be a lot of energy available to extend the crack.
Brittle fracture (fast or cleavage):

It occurs by simple breaking of atomic bonds, resulting in the separation of one portion of the
material from the other. Brittle fracture occurs without any permanent (or) plastic deformation.
Fig. Formation of cleavage tongue (BCD) due to passage of twin. Cut along (110) plane through a coherent twin in BCC lattice.
Origin of cleavage steps a. (a) Parallel cracks joining secondary cleavage (b ) or shear (c): b. Initiation of
cleavage steps by passage of screw dislocation, (C) Formation of a river pattern after passage of grain
Boundary.
Fig. Cleavage spreading through grains.
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FRACTURE MECHANICS
Difference between Brittle & Ductile fracture

Brittle Ductile
1. Fracture occurs due to different in 1. Occurs due to sliding of
Crystallographic Planes. Crystallographic Planes.
2. Cleavage Fracture occurs at Low 2. Shear Deformation by Nucleation,
Temperature. Dislocation occurs at High
Temperature.
3. Energy Required to Fracture is Less. 3. Energy Required to Fracture is More.
4. Negligible Plastic Deformation. 4. More Plastic Deformation.

5. Low fracture toughness 5. High fracture toughness
6. Strain at the Failure is Less. 6. Strain at the failure is Very Large.
7. Bright Appearance. 7. Dull in Appearance.
8. Fracture occurs due to Breaking of Atomic 8. Fracture occurs due to Breaking
Bonds. Atoms.
9. Ex : Castiron, Glass, Ceramics 9. Ex : Al, Copper
Modes of Fracture failure

The three modes & directions of crack propagation are Mode I is the opening mode & loading is symmetrical
w.r.t to the crack plane. Mode II is a sliding mode & the displacement is in the plane of the plane, the
separation is antisymmetric through relative tangential displacement normal to the crack front. Mode III also
causes sliding motion but the displacement is parallel to the crack front causing tearing.
Mode I fracture – Opening mode (a tensile stress normal to the plane of the crack),
Mode II fracture – Sliding mode (a shear stress acting parallel to the plane of the crack and perpendicular to
the crack front), and
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Mode III fracture – Tearing mode (a shear stress acting parallel to the plane of the crack and parallel to the
crack front).
Mode I dominate in many engineering application & is the most dangerous. However in certain applications,
components fail through the dominant role of mode II & mode III. Mode I is studied most with well-
developed experimental methods to find toughness.
This is the quantity that characterizes the driving force for fracture. It depends on type of crack deformation.
Based on the 3 basic modes of crack surface deformation, stress intensity factors can be denoted by K I, KII, &
KIII. As this ‘v’ factors depends on outer boundary condition such as applied loading & specimen geometry,
consequently they determine intensity of the local field variable.
Damage tolerance approach to design

In this, the maximum loads on the component are known; the objective is to find what longest length
of the crack that remains dormant is. Once we know its length, the structural component can be thoroughly
checked with appropriate NDT.
In case of fluctuating loads when applied on components, fatigue crack may be nucleated even at the
surface, where previously no crack existed, this crack may extend the fluctuating load. In such situation,
critical components are checked regularly and if a crack is detected i.e. likely to grow and become critical a
repair (∞) replacement job is required on other hand. Detection of a small crack should it causes panic because
this length may be much smaller than the maximum length of crack allowed in damage tolerance analysis.
An atomic view of fracture (Theoretical cohesive strength):
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Figure: Potential energy and force as a function of atomic separation. At the equilibrium separation
xo the potential energy is minimized, and the attractive and repelling forces are balanced.
Surface energy:
A energy per unit area required to produce a new surface is defined as surface energy. Strength comes from
the bonds. If a material has higher bond strength, it will require a higher energy to break a material into two
pieces. The strength is resistance to breaking (This is known as cohesive energy) In general high cohesive
forces are related to large elastic constants high melting points & small co-efficient of thermal expansion.
Above figure represents. P.E & forces as a function of atomic separation at the equilibrium spacing the P.E is
minimized & the attractive & repulsing forces are balanced.
Consider cohesive force “F” as sine wave
We can write
Let Na be the no of atoms per unit area

The force per unit area to separate the plane of atoms by a distance ‘x ‘is given by
Here 
For small displacement
__________ (1)
For small displacement as per Hook’s law
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Theoretical cohesive strength of material
This is maximum force, which has to be exceeded in order to undergo fracture.
Griffiths Energy Balance Approach

Fracture mechanics was developed during WWI by English aeronautical engineer A. A. Griffith to explain the
following observations:
 The stress needed to fracture bulk glass is around 100 MPa
 The theoretical stress needed for breaking atomic bonds is approximately 10,000 MPa
 Experiments on glass fibers that Griffith himself conducted: the fracture stress increases as the fiber
diameter decreases, Hence the uniaxial tensile strength, which had been used extensively to predict
material failure before Griffith, could not be a specimen-independent material property.
 Griffith suggested that the low fracture strength observed in experiments, as well as the size-
dependence of strength, was due to the presence of microscopic flaws in the bulk material.
Griffith observed that to introduce a crack into an elastically stressed body one would have to balance the
decrease in potential energy (due to the release of stored elastic energy and the work done by external loads)
and the increase in surface energy resulting from the presence of the crack which creates new surfaces. Recall,
that surface energy arises from the non-equilibrium configuration of atoms at any surface of a solid. Likewise
he reasoned that an existing crack would grow by some increment if the necessary surface energy was
supplied to the system.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
According to the First law of thermodynamics, when a system goes from a non- equilibrium state to
equilibrium, there will be a net decrease in energy. In 1920 Griffith applied this idea to the formation of crack.
To that end, suppose that the crack is formed by the sudden annihilation of the tractions acting on its surface.
At the same instant, the strain and thus the potential energy possess their original values. But in general, this
new state is not in equilibrium. It is not a state of equilibrium, then, by the theorem of minimum of potential
energy, the potential energy must be reduced by the attainment of equilibrium. If it is a state of equilibrium the
energy does not change. Therefore, a crack can form (or an existing crack can grow) only if such a process
causes the total energy to decrease or remain constant. Thus the critical condition for the fracture can be
defined as the point at which crack growth occurs under equilibrium conditions.
Consider an infinite plate of unit thickness containing a through thickness central crack of length 2a. A given
crack length will be in equilibrium with a specified values of externally applied loads. The Griffith energy
balance in the crack area under equilibrium can be expressed as.
--------------- (1)
Work done gradually by external forces (due to crack)
Strain Energy:
For linear elastic material under stress the SE/unit volume is given by the area under S-S curve
Work done: In a stressed body. If crack propagation then part of stored S.E is released.
Major area of the plate when the SE released may be taken as parabola on either side.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Surface energy:
As crack contain two surfaces & each surface has same energy.
Sub all the values in (1)
The Griffith criteria can be stated as rate of change of P.E w.r.to half crack length.
 The crack is in equilibrium
Where
a Half crack length

 Surface energy
E Young’s modulus
For plane strain
Here E are the material properties. The RHS of the above equation is equal to constant. The LHS of the
equation has been designated as energy release rate (G) i.e. & represents elastic energy / unit crack surface
area i.e. available for infinite small crack extension. The RHS of the equation represents the material
resistance to crack extension. (Crack resistance –R) (G is also called driving force)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Griffith's theory provides excellent agreement with experimental data for brittle materials such as glass. For
ductile materials such as steel, the surface energy (γ) predicted by Griffith's theory is usually unrealistically
high. A group working under G. R. Irwin at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) during World War II
realized that plasticity must play a significant role in the fracture of ductile materials.
Griffith’s verification experiment
Glass fibers with artificial cracks (much larger than natural crack-like flaws), tension tests.
Comparison of the Fracture Mechanics Approach to Design with the traditional Strength of Materials
Approach
 In the traditional approach to design and material selection a material is assumed to be adequate, if its
strength (yield or ultimate) is greater than the maximum allowed stress. This approach may guard
against brittle fracture by imposing a safety factor on stress, combined with minimum tensile
elongation requirements of material.
 The Fracture Mechanics approach has three important variables as seen in the figure below.
 Fracture Mechanics quantifies the critical combinations of these three variables.
 There are two alternative approaches to Fracture Analysis: The energy release rate criterion and the
Stress Intensity Factor criterion. These two are equivalent in certain circumstances.
Fig (a)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fig (b)
(a) The strength of materials approach and (b) the fracture mechanics approach.
Fracture Mechanics approach to design:

These are two approaches to fracture analysis.
1) Energy criteria approach
2) S.I.F approach
1. Energy Criteria Approach:

The energy approach states that a crack extension occurs when the energy available for crack growth is
subjected to overcome the resistance of the material. The material resistance may include the surface energy,
plastic work on the pr energy dissipation associated with a propagation crack i.e. Griffith was the first
to propose energy criterion for fracture. Energy release rate ‘G’ is defined as the rate of change of P.E with
crack area for a linear elastic material. At the moment of fracture , the critical energy release rate which
is a measure of fracture toughness.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Figure: Energy versus crack length showing strain energy released and surface energy required as crack length
increases for a uniformly applied stress
For a crack length 2a in an infinite plate subjected to stress as shown in fig.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
2. Stress intensity Factor approach
According to Griffith, crack extension criteria is based on energy principles Irwin interpreted the stress field
near a crack tip at fracture as a means of characterizing the resistance of a material to crack propagation.
The expression for the stress field near a crack tip for mode I is given as
KI mainly depends on the loading configuration & geometry of the system.

The SIF may be expressed as _________ (2)
Where is the geometric factor ‘ ’ with a characteristic dimension of the specimen
The principle of S.I.F approach is that at the beginning of cracking the stress field near crack tip is constant
(In other words, whatever the geometry & loading configuration of a specimen, a stress field near a crack tip
is always the same at the fracture.)
The equation (2) at fracture takes form
Is called critical S.I.F and is also called fracture toughness.

[ Is inversely proportional to the ]
TIME-DEPENDENT CRACK GROWTH AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE:
Fracture mechanics often plays a role in life prediction of components that are subject to time-dependent crack
growth mechanisms such as fatigue or stress corrosion cracking. The rate of cracking can be correlated with fracture
mechanics parameters such as the stress-intensity factor, and the critical crack size for failure can be computed if the
fracture toughness is known.
For example, the fatigue crack growth rate in metals can usually be described by the following empirical
relationship:
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Where the crack growth per cycle, ΔK is is the stress-intensity range, and C and m are material constants.
Damage tolerance, as its name suggests, entails allowing subcritical flaws to remain in a structure. Repairing
flawed material or scrapping a flawed structure is expensive and is often unnecessary. Fracture mechanics provides
a rational basis for establishing flaw tolerance limits.
Consider a flaw in a structure that grows with time (e.g., a fatigue crack or a stress corrosion crack) as illustrated
schematically in Figure. The initial crack size is inferred from nondestructive examination (NDE), and the
critical crack size is computed from the applied stress and fracture toughness. Normally, an allowable flaw size
would be defined by dividing the critical size by a safety factor. The predicted service life of the structure can
then be inferred by calculating the time required for the flaw to grow from its initial size to the maximum
allowable size.
Examples time dependent crack growth include fatigue, environmental-assisted cracking, creep growth and
viscoelastic crack growth.
Effect of material properties on fracture
Figure 1.11 shows a simplified family tree for the field of fracture mechanics. Most of the early work was
applicable only to linear elastic materials under quasistatic conditions, while subsequent advances in fracture
research incorporated other types of material behavior. Elastic-plastic fracture mechanics considers plastic
deformation under quasistatic conditions, while dynamic, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic fracture mechanics
include time as a variable. A dashed line is drawn between linear elastic and dynamic fracture mechanics
because some early research considered dynamic linear elastic behavior. Elastic-plastic, viscoelastic, and
viscoplastic fracture behavior are sometimes included in the more general heading of nonlinear fracture
mechanics. The branch of fracture mechanics one should apply to a particular problem obviously depends on
material behavior.
Consider a cracked plate that is loaded to failure. Figure below shows a schematic plot of failure stress vs.
fracture toughness Kk. For low toughness materials, brittle fracture is the governing mechanism, and critical
stress varies linearly with KIc.. At very high toughness values, LEFM is no longer valid, and failure is
governed by the flow properties of the material. At intermediate toughness levels, there is a transition between
brittle fracture under linear elastic conditions and ductile overload. Nonlinear fracture mechanics bridges the
gap between LEFM and collapse. If toughness is low, LEFM is applicable to the problem, but if toughness is
sufficiently high, fracture mechanics ceases to be relevant to the problem because failure stress is insensitive
FRACTURE MECHANICS
to toughness; a simple limit load analysis is all that is required to predict failure stress in a material with very
high fracture toughness.
Table lists various materials, together with the typical fracture regime for each material.
Typical Fracture Behavior of Selected Materials3

Material Typical Fracture Behavior
High strength steel Linear Elastic
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Low- and medium-strength steel Elastic-Plastic/'Fully Plastic

Austenitic stainless steel Fully Plastic
Precipitation-hardened aluminum Linear Elastic
Metals at high temperatures Viscoplastic
Metals at high strain rates Dynamic / Viscoplastic
Polymers (below Ta3)b Linear Elastic / Viscoelastic
Polymers (above Tg)h Viscoelastic
Monolithic ceramics Linear Elastic
Ceramic composites Linear Elastic
Ceramics at high tempera ture3 Viscoelastic
a
T Temperature is ambient unless otherwise specified.
b
Tg—Glass transition temperature.
Fracture toughness is an indication of the amount of stress required to propagate a preexisting flaw. It is a very
important material property since the occurrence of flaws is not completely avoidable in the processing,
fabrication, or service of a material/component. Flaws may appear as cracks, voids, metallurgical inclusions,
weld defects, design discontinuities, or some combination thereof. Since engineers can never be totally sure
that a material is flaw free, it is common practice to assume that a flaw of some chosen size will be present in
some number of components and use the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach to design critical
components. This approach uses the flaw size and features, component geometry, loading conditions and the
material property called fracture toughness to evaluate the ability of a component containing a flaw to resist
fracture.
A parameter called the stress-intensity factor (K) is used to determine the fracture toughness of most
materials. A Roman numeral subscript indicates the mode of fracture and the three modes of fracture are
illustrated in the image to the right. Mode I fracture is the condition in which the crack plane is normal to the
direction of largest tensile loading. This is the most commonly encountered mode and, therefore, for the
remainder of the material we will consider KI
The stress intensity factor is a function of loading, crack size, and structural geometry. The stress intensity
factor may be represented by the following equation.
KI = σ√πaβ
Where: KI is the fracture toughness in MPa √m

σ: is the applied stress in MPa or psi
a: is the crack length in meters or inches
is a crack length and component geometry factor that is different for
β:
each specimen and is dimensionless
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Role of Material Thickness
Specimens having standard proportions but different absolute size produce different values for K I. This results
because the stress states adjacent to the flaw changes with the specimen thickness (B) until the thickness
exceeds some critical dimension. Once the thickness exceeds the critical dimension, the value of KI becomes
relatively constant and this value, KIC, is a true material property which is called the plane-strain fracture
toughness. The relationship between stress intensity, KI, and fracture toughness, KIC, is similar to the
relationship between stress and tensile stress. The stress intensity, K I, represents the level of “stress” at the tip
of the crack and the fracture toughness, KIC, is the highest value of stress intensity that a material under very
specific (plane-strain) conditions that a material can withstand without fracture. As the stress intensity factor
reaches the KIC value, unstable fracture occurs. As with a material’s other mechanical properties, K IC is
commonly reported in reference books and other sources.
Plane-Strain and Plane-Stress
When a material with a crack is loaded in tension, the materials develop plastic strains as the yield stress is
exceeded in the region near the crack tip. Material within the crack tip stress field, situated close to a free
surface, can deform laterally (in the z-direction of the image) because there can be no stresses normal to the
free surface. The state of stress tends to biaxial and the material fractures in a characteristic ductile manner,
with a 45oshear lip being formed at each free surface. This condition is called “plane-stress" and it occurs in
relatively thin bodies where the stress through the thickness cannot vary appreciably due to the thin section.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Plane Strain - a condition of a body in which the displacements of all points in the body are parallel to a
given plane, and the values of theses displacements do not depend on the distance perpendicular to the
plane
Plane Stress – a condition of a body in which the state of stress is such that two of the principal stresses
are always parallel to a given plane and are constant in the normal direction.
However, material away from the free surfaces of a relatively thick component is not free to deform laterally
as it is constrained by the surrounding material. The stress state under these conditions tends to tri-axial and
there is zero strain perpendicular to both the stress axis and the direction of crack propagation when a material
is loaded in tension. This condition is called “plane-strain” and is found in thick plates. Under plane-strain
conditions, materials behave essentially elastic until the fracture stress is reached and then rapid fracture
occurs. Since little or no plastic deformation is noted, this mode fracture is termed brittle fracture.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Plane-Strain Fracture Toughness Testing
When performing a fracture toughness test, the most common test specimen configurations are the single edge
notch bend (SENB or three-point bend), and the compact tension (CT) specimens. From the above discussion,
it is clear that an accurate determination of the plane-strain fracture toughness requires a specimen whose
thickness exceeds some critical thickness (B). Testing has shown that plane-strain conditions generally prevail
when:
is the minimum thickness that produces a condition where plastic

Where: B
strain energy at the crack tip in minimal
KIC is the fracture toughness of the material
σy is the yield stress of material
When a material of unknown fracture toughness is tested, a specimen of full material section thickness is
tested or the specimen is sized based on a prediction of the fracture toughness. If the fracture toughness value
resulting from the test does not satisfy the requirement of the above equation, the test must be repeated using a
thicker specimen. In addition to this thickness calculation, test specifications have several other requirements
that must be met (such as the size of the shear lips) before a test can be said to have resulted in a K IC value.
When a test fails to meet the thickness and other test requirement that are in place to insure plane-strain
condition, the fracture toughness values produced is given the designation KIC. Sometimes it is not possible to
produce a specimen that meets the thickness requirement. For example when a relatively thin plate product
FRACTURE MECHANICS
with high toughness is being tested, it might not be possible to produce a thicker specimen with plain-strain
conditions at the crack tip.
Plane-Stress and Transitional-Stress States
For cases where the plastic energy at the crack tip is not negligible, other fracture mechanics parameters, such
as the J integral or R-curve, can be used to characterize a material. The toughness data produced by these
other tests will be dependent on the thickness of the product tested and will not be a true material property.
However, plane-strain conditions do not exist in all structural configurations and using KIC values in the
design of relatively thin areas may result in excess conservatism and a weight or cost penalty. In cases where
the actual stress state is plane-stress or, more generally, some intermediate- or transitional-stress state, it is
more appropriate to use J integral or R-curve data, which account for slow, stable fracture (ductile tearing)
rather than rapid (brittle) fracture.
Uses of Plane-Strain Fracture Toughness

KIC values are used to determine the critical crack length when a given stress is applied to a component.
Where: σc is the critical applied stress that will cause failure

KIC is the plane-strain fracture toughness
Y is a constant related to the sample's geometry
a is the crack length for edge cracks or one half crack length for internal crack
KIC values are used also used to calculate the critical stress value when a crack of a given length is found in a
component.
is the crack length for edge cracks or one half crack length for
Where: a
internal crack
σ is the stress applied to the material
KIC is the plane-strain fracture toughness
Y is a constant related to the sample's geometry
FRACTURE MECHANICS
PROBLEMS
1. In a ceramic material, a surface flaw 50 micron long lying normal to the direction in which stress was active E
= 350 GN/m2, surface energy 24 J/m2, calculate the fracture stress for the material?
Sol:
Data
2a = 90 µm
a = 45x10-6 m
= 24 J/m2
2. A large plate of glass is subjected to a tensile stress of 40 MPa. If the specific surface energy & modulus of
elasticity of glass 0.3 J/m2 & 69 GPa respectively. Determine the max length of crack surface that will result in a
fracture.
Sol: Data
2a = 16.4 µm = 16.4×10-4 m
3) A pipe is made of steel with E = 2.06 x 10 11 N/m2 & surface energy 1.1 J /m2. Calculate the critical half-length
of Griffith crack for f =6.2 MN/m2. Assume all supplied energy is used for formation of the fracture surface.
Sol:
Data
a = 3.75x10-3 m
= 1.1 J/m2
4. Calculate the fracture strength of steam plate containing a central 25.mm crack, loaded perpendicular to the
crack plane. Assume E1= 207GPa & surface energy 2J/m2
Data
2a = 2.5×10-3 mm
a = 1.25x10-3 m
= 2 J/m2
FRACTURE MECHANICS
5. Fig shows a sheet of glass containing a small crack (or) slip as indicated. A mass of 500kg induces a tensile stress
in the sheet & it is assumes that any effect of mass of glass is included in the 500kg. Assume E = 60 GPa, surface
energy 0.5J/m2. Calculate the length of slit. How the applied stress does is compared with fracture strength of 170
MPa.
Sol:
Data Applied Stress
=0.5J/m2
a = 1.27×10-4 m
6. A diamond of depth 0.1cm is introduced on the transverse direction in mid-length of a rectangular specimen as
shown in figure. Assume E = 68Gpa, = 2J/m2 , and Poisson’s ratio = 0.25 determine the central load necessary to
fracture.
Sol:
Data
a = 0.1 Cm
= 2 J/m2
FRACTURE MECHANICS
7. A flat plate with a through-thickness crack figure is subject to a 100 MPa tensile stress and has a
fracture toughness (KIc ) of 50.0 MPa. Determine the critical crack length for this plate, assuming the
material is linear elastic. Compute the critical energy release rate (Gc) of the material by taking
E=207,000 MPa.
Solution:
Difference Toughness and Fracture Toughness
Toughness: It is property which enables material to be twist, bend (or) Stretched under a sudden impact
(or) under a high stress before rupture. The measure of toughness is the amount of energy that the unit
volume of material has absorbed after being stressed up to the point. Toughness is defined as ability of
smooth member (un-notched member) to absorb energy when loaded slowly.
Fracture toughness:
It is material resistance to crack propagation denoted by KIC. It depends on material, Strain Rate,
Environment (temperature) Thickness & too large extent crack length. Fracture toughness KIC can be
obtained for material that exhibit limited Plasticity from tests using specimens with fatigue cracks with
knows ‘K’ expressions. Thus KIC represents the critical value of S.I.F for a given load. Crack length &
geometry required to cause fracture. Fracture toughness can be used to obtain critical crack size for
fracture under cyclic loading. It is seen that thin parts have high KIC value accompanied with “shear lips”
FRACTURE MECHANICS
(or) slant fracture. As the thickness increased the % of shear lips (or) slant fracture decreases & hence K IC
called mixed mode fracture.
Fracture toughness can also be influenced by effect of cracks tip geometry such as blunting, irregular
crack from a change in the mode of crack extension & branching. The mechanism of fracture such as
cleavage (or) microvoid coalescence also dictates to fracture toughness.
Fig. shows that, how changes in fracture toughness influenced the relationship between allowable nominal
stress & allowable crack.
  KIC  KIC is largely influenced on crack size than allowable stress
Explain the design philosophy bored on fracture toughness of material
1)
Fracture toughness KIC – Known,
Crack length / half crack length –known.
Stress, to be found, what maximum load it can withstand
2) KIC is known (material property, fixed)
Maximum load ‘’ known.
a-crack length to be found
3) Maximum load is known,
Crack length of member is known
KIC can be found by above formula
Modified Griffith’s Criteria:
FRACTURE MECHANICS
According to Griffith’s theory the fracture strength of material is given by

By _________ (1)
Griffith’s estimated good experimental result for brittle materials like glass (ideal brittle material) but for
ductile it’s seriously under estimated the fracture strength of materials. Irwin & Orwan are independently
modified equation (1) account for material that is capable of plastic flow.
_________ (2)
Where - plastic work/unit area of surface created. (Typically much more than rs)
In brittle materials the crack propagation is merely by breaking of atomic bond, where ‘ ’reflect total
energy of broken bonds per unit area but when a crack propagation in metal (Ductile) the dislocation
motion occurs in vicinity of crack tip, resulting in additional energy distribution (2) can be written as
Wf  Fracture Energy which includes plastic, Visco-Plastic type depends upon material.
Practical uses of fracture mechanics

Fracture mechanics is a study of failure of material under the assumption crack is already exists in
martial’s.
 Analysis of components which have cracks may be manmade such as hole, a notch, a slot, a re-
entrant corner etc.
 Analysis cracks May appear due to manufacturing defects like slag inclusion, cracks in a
weldment or heat affected zones due to uneven cooling, presence of foreign particles.
 A crack is inspected & maintained to its critical length during the service of the component.
 Development of fracture mechanics helps the designer to understand the fatigue failure & use
much lower factor of safety. Thus reducing cost of structural components & also its weight.
 Other kind of failure like creep, Environmental Degradation Wear etc. also studied under
fracture mechanics concepts.
NDT Methods
NDT Applications and Limitations
Non-destructive testing (NDT) are non-invasive techniques to determine the integrity of a material,
component or structure or quantitatively measure some characteristic of an material. In contrast to destructive
testing, NDT is an assessment without doing harm, stress or destroying the test component. The destruction of
the test component usually makes destructive testing more costly and it is also inappropriate in many
circumstances.
NDT plays a crucial role in ensuring cost effective operation, safety and reliability of plant, with resultant
benefit to the community. NDT is used in a wide range of industrial areas and is used at almost any stage in
FRACTURE MECHANICS
the production or life cycle of many components. The mainstream applications are in aerospace, power
generation, automotive, railway, petrochemical and pipeline markets. NDT of welds is one of the most used
applications. It is very difficult to weld or mould a solid object that has no risk of breaking in service, so
testing at manufacture and during use is often essential.
While originally NDT was applied only for safety reasons it is today widely accepted as cost saving technique
in the quality assurance process. Unfortunately NDT is still not used in many areas where human life or
ecology is in danger. Some may prefer to pay the lower costs of claims after an accident than applying of
NDT. That is a form of unacceptable risk management. Disasters like the railway accident in Eschede
Germany in 1998 is only one example, there are many others.
For implementation of NDT it is important to describe what shall be found and what to reject. A completely
flawless production is almost never possible. For this reason testing specifications are indispensable.
Nowadays there exists a great number of standards and acceptance regulations. They describe the limit
between good and bad conditions, but also often which specific NDT method has to be used.
The reliability of an NDT Method is an essential issue. But a comparison of methods is only significant if it is
referring to the same task. Each NDT method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages and, therefore,
some are better suited than others for a particular application. By use of artificial flaws, the threshold of the
sensitivity of a testing system has to be determined. If the sensitivity is to low defective test objects are not
always recognized. If the sensitivity is too high parts with smaller flaws are rejected which would have been
of no consequence to the serviceability of the component. With statistical methods it is possible to look closer
into the field of uncertainly. Methods such as Probability of Detection (POD) or the ROC-method "Relative
Operating Characteristics" are examples of the statistical analysis methods. Also the aspect of human errors
has to be taken into account when determining the overall reliability.
Personnel qualification is an important aspect of non-destructive evaluation. NDT techniques rely heavily on
human skill and knowledge for the correct assessment and interpretation of test results. Proper and adequate
training and certification of NDT personnel is therefore a must to ensure that the capabilities of the techniques
are fully exploited.
The nine most common NDT Methods are shown below. Besides the main NDT methods a lot of other NDT
techniques are available, such as Shearography, Holography, Microwave and many more and new methods
are being constantly researched and developed.
NDT Method Applications Limitations
Liquid Penetrant  used on nonporous materials  need access to test surface

 can be applied to welds, tubing,  defects must be surface breaking
brazing, castings, billets, forgings,  decontamination & precleaning of
aluminum parts, turbine blades and test surface may be needed
disks, gears  vapour hazard
 very tight and shallow defects
difficult to find
 depth of flaw not indicated
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Magnetic Particle  ferromagnetic materials  detection of flaws limited by field

 surface and slightly subsurface strength and direction
flaws can be detected  needs clean and relatively smooth
 can be applied to welds, tubing, surface
bars, castings, billets, forgings,  some holding fixtures required for
extrusions, engine components, some magnetizing techniques
shafts and gears  test piece may need
demagnetization which can be
difficult for some shapes and
magnetizations
 depth of flaw not indicated
Eddy Current  metals, alloys and electro  requires customized probe

conductors  although non-contacting it requires
 sorting materials close proximity of probe to part
 surface and slightly subsurface  low penetration (typically 5mm)
flaws can be detected  false indications due to
 used on tubing, wire, bearings, uncontrolled parametric variables
rails, nonmetal coatings, aircraft
components, turbine blades and
disks, automotive transmission
shafts
Ultrasonics  metals, nonmetals and composites  usually contacting, either direct or

 surface and slightly subsurface with intervening medium required
flaws can be detected (e.g. immersion testing)
 can be applied to welds, tubing,  special probes are required for
joints, castings, billets, forgings, applications
shafts, structural components,  sensitivity limited by frequency
concrete, pressure vessels, aircraft used and some materials cause
and engine components significant scattering
 used to determine thickness and  scattering by test material structure
mechanical properties can cause false indications
 monitoring service wear and  not easily applied to very thin
deterioration materials
Radiography Neutron  metals, nonmetals, composites and  access for placing test piece
mixed materials between source and detectors
 used on pyrotechnics, resins,  size of neutron source housing is
plastics, organic material, very large (reactors) for reasonable
honeycomb structures, radioactive source strengths
material, high density materials,  collimating, filtering or otherwise
and materials containing hydrogen modifying beam is difficult
 radiation hazards
 cracks must be oriented parallel to
beam for detection
FRACTURE MECHANICS
 sensitivity decreases with

increasing thickness
Radiography X-ray  metals, nonmetals, composites and  access to both sides of test piece
mixed materials needed
 used on all shapes and forms;  voltage, focal spot size and
castings, welds, electronic exposure time critical
assemblies, aerospace, marine and  radiation hazards
automotive components  cracks must be oriented parallel to
beam for detection
 sensitivity decreases with
increasing thickness
Radiography Gamma  usually used on dense or thick  radiation hazards

material  cracks must be oriented parallel to
 used on all shapes and forms; beam for detection
castings, welds, electronic  sensitivity decreases with
assemblies, aerospace, marine and increasing thickness
automotive components  access to both sides of test piece
 used where thickness or access needed
limits X-ray generators  not as sensitive as X-rays
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Module 2: Plasticity Effects

SYLLABUS
Plasticity effects, Irwin plastic zone correction. Dug dale approach. The shape of the plastic zone for plane
stress and plane strain cases, Plastic constraint factor. The Thickness Effect, Numerical Problems.
Determination of Stress Intensity Factors and Plane Strain Fracture Toughness, Introduction, Analysis and
Numerical Methods, Experimental Methods, Estimation of Stress Intensity Factors. Plane Strain Fracture
Toughness Test, the Standard Test. Size Requirements, Non-Linearity, Applicability.
Relation between energy release rate (G) & S.I.F (KI)
The two parameters that describe the behavior of crack are the energy release rate and S.I.F. The first parameter
quantifies the met change in P.E that accompanies an increment of crack extension, the second parameter characterize the
stress, strains & displacements near the crack tip. The energy release rate describes global behavior while ‘K’ is a local
parameter. For a plate we can write ‘G’ & KI equation as
--------------------- (1)
----------------------------------- (2)
Where
G Rate of change of P.E with a crack area for a linear elastic material
KI It characterizes the crack tip condition in a linear elastic material.
Form (2) ----------------- (3)
----------------------------------- (4)
At fracture, G = GC & KI = KIC

For linear elastic fracture mechanics, the energy approach & stress intensity approach are equal. Thus the G-KI
relationship for both plane stress & plane strain are given by
FRACTURE MECHANICS
E1 = E Plane stress
Plane strain
IRWIN’S PLASTICS ZONE CORRECTION
Figure. First-order and second-order estimates of plastic zone size (rv and dr, respectively). The cross-hatched area
represents load that must be redistributed, resulting in a larger plastic zone.
First order & second order estimates of plastic zone size (ry & rp). The hatched area represents load that must
be redistributed in a larger plastic zone.
r
p
According to the stress field a stress singularity exists at the tip of an elastic crack. In practice, materials tend
to exhibit a yield stress, above which they deform plastically. This means that there is always a region around
the tip of a metal, where plastic deformation occurs and hence a stress singularity cannot exist. This plastic
region is known as the crack tip plastic zone.
Irwin suggested a vastly improved expression for the plastic zone size through a model which accounts for the
absence of high stresses within the yield zone. For plane stress condition yielding occurs when
and is given by the equation.
-------------------------- (1)
Now solving for ‘ry’ gives first order estimates of plastic zone
------------------------------- (2)
The hatched region in figure represents forces that would be present in an elastic material but cannot be
carried in the elastic plastic material because the stress cannot exceed yield. The plastic zone must increase in
size in order to accommodate these forces. A simple force balance leads to second order estimates of the
plastic zone size rp.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Squaring on both sides
-------------------------- (3) Which is twice as large as ry. The first order estimated.
Irwin accounted that increase in ‘K’ by defining an effective crack length that is slightly longer than the actual
crack size. He found that a good approximation of Keff can be obtained by placing the tip of the effective
crack in the centre of the plastic zone as shown in fig (2). Thus the effective crack length is defined as the sum
of the actual crack size & a plastic zone correction
-------------------- (4)
The effective stress intensity is obtained by inserting aeff in to the ‘K’ expression for the geometry of interest.
Since the effect crack size is taken into account in the geometry correction factor ‘C’.
The effective mode I, stress intensity factor for a crack in an infinite plate in plane stress is given by.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Dugdale Approach of the plastic zone (Strip yield model)
A different approach to find the extent of the plastic zone was followed by the Dugdale & Baren blatt. They
assumed a long slender plastic zone at the crack tip in ‘a’ non-hardening material in plane stress. The strip
yield plastic zone is modeled by assuming a crack of length 2a +2ρ, where ‘ρ’ is the length of the plastic zone,
with a closure stress equal to apply at each crack tip.
This mode is in approximately elastic plastic behavior super imposing two elastic solutions. ‘a’ through crack
under remote tension & ‘ρ’ through crack with closure stresses at tip. Thus the strip yield model is a classical
application of the principle of super position. Since the stresses are finite in the strip yield zone, there cannot
be a stress singularity at crack tip. Therefore the leading term in the crack tip field that varies with must be
zero. The plastic zone length ‘ρ’ must be chosen such that the stress intensity factors from the remote Tension
& closure stress cancel one another.
The stress intensity for the two crack tip is given by.
, -------------------- (1)
Assuming the plate of unit thickness. The closure force at a point within the strip yield zone is equal to
Thus the total stress intensity at crack tip resulting from closure stresses is obtained by replacing ‘a’ with a+ρ in eqn (1)
and assuming the contribution from both crack tip is
By solving
By Solving integral we get
------------------ (2)
The stress intensity from the remote stress is given by

Must balance with
FRACTURE MECHANICS
----------------------- (3)
Let us explore the strip yield model by performing the Taylor series expansion
Neglect the higher order terms & solve for the plastic zone size gives
------------------ (4)
The effective stress intensity with strip yield model is given by
But from Eqn (3)
Plastic Zone Shape [Plane Stress & Plane Strain]
The estimates of plastic zone size that have been considered only in (x – direction) the crack plane (Ө = 0) It is possible
to estimate the extent of plasticity at all angles’ by applying an appropriate yield criteria, consider the von-misses Eqn
(Or)
--------------- (1)
Where is the effective stress and are the 3 principal stresses, According to von – misses’ criteria, yielding
occurs when the uniaxial yield strength. For Plane Stress & Plane Strain condition.
The principal can be computed from the 2D Mohr’s circle relationship
------------------------------- (2)
For plane stress 3 =0, & plane strain

Sub the mode I, stress fields into Eqn (2), gives.
----------------------- (3)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
By sub equation (1) e = ys & solving for ‘r’ we obtain estimates of Mode I, plastic zone radius as a function of ‘’
Equation (4) which are plotted as shown in Fig. Define the approximate foundry b/w elastic & plastic behavior. Equation
(4) is not strictly correct because they are based on purely elastic analysis.
Crack tip plastic zone shapes estimated for the elastic solution & yield criteria (Von-Misses)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Plastic zone shapes according to Tresca
If Tresca yield criteria is used, the plastic zone shapes turns out to be slightly different. From Mohr’s
circles it is found that maximum shear stress in the plane stress equation. And in the plane strain
Whichever is Maximum?
By using equation,
The mode I, stress fields into Eqn (2), gives.
-------------------
---- (3)
The Tresca yield zone is found as
Based on the above equations the Tresca plastic zone is of the shape as shown in fig.
Plastic constraint factor (PCF)

The plane strain zone is significantly smaller than the plane stress plastic zone. This is a result of fact that the
effective yield stress in plane strain is larger than the uniaxial yield stress. The maximum stress in the plane
strain zone can be as high as three times the uniaxial yield stress.
The ratio of max stress to the yield stress is called P.C.F.

The quantity PCF x ys can be considered as an effective yield stress. The PCF for the plane strain crack
problem can be estimated as follows.
The von-misses equation can be written as
 2 = n 1 =  3 = m 1
Which can be re-arranged to P.C.F

------------------------- (1)
Equation (1) enables the calculation, of the P.C.F at any location of the crack tip region.
From the stress field equations, it follows that and
By taking , The PCF = 3
FRACTURE MECHANICS
For the stress n = 1, m=0 & PCF =1
The stress y on the plane in plane strain can be high as 3 times yield stress. In plane strain case the stress
raises quickly from ys at crack tip to 3ys at a short distance from the crack. This is confirmed by F.E.A
calculations.
The Thickness Effect (Plane Stress v/s Plane Strain)
The plat thickness largely affects the state of stress at the crack tip. The effect of thickness on fracture
toughness is done by the experiment using hardened ‘Al’ alloy (7075 – T6). To investigate the way in which
toughness might be affected by the thickness of specimen tested. The results are indicated below. The fracture
profile & stress displaced curves for region A, B & C as shown below. The fracture are classified as slant
fracture & square fracture up to the end of the region (A) the fracture is completely slant & in the thick
specimen (region C) the fracture is almost square & for the specimen of intermediate thickness the fracture is
mixed mode.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
In Region ‘A’ specimens are very then & tend to slow the increasing toughness with thickness & load.
Displacement curve is linear up to fracture & fracture profile is 100% slant. The state of stress is essentially
that of plane stress.
Region ‘B’ (Intermediate Mode)

In this region the fracture behavior is more complicated. The specimen is neither, so thin that the failure
occurs by sliding–off Mechanism observed in region ‘A’ nor so thick that it fails almost completely plane
strain square fracture. Its thickness is such that the central & edge regions are of compactable size. The load
on a cracked specimen is raised to a value y at which some square fracture from in the center of the test
specimen (thickness).
Region ‘C’ (Fracture in Thick Plate)

In this the total instability occurs at loads corresponding to virtually constant toughness values & fracture
appearance is almost completely square with very small portion of slants at the edges. We assume that central
region of thick test piece deforms under approximately plane strain condition & strain in z-direction is zero &
yielding occurs along the crack tip, high constraints are built up & ultimately Tri-axial state of stress develops.
This state of stress enhances the imitation of fracture.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
3D plastic zone
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Plastic zone sizes:
PROBLEMS
1. A wide sheet of ‘Al-’ alloy has a central crack of 25 mm long. If the Fracture Stress for the sheet is 20 MPa & y
= 400 MPa. Calculate the KIc of the material using LEFM & plastic zone correction.
Given Data :
2a = 25 mm = 0.025m (i) LEFM
f = 200 MPa (ii) Plastic zone correction
y = 400 MPa
2. Calculate the allowable crack size in an infinite plate of MERGING steel subjected to nominal stress of 300
MPa Assume
Given Data :
a=? Critical SIF
 = 400 MPa ac = 0.0173 m
FRACTURE MECHANICS
3. A large plate under uniform stress at 130MPa, develops instability at critical S.I.F 60 , what is the
corresponding crack length?
Given Data :
y = 130 MPa
4. What is the influence of state of stress on the size of the plastic zone?
Where
In the above equation the plastic zone is directly proportional the square of applied stress &
crack length.
As the applied stress increases the plastic zone size also increases.
5. A large plate (ys = 350 MPa) of thickness 5 mm has a central crack of 2a = 40 mm length is subjected to stress
of 150 MPa. Determine S.I.F & the effective crack length using Irwin’s correction.
Given Data : Assuming the plate is loaded in plane stress.
2a = 40 mm = 0.04 m
 = 150 MPa
ys = 350 MPa Since rp is not much smaller than the plastic thickness, plane stress may be assumed.
The plastic zone size is given by
The effective crack length is
6. A Flat Plate with a through thickness crack is subjected to 100 MPa Tensile Stress & has a Fracture Toughness
of 50 . Determine the critical crack length for this plate, assuming the material is linear elastic & also
complete the critical energy release rate GC. Take E = 207 GPa
Given Data :
ac = ? Critical Crack Length in SIF
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Gc = ? ac = 0.0795 m
Critical Energy Release Rate GC
f = 100 MPa
Determination of S.I.F and Plane Strain Fracture Toughness
Introduction:
One of the principle of fracture mechanics is that unstable fracture occurs when S.I.F at the crack tip (K)
reaches critical value for Mode I deformation & for small crack tip Plastic Deformation (Plane Strain) The
critical S.I.F fracture instability is designed as KIC. KIC represents the inherent ability of a material to
withstand a given stress field intensity at the tip of a crack to resist progressive tensile crack extension. Thus
KIC represents the fracture toughness of a particular material, whereas KI represents intensity in the load of a
sharp crack in any material.
In general KI should be kept below KIC times to prevent fracture in the design at all times to prevent fracture in
the design at all times to prevent fracture with flaws in the same manner that  < ys to prevent yielding in
the design of a member without flaws.
Thus to predict the growth of a crack in a component designer should know two values.
(i) SIF to predict the growth of a crack in a component designer should know two values.
(ii) Critical S.I.F determined through experiments for material of the component.
SIF of some common cases are listed below. In additional to this several hand books are available & the
designer may find SIF of an application under consideration (or) by through a numerical technique.
The critical value of the S.I.F at the moment of failure is given by

For a plate of finite size the formula becomes
Where, W - Plate width, the function has to be known before KIC can be determined.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
(Small Edge Crack 12%) (Quarter Elliptical Crack)

Experimental methods:
A fracture toughness test measures the resistance of a material to crack extension. Such a test may yield either
a single value of fracture toughness (or) a resistance curve. A verity of organizations throughout the world
published standardized procedures for fracture toughness measurements, including the ASIM (American
society for testing of materials), the British Standards Institutions (BSI) and Japan Society of mechanical
engineers (JSME). The first standards for K & J testing were developed by ASTM in 1970 & 1981
respectively, while BSI published the CTOD test method in 1979.
There are 5 types of specimen that are permitted in ASTM standards that characterize fracture initiation &
crack growth.
The standard specimens are
1) Compact Tension Specimen (CT)
2) Single Edge Notched Bend Specimen (SENB)
3) Arc Shaped Tension Specimen (AT)
4) Disc Shaped Compact Specimen (DC)
5) Middle Tension Specimen
Each specimen configuration has 3 important characteristics dimensions. The crack length ‘a’, the thickness
‘B’ & the width ‘W’, in most cases W=2B, & =0.5. The majority of fracture toughness tests are
performed on either CT (or) SENB specimens. The CT specimen geometry consumes less material but
requires extra material in the width direction due to holes. The SENB configuration is preferable for weldment
testing. AT Specimen is convenient for cylindrical geometry such as pressure vessel (or) piping D.C.
specimen is suitable for circular blanks, round bars etc.
Size Requirements (or) Testing Requirements

Specimen plate thickness ‘B’, crack length ‘a’ & width satisfy the following requirements.
If the values don’t meet the above requirement, then the test is invalid,
FRACTURE MECHANICS
The first condition is necessary to meet the foremost requirement that specimen must be loaded in plane
strain. The plastic zone is based on Irwin’s correction is close for plane strain.
If the specimen is designed to have a small crack length, the for field stress has to be high to develop large
enough SIF at the tip for the crack to grow. But large for field stress is undesirable because the analysis is
would not be accurate.
The third in equality is also justified because the free surface of lateral faces should be reasonably away from
the crack tip.
Experimental Determination of S.I.F (KIC) (or) KIC Test techniques
When a material behaves in linear elastic manner prior to failure such that the plastic zone is small compared
to specimen dimensions. A critical value of the S.I.F (KIC) may be appropriate fracture parameter. Standard
methods for KIC test include ASTM E-399& BS 5447. The ASTM standard E – 399 was first published in
1970 & has been revised several times. The title “standard Test method for plane strain fracture toughness of
metallic methods.”
Steps Involved in KIC Test Technique
1) Various Test specimen
2) Constraints on Specimen Dimensions
3) Fatigue Pre-Cracking
4) Load Displacement Test
5) Measuring Crack Length
6) Data Analysis.
1) Various Test Specimen:-

(i) CT specimen (ii) SENB (iii) Arc Shaped Tension Specimen (iv) DCT
Specimens for KIC tests are usually fabricated with the width, equal to twice the thickness ‘B’. They are
fatigue Pre-Cracking so that the crack length / width ratio lays b/w 0.45 to 0.55. Thus the specimen design
is such that all the critical dimensions a, B, w is approximately equal.
2) Constants on Specimen Dimensions:

The size requirements for a KIC are as follows.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
3) Fatigue Pre-Cracking:
During initial stages of fatigue Pre-Cracking the peak value of stress intensity in a single cycle, KMax
should be no longer than 0.8 KIC according to ASTM E-399. As the crack approaches its final size KMaxshould
be less than 0.6 KIC
4) Load Displacement Test:

A specimen is loaded to obtain load v/s crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD). CT, AT, &
DCT Specimen are pulled in a tensile machine to record load v/s CMOD relations.
Measurement of CMOD with a Clip Gauge

When a Pre-Cracking test specimen & loaded to failure, load & displacement are monitored. Three types of load –
displacement curves are shown in fig. The critical load PQ is defined in one of several ways, depending on the type of
curve. One must construct a 5% secant line [i.e. a line from the origin with a slope equal to 95% of initial elastic loading
slope] to determine Ps.
Three types of loads – displacement behavior in a KI test
In the case of type I, behavior, the load displacement curve is smooth & it deviates slightly from linearity before
ultimate failure at PMax. This non linearity can be caused by plasticity. For type I curve PQ=PS with a Type II curve a
small amount of unstable crack growth (Propagation) occurs before the curve elevates from linearity by 5%. In this case
Pa is defined at the Propagation. A Specimen that exhibits Type III behavior fails completely before achieving 5% non-
linearity, in such cases PQ = PMax
FRACTURE MECHANICS
5) Measuring crack length:

For accurate measurement of the crack length. It is recommended that the specimen is split into two have
by letting the crack run all the way by applying the load beyond the critical load. On split surface 3 kinds of
surface zones are observed (i) Machine Cut (ii) Fatigue Growth (iii) Surface produced through fracture during
the loading. The texture & reflectivity to an incident light of the fatigue area are much different from those of
the fractured surface & therefore 3 surface zones can be easily identified. The crack length is taken as
The test is rejected if any one of the 3 cracks length differs by more than 5% from ‘a’.
The test is also rejected if any part of the crack front of fatigue growth is close to the machined notch with in
0.005a (or) 1.3mm.
6) Data analysis:
Once PQ & crack length are determined a provisional factor toughness Ka is computed from the following
relationship.
For CT, AT & DCT specimen,
For SENB Specimen,
Where is a dimensionless function of . This function is given in polynomial form in the E399
standard for the four specimen tests.

The KQ value computed form (1) is a valid KIC result only if all validity requirements in the standard are met
including.
If the test meets all the requirements of ASTM E=399, then Ka = KIC
FRACTURE MECHANICS
STANDARD ASTM SPECIMENS
PROBLEMS
7. For a standard CT specimen, the S.I.F is given by calculate.
(i) KIC of the material if .

(ii) If calculate min thickness of specimen to give a valid KIC value.
The crack initiation load ‘P’ is 14.6 KN
Solution: (i)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
(ii)
8. Calculate the S.I.F for a rectangular for containing an edge crack loaded in 3 point bending. Applied
load is 50 KN. Width of Plate is 50.8 mm thickness of the plate is 25 mm,
Solution: S= 4W
P = 50KN,
B = 25 mm ,
W = 50.8 mm,
9. Calculate KI for a rectangular bar containing an edge crack loaded in three-point bending. P=35.0
kN; W= 50.8 mm; B= 25 mm; a/W = 0.2; S= 203 mm.
10. A large block of material is loaded to a stress of 345 MPa. If the fracture Toughness KIc is 44
MPa. Determine the critical radius of a buried penny shaped crack.
Solution:
At fracture KI=KIc
11. A material has a yield strength of 345 MPa and a fracture toughness of 110 MPa. Determine the
minimum specimen dimensions (B, a, W) required to perform a valid KIc test on this material,
according to ASTM E 399. Comment on the feasibility of testing a specimen of this size.
Solution:
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Testing such a large specimen would be impractical because

1. Machining costs would be very high
2. A very large machine would be required
3. Materials are usually not available in such large section thickness. Even if a section of sufficient size
could be produced, its metallurgical properties would not be representative of a thinner plate of the
same material.
Figure: Single-edge notch-bending specimen (also called three-point bending specimen) for fracture
toughness testing.
The fracture toughness of a specimen can also be determined using a three-point flexural test. The stress
intensity factor at the crack tip of a single edge notch bending specimen is
Where P is the applied load, B is the thickness of the specimen, a is the crack length, and W is the width
of the specimen. In a three-point bend test, a fatigue crack is created at the tip of the notch by cyclic
loading. The length of the crack is measured. The specimen is then loaded monotonically. A plot of the
load versus the crack opening displacement is used to determine the load at which the crack starts
growing. This load is substituted into the above formula to find the fracture toughness KIc
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Module 3: The Energy Release Rate

SYLLABUS
The Energy Release Rate, Criteria for Crack Growth, The Crack Resistance (R-curve), Compliance,
J-Integral, Tearing Modulus, Stability. Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics, Fracture beyond General Yield,
The Crack-Tip Opening Displacement, The Use of CTOD Criteria, Experimental Determination of CTOD,
Parameters Affecting the Critical CTOD, Use of J Integral, Limitation of J Integral.
Griffith's Energy Release Rate
Alan Arnold Griffith's energy-based analysis of cracks in 1920 is considered to be the birth of the field of
fracture mechanics. He was motivated by Inglis's linear elastic solution for stresses around an elliptical hole.
Which predicted that the stress level approached infinity as the ellipse flattened to form a crack.
Inglis's result had prompted much discussion concerning the fact that it could not be "correct" because no
material can support an infinite stress without yielding and failing. Therefore, everything should immediately
fail under even the smallest load if a crack were present. (But this obviously doesn't happen.) So Griffith
looked to propose an energy-based failure criterion that effectively side-stepped Inglis's infinite-stress
prediction, while nevertheless making direct use of his linear elastic solution. Griffith compared the work
required to break atomic bonds to the strain energy released as a crack grows.
The Energy Release Rate (G):

It is defined as the rate of change of potential energy with crack area for a linear elastic material. The energy
requirement for a crack grow per unit area extension is called crack resistance is denoted by ‘R’.
Figure: Cracked plate at a fixed load P
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Griffith stated that, crack propagation will take place if the energy released upon the crack growth is sufficient
to provide all that energy i.e. required for crack growth. Crack extension takes place when the energy
available for a crack growth is sufficient to overcome all the resistance of the material i.e.
We define ‘G’ is a energy release rate (which include either strain energy release rate (or) P.E release rate). It
is the energy released per unit extension of crack front per unit thickness of the body. Since ‘G’ is obtained
from the derivative of a potential it is called as crack extension force (or) crack driving force.
The energy release rate for a wide point in plane stress with a crack of length ‘2a’ is given by,
FRACTURE MECHANICS
However, if we consider the energy released only at one end of the crack then the crack front moves a distance “da” &
we have
At the moment of fracture G = Gc, the critical energy release rate, which is a measure of fracture toughness. The value of
‘G’ at fracture is called as critical energy release rate “G C”. For a brittle material the “GC” value is twice the
thermodynamic surface energy
Crack resistance curve (R-Curve)
The crack resistance ‘R’ is the energy required by the crack for unit increase in area. It characterizer the
material for most of the Engineering materials, crack resistance increases with crack length as shown in fig.
A min value ‘Ri’ is needed to make the crack grow. Cracks resistance depends on the plastic zone size. For a
large plastic size high energy is required to grow the crack because more material is subjected to plastic
deformation. The substantial portion of the energy is last eventually to the surroundings.
As the crack advance the plastic zone size becomes larger which in turn requires higher energy for crack
growth. The shape of R-Curve is not depending much on initial length of the crack for most of the engineering
materials. However R-Curve depends considerably on temperature & thickness of the plate. The dependence
on temperature is understandable because many properties (yield stress) depend on temperature. Dependence
of R-curve on plate thickness involves the geometrical parameter & makes it difficult to define toughness as
an intrinsic property of a material. Inherent (inside).
FRACTURE MECHANICS
R-cure for brittle material

In brittle material, the size of the plastic zone in the vicinity of the crack is negligible & even the growth of the
plastic zone is negligible as the crack advances. R-curve rises vertically at the given crack length & turns
horizontal line.
R-curve Analysis
Stable & Unstable crack growth
For a crack to energy release rate of a crack must be greater than the crack resistance of the material.
Consider large plate with a centre crack length ‘2a’ loaded in a mode I by stress .
W.K.T ‘G’ increases with increase in crack length as shown in fig. if stress 1 is small curve intersect (R) current below
(Ri) the crack will not propagate. If stress is further increased (2) just passes through Ri, the crack will not propagate. If
stress is further increases to 3, ‘G’ exceeds ‘R’ the crack likely to grow. For stable crack growth (crack grows slowly)
‘G’ must be > ‘R’. If the applied stress increases gradually point ‘B’ shifts to right. For stress y G-curve touches the R-
Curve which means “G” is higher for all crack lengths.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Mathematical Formulation
With an advancing crack, the following happens in general`
1) Strain energy in the component Decreases (or) Increases.
2) Stiffness of the component Decreases.
3) The points of the component, at which external loads are applied, may (or) may not move, work is
being done on the component by these forces if the points move.
4) Energy is being consumed to create two new surfaces.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Formulation for energy release rate is carried out by invoking the conservation of energy. Consider the case of
an incremental increase in the crack area A (Crack area is defined as the projected area of the crack). To
cause this crack growth an incremental external work done “w” by the external forces & the strain energy
within the body is u, then the allowable energy ‘G A’ Provides the energy balance as follows,
Eqn (1) is used for evaluating the energy release rate

(G is always +ve for a crack studied for its probable growth).
In many engineering applications, fracture mechanics is applied to plates of uniform thickness & then crack area A can
be expressed as B.a.
The Eqn (1) is modified as
Change in Compliance Approach

In a component with a crack, decrease in stiffness with increasing crack length may be simple to
visualize but in FM it is easier to deal with compliance which is inverse of stiffness. Thus compliance of a
body increases with the increase in the crack length
Where ‘K’ is the stiffness of the body & ‘C’ is the compliance the object is to find the energy release rate ‘G’
in terms of change of compliance w.r.to crack length “a”
The ‘G’ can be determined for two extreme cases
(i) Constant load (p)  In which displacement of load point increases as the crack grows.
(ii) Constant displacement  where load at the load point decreases with crack growth.
Figure: Cracked plate at a constant load P
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Constant load
Constant Dis placement
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Energy release rate of double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen
The ‘G’ can be obtained if variation of compliance w.r.to crack length is known. For some cases, a relation
b/w the applied force ‘P’ & the displacement is can be obtained by using field engineering of solid mechanics.
From equation (1) the ‘G’ DCB is determined the deflection of a cantilever beam ’’ caused by load ‘P’
applied at the free end is given by.
L  Length of Beam
E  young’s Modulus
I  Moment of Inertia of the Beam
For DCB specimen
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM)
Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) applies when the nonlinear deformation of the material is confined
to a small region near the crack tip. For brittle materials, it accurately establishes the criteria for catastrophic
failure. However, severe limitations arise when large regions of the material are subject to plastic deformation
before a crack propagates. Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM) is proposed to analyze the relatively
large plastic zones.
Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) first assumes that the material is isotropic and linear elastic. Based
on the assumption, the stress field near the crack tip is calculated using the theory of elasticity. When the
stresses near the crack tip exceed the material fracture toughness, the crack will grow.
In Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics, most formulas are derived for either plane stresses or plane strains,
associated with the three basic modes of loadings on a cracked body: opening, sliding, and tearing.
Again, LEFM is valid only when the inelastic deformation is small compared to the size of the crack, what we
called small-scale yielding. If large zones of plastic deformation develop before the crack grows, Elastic
Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM) must be used.
 LEFM applicable for high strength material of ‘brittle’ fracture where plastic zone at a crack tip is
very small.
 For this analysis G & K fracture parameters are determined w.r.t to variation of crack length (a) & is
validated with the GIC & KIC (Fracture toughness parameter values)
 LEFM is not valid for non-linear (or) plastic zone at a crack tip is too large.
 EPFM deals with the study of ductile material i.e. the large plastic zone exists at the crack tip.
 In this case, the fracture exists b/w exceeding elastic limit & the elastic limit & the plastic stage. The
LEFM approach is not applicable but LPFM approach is considered for this analysis.
 In EPFM, two fracture parameters are used to characterize a crack J integral (Is the energy required
for crack growth) & CTOD.
 CTOD parameter has been developed for ductile materials but J has been developed to deal with
ductile material & can be applied to brittle material also (little).
 Both parameters depend on crack tip opening condition used in elastic plastic materials. These values
are validated with critical values of J IC and C. If J < JIC &  < C for safe life & there is no crack
extension exists.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Fracture beyond General Yield
Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) can be usefully applied as long as the plate zone is small compared
to the crack size. This is usually the case in materials where fracture occurs at stresses appreciably below the
yield stress and under conditions of plane strain. In such circumstances the fracture can be characterized
by . When plane stress prevails the crack tip plastic zone is larger than in the case of plane strain. If
fracture still takes place at stresses which are low in comparison with the yield stress there are ways to arrive
at a satisfactory rationale to handle the problem. If, however, the plastic zone is large compared to the crack
size (high fracture stress and/or high crack resistance) linear elastic fracture mechanics do not apply any
longer.
The problem has two aspects. In the first place it occurs in low toughness materials with very short cracks.
Their fracture stress is , tends to infinity if the crack size approaches zero (figure.1). Since
this is impossible, the fracture stress at a crack size (a/w)1 is at B. Which is lower than A, as predicted from
KIC. Apparently. The fracture stress cannot be determined by means of linear elastic fracture mechanics. (It
was shown in chapter 8 that engineering solutions to this problem can sometimes be applied). Generally
speaking, the plastic zone will become large and spread through the whole cracked section if the net section
stress is equal to the yield stress.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Where in the cracked section, is obtained by dividing the load by the Sectional area of the remaining un-
cracked material. In the case of a small crack, . Hence, it may be expected that KIC can be used until
approaches the yield stress. In practice it turns out that should be lower than 66 per cent of yield
(criterion of Fedderson for valid KIC) for LEFM to apply. The second case in which LEFM do not apply
occurs in materials of very high toughness (figure.1). The condition of net section yield of Eqn (.1) can be
rewritten as
Which is a straight line from to as illustrated in figure.1. If a material has a high toughness KIC
the fracture stress predicted by LEFM is always higher than the stress for net section yield. This means that
KIC cannot be measured: general yield occurs at C and point D can never be reached.
Under conditions of general yield (figure.2) plastic flow is no longer contained, but the plastic zone spreads
through the entire cracked section: plastic deformation at the crack tip can occur freely. The crack must be
expected to start propagation if the plastic strain at the crack tip exceeds a critical value. (There is a critical
combination of stress and strain required for fracture.) Assuming negligible strain hardening, the stress at the
crack tip hardly increases after general yield and the fracture condition is reached upon the occurrence of a
sufficiently large strain. A measure for the plastic strain at the crack tip is the crack tip opening displacement
(CTOD). Hence, it is conceivable that fracture takes place at the exceedance of a critical CTOD. This criterion
was first proposed by wells.
Crack-Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD)
Historically, the first parameter for the determination of fracture toughness in the elasto-plastic was the crack
tip opening displacement (CTOD) or "opening at the apex of the crack" indicated. This parameter was
determined by Wells (1961) during the studies of structural steels which, due to the high toughness could not
be characterized with the linear elastic fracture mechanics. He noted that, before it happened the fracture, the
walls of the crack were leaving and that the crack tip, after fracture, acute to rounded off is due to plastic
deformation. In addition, the rounding of the apex was more pronounced in steels with superior toughness.
There are a number of alternative definitions of CTOD. The two most common definitions, CTOD is the
displacement at the original crack tip and the 90 degree intercept. The latter definition was suggested by Rice
and is commonly used to infer CTOD in finite element measurements (these two definitions are equivalent if
the crack blunts in a semicircle).
Within the plastic zone the material is not able to withstand very high stress & usual stress field of the square
root singularity no longer exists. However rigorous analysis is complex & we would rather explore a simple
model, the yielding of the material & resulting rearrangement of the stresses around the crack tip can be
accounted by an effective crack which is larger than the actual crack.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
The tip of the effective crack is located inside the plastic zone as shown in figure. Now linear equations of
elasticity can be applied to the effective crack one can visualize that the effective crack has same finite
openings at the location of the actual crack tip. The opening is defined as the crack tip opening displacement
as shown in fig.
To start with it should be checked whether wells' criterion is not in contradiction with LEFM. In the case of
LEFM the elastic solution for the crack opening displacement (COD) can still be used. The displacement of
the crack surfaces is shown in figure
By applying a plastic zone correction it follows that
Where is the effective crack size and where the origin of the coordinate system is at the center of the crack. The
crack tip opening displacement at the tip of the physical crack is found for x = a. Since it turns out that
A displacement of the origin of the coordinate system to the crack tip yields the general expression for crack opening:
CTOD then follows from and , Leading to Eqn.3 Substitution of
Eqn (5) holds in the area of LEFM: fracture occurs if KI = KIC , which according to Eqn (5) is at a constant value of
CTOD and it appears that wells' criterion applies in LEFM.
Use of the criterion in LEFM would require measurement of CTOD. A direct measurement of CTOD is difficult
and virtually impossible in a routine test. It can be obtained indirectly by measuring K and using Eqn (5). That would
imply acceptation of the factor introduced by the plastic zone correction, but the magnitude of the plastic zone
correction is subject to doubt. This problem can be circumvented by substituting.
Figure .3. Crack opening displacement
FRACTURE MECHANICS
(3) Into (2), leading to (neglecting the term in )
According to Eqn (5) the CTOD can be determined indirectly from a measurement of cod (e.g. at x = 0, the
center of the crack) without any assumptions about the size of the plastic zone correction. The COD can
readily be measured by means of a clip gauge. Alternatively, use is often made of the equations for crack tip
opening that follow from the Dug Dale Approach. It turns out that
----------------- (7)
Series expansion of the log sec yields:
Which is the same as Eqn (4) apart from a factor , which was shown to depend upon the choice of the
plastic zone correction. In general
Where the factor can be deleted for plane stress situations.
Various values of have been reported in the literature. They depend upon the exact place where the CTOD
is determined, i.e. which place is considered as the crack lip. The approximate quasi-elastic-plastic analyses
described lead to values of 1 and . From an integration of displacements around the boundary of the plastic
zone [1, 4] a value of is also found. Rice calculated that for a non-strain hardening material in
plane strain and Rice and Johnson arrived at 1.27. Finite element analysis by Levy et al and Sumpter et al
yielded 2.14 and 1.155 respectively.
The result of the analysis is affected considerably by the assumptions that have to be made. Therefore direct
measurements of may be more Reliable. These can be performed in various ways. Optical methods have
been used to the extent that CTOD was measured directly from photographs or indirectly from replicas of the
specimen surface around the crack tip. This yields values for . In the order of u n i t y , which are for plane
stress (surface). Bowles measured mid-section CTOD by metallographic sectioning of the crack t i p region
(the cracks were filled with plastic to prevent unloading). He also found . The careful measurements of
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Robinson and Tetelman are probably the most reliable. The crack was infiltrated w i t h a hardening
silicone rubber and the castings were gold-plated to make them suitable for observation with a scanning
electron microscope. Robinson and Tetelman found to be equal to unity.
Experimental determination of CTOD
When material with a defect is loaded, a crack will propagate rapidly originating from the defect, resulting in
fracture at a certain temperature range (unstable fracture). CTOD test is one of test methods used when some
plastic deformation can occur prior to failure - this allows the tip of a crack to stretch and open, hence 'tip
opening displacement. The actual test is performed by placing the specimen in 3 point bending and accurately
measuring the amount the crack opens. For this purpose a strain gage is employed, mounted to a clip between
two precisely placed knife edges at the mouth of the machined notch as shown in below figure.
Crack tip plastically deforms until a critical point after which a cleavage crack is initiated that may lead to
either partial or complete failure. The critical load and strain gauge measurements at the load are noted and a
graph is plotted. There are three basic types of fracture behavior with this test: brittle fracture, pop-in, and
ductile. The first curve shows a brittle fracture with little or no plastic deformation. The second curve shows a
pop-in where the crack initiates in a brittle manner but is soon arrested by tougher more ductile material. This
behavior can occur many times giving the curve a saw tooth appearance. And the third curve depicts a
completely plastic or ductile behavior. Locating the notch correctly in the material being tested is important. A
fatigue crack positioned incorrectly will not sample the required area thus invalidating the test.
Figure: Load vs COD curves showing three types of fracture behavior
FRACTURE MECHANICS
The crack tip opening can be calculated from the length of the crack and opening at the mouth of the notch.
According to the material used, the fracture can be brittle or ductile which can be concluded from the graph.
Polishing, etching and metallurgical examination are often used to provide the required accuracy in notch
placement. These techniques may also be employed after the test to provide additional confirmation of the
validity of the test.
A low stress range is common when performing the fatigue cracking. Employing high stresses to speed up the
process can cause large area of plastically deformed material to form ahead of the fatigue crack invalidating
the test.
Examination of the fatigue crack surface is necessary to determine the success or failure of the test. The length
of the crack itself is accurately measured. If the length of the crack is not within the specified limits the test is
invalid. If the crack is not in a single plane, or at an angle to the machined notch, or, if the crack is not in the
proper region, the test is invalid. Irwin later postulated that crack-tip plasticity makes the crack behave as if it
were slightly longer. Thus, estimation of CTOD can be done by solving for the displacement at the physical
crack tip.
Relation between CTOD, KI & G.

Or
Relation b/w CTOD, applied stress & crack length Dug dale strip yield model.
Using a crack tip plasticity model proposed by Dugdale referred as strip yield model analysis. It is possible to
relate the CTOD to the applied stress & crack length. The strip yields model consists of a through thickness
crack in an infinite plate is subjected to a tensile stress normal to the plane of a crack. The crack is considered
to have length =2a+2ry. At each end of the crack there is a length ie subjected to yield point stresses. That
tends to close the crack.
The basic relationship developed by Dugdale is
FRACTURE MECHANICS
The Possible Use of CTOD Criteria
CTOD fracture criterion is equivalent to the LEFM criteria when LEFM applies. For a generalization to
fracture beyond yield the essential assumption has to be made that the criterion still holds if the stresses are in
the order of the yield stress. If the CTOD criterion can be generalized it follows that a critical CTOD can be
established as a material constant. Then the applicability of the criterion is twofold:
It turns out that the specimen with crack size (a/w)l failing at b (beyond general yield) does so at the same
critical CTOD as the specimen with (a/w)2 failing at. In other words the specimen with the small crack can be
used to measure the critical CTODk. This means that the fracture toughness can possibly be determined from a
CTOD measurement on a small specimen with a small crack; the large ku specimens according to the ASTM
standard would not be necessary.
Some materials have such high, toughness that a kk. Cannot be determined. These materials could be
characterized by their critical CTOD ( hi gh toughness material). Th i s critical CTOD does not allow
calculation of fracture stress or critical crack size. Yet the CTOD, may be used to compare the fracture
resistance of high toughness materials, a higher ctod, meaning that the material has a better crack resistance.
Application b is clearly the most interesting since it gives a limited possibility to extend fracture mechanics to
very tough materials, although q ua nt i t at i ve predictions cannot be made with it. It is this application to high
toughness materials that has received the most attention in the literature.
J –Integral
Rice presented a path-independent contour integral of analysis of cracks and showed that the value of this
integral, called J, is equal to the energy release rate in a nonlinear elastic body that contains crack. Hutchinson
and also Rice and Rosengren further showed that J uniquely characterizes crack tip stresses and strains in
nonlinear material. Thus the J integral can be viewed as both an energy parameter and a stress intensity
parameter.
An integral expression proposed by James R. Rice (1968) can compute the strain energy release rate for a
cracked elastic solid in a different and simpler manner. This integral, named after its inventor, is known as the
J-integral. The J-integral value also helps one to predict when a crack should propagate. J-Integral is a
parameter to characterize a crack (or) is used to determine energy release rate. G is applied only to linear
FRACTURE MECHANICS
elastic materials but the J-Integral is applicable to both linear & non-linear elastic materials & also consider
being useful to characterize material in elastic plastic behavior near the crack tip.
J-integral is a parameter used to characterize a crack & defined as
Where,




The Arbitrary Path (T) to the Upper Flat Surface)
The two imp fractures of J-integral are

1) The J-integral is path independent
2) For linear elastic bodies, the J-integral represents energy release rate & is same as ‘G’
Path Independent
J-integral is applied to both linear, non-linear elastic, Material is also materials exhibiting elastic
property. It has been shown that the J-integral value over any closed loop is zero as long as the region inside
the closed loop is elastic and does not have any body force. This property of J-integral can be used to prove
that its value should be the same on different paths S1, S2, and S3 shown in below figure.
Figure: Three different contours for J-integral should give the same J-integral value.
To prove the path independence of J-integral, let us consider the J-integral contour as shown in Figure 5.6. Let
the total path S be the union of four paths S1, S2, S3, and S4 (S = S1 U S2 U S3 U S4). Directions of
integration in the four segments are shown by the arrows in the below figure. Note that S is a closed contour
and the material inside the contour is elastic, although a plastically deformed region may exist in front of the
crack tip, as shown in below figure. Therefore
…………… (1)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Note that J3 and J4 must be zero because on paths S3 and S4 the traction Ti = 0 and dx2 = 0. Therefore, both
terms of J-integral given in below equation are zero on these two paths.
………………………………. (2)
Substituting these zero values in above equation (1)
J1+J2=0
Note that the integration direction is counter clockwise on path S1 and clockwise on path S2. If both integrals
are carried out in the same direction, then J1 J2. The main advantage of the path independence property of
the J-integral is that it can be computed by choosing a path of our liking. For example, instead of taking the
path very close to the crack tip, where it is difficult to compute the stress and displacement fields accurately
because of the stress singularities or the presence of the plastic zone near the crack tip, it is now possible to
take the path along the boundary and/or lines of symmetry on which displacement, traction, and strain energy
can be computed relatively easily.
Figure: J-integral contour S = S1 U S3 U S2 U S4. Plastic zone shape ahead of the crack tip is shown by the gray
region.
Standard test method for JIC
I. plastic hinge formed in the Un-Cracked ligament II- Area under PU-curve
For displacement controlled case in which load decreases form P A to PB the crack length increases from ‘a’ to
as shown in fig (2) &
For load controlled case, displacement increases from U A to UB and the crack length is increased by ‘ ’ as shown in fig.
J-Integral has been developed to accounts for EP behavior of the material in the plastic zone near the crack tip.
Parameters affecting theoretical CTOD
During COD test ‘the o/p of the clip gauge is plotted v/s load as in the case of K IC test
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Since the KIC test is essentially elastic, the diagram is a straight-line & only minor non – linear Elastic are, Tolerated &
on the other en COD test is essentially Plastic & the load, COD record has the appearance illustrated in the fig. the
recommended procedure (test) for COD testing specifies that critical CTOD should be determined at the moment of
fracture. However slow stable crack extension may occur prior to fracture. The detection of crack growth prior to fracture
is extremely difficult & therefore CTOD is usually determined at maximum load.
There are various geometrical parameters that may affect the result of a COD test. There are crack sizes , test piece
thickness,
The ligament depth, notch activity & machine stiffness some test results are presented in the below fig.
(a) P – CMOD record with POP – in & no stable crack
(b) P – CMOD record with stable growth before POP in
(2) P – CMOD record for (a) No stable growth

(b) Stable growth prior to unstable growth
initiating at PMax
(c) Stable growth but constable growth is
initiated before PMax
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Cohesive zone models
When a significant region around a crack tip has undergone plastic deformation, other approaches can be used
to determine the possibility of further crack extension and the direction of crack growth and branching. A
simple technique that is easily incorporated into numerical calculations is the cohesive zone model method
which is based on concepts proposed independently by Barenblat and Dugdale in the early 1960s. The
relationship between the Dugdale-Barenblatt models and Griffith's theory was first discussed by Willis in
1967. The equivalence of the two approaches in the context of brittle fracture was shown by Rice in 1968.
Interest in cohesive zone modelling of fracture has been reignited since 2000 following the pioneering work
on dynamic fracture by Xu and Needleman and Camacho and Ortiz.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Module 4: Dynamics and crack arrest

Crack Speed
The modelling is considered for an idealized situation of an infinite sheet with a central crack of length 2a
under remote tensile stress σ. The idea is that the surplus of energy, represented by triangle ABC in below
figure 4.1, can be converted to the kinetic energy of the material elements in the crack path as they move apart
from each other. The horizontal and vertical displacements of these elements can be written as
Figure 4.1
In which fu (θ) and fv (θ) are geometric parameters. As the crack grows, its tip would be further from the
considered elements. Hence, we may assume r ∝ a and combine the constants in the form of C1 and C2 and
write
In which the “dot” means differentiation with respect to time. Accordingly, the kinetic energy for the plate can
be defined and calculated as follows
In the above equations ρ is the density and we have combined all the constants into a single term k. Moreover,
as “a” is the only characteristic length in the infinite plate, the value of the integral was considered
proportional to a2
On the other hand the surplus of energy, which can be converted to kinetic energy for two crack tips, can be
defined and calculated as follows
FRACTURE MECHANICS
In which ‘ac’ is the initial crack length and ‘a’ is the crack length at every instant. Equating the two energies
we may find the crack growth rate as:
A more detailed analysis of the crack tip stress field has given an estimation of 0.38 for the first term on the
right hand side of the above equation. The second term on the right is the speed of propagation of longitudinal
waves in the material, so we have:
Based on the above expression, it is clear that there is a limit to the crack speed in every material.
Nevertheless, the speed of unstable crack growth is comparable with the speed of propagation of sound waves
in the material. This means that an unstable growth of an initial crack with a few millimetres length may
destroy several kilometres of a pipeline in a few minutes.
Crack Branching
Another interesting aspect of a growing crack is branching. As shown in below figure 4.2, under constant load
where the energy release rate increases with further crack growth, there might be a point where the available
energy becomes twice the energy required to grow a single crack. As mentioned before, this surplus of energy
usually accelerates the crack, but if the material permits, the situation may change in favour of crack
branching. In general, when we observe that a component has been shattered into numerous pieces, we may
think of too much energy available and/or too little energy required for crack to grow. For example we may
think of the fracture caused by an explosion, or the shattering of a glass of water slipping from your hand.
Figure 4.2
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Crack Arrest
The crack arrest approach can be adopted for determining the fitness for service of a structure. Many
structural integrity assessment procedures are aimed at preventing the initiation of fracture. An alternative
approach is to assume that unstable crack extension may start in a region of high stress and/or localised
embrittlement, but that the surrounding material will have sufficient resistance to crack extension to arrest the
running crack.
The crack initiation approach relies on close attention to the workmanship and quality control during welding.
However, it can be difficult to guarantee that no areas of local brittle zones exist. It is also difficult to know
the exact stress distribution around a crack tip that experiences contributions from residual stresses and local
stress concentration. For these reasons the crack arrest approach may be considered a viable alternative. The
crack arrest concept is simple in principle, if not always in application: arrest of fast running brittle cracks that
have initiated in a region of low toughness, will occur if the applied crack driving force is smaller than the
resistance to crack propagation. By looking at conditions of crack arrest, the focus can be taken away from
localised stress concentration or brittle zones and back to the bulk properties of the parent plate, weld metal or
heat affected zone and the nominal applied stress. In many instances, it is not possible to guarantee with
absolute certainty that an unstable fracture will not initiate in a structure. Transient loads, for example, may
occur unexpectedly. In such instances crack arrest can be the second line of defence. Thus, the crack arrest
toughness KIA is an important material property.
The conditions for crack arrest to occur can be expressed using one of the following approaches:
 Fracture mechanics comparison, where the applied stress intensity factor (KI) is less than the crack
arrest fracture toughness (KIA).
 Ensuring that the temperature at the crack tip is above the crack arrest temperature (CAT)
 An energy balance so that the available energy for crack propagation is less than the energy absorbed
by the material during crack propagation.
 Local approach, such that the crack driving force (CDF) is less than the local arrest property. The
CDF is determined from mechanical models, and the local arrest is determined from mechanistic
models of the crack arrest processes.
The main applications of the crack arrest approach are for ductile fracture propagation control in gas
pipelines, and fracture control in pressure vessels and LPG storage tanks.
FRACTURE MECHANICS
Crack speed and kinetic energy So far, the discussions were limited to the problem of slow crack growth and
to the onset of fracture instability. This chapter deals with post-instability behaviour. Fracture instability
occurs, when upon crack extension, the elastic energy release rate G remains larger than the crack resistance
R. The surplus of released energy, (G — R), can be converted into kinetic energy. This kinetic energy is
associated with the rapid movement of the material at each side of the crack path, during the passage of a high
velocity crack. The difference between G and R determines how much energy can become available as kinetic
energy, and consequently it governs the speed at which the crack will propagate through the material. Both G
and R represent the energies associated with a crack extension da. Hence, the total amount of energy that can
have been converted into kinetic energy after a crack growth A a follows from an integration of (G — R) over
Aa. This integral is represented by the shaded area in figure 6.1.
The case depicted in this figure is based on three simplifying assumptions:
a. Crack propagation takes place under constant stress.
b. The elastic energy release rate does not depend upon crack speed.
c. The crack growth resistance R is constant.
Regarding the latter assumption, reference is made to the previous chapter, where it was shown that in many cases R is a
rising function, at least during slow crack propagation. Such behaviour does not seriously alter the principles outlined in
this chapter. However, there is another effect on R that cannot be disregarded. The crack resistance is a function of the
plastic behaviour of the material at the crack tip and of its fracture
6.1 Crack speed and kinetic energy characteristics. These properties are known to depend upon strain rate. The behaviour
of many materials is strain rate dependent: the yield stress increases and the fracture strain decreases at higher strain
rates. At the tip of a crack moving at high velocity the strain rates are very high, and it must be expected that the material
behaves in a more brittle manner the higher the crack speed. As a result, a rate dependent material may show a decaying
R curve, as represented by the dashed line in figure 6.1. It will be shown later that an increasing crack resistance may also
be observed.
The second assumption implies that the elastic stress field solution of the static case is supposed to be applicable in the
dynamic case. In reality the stress distributions in the two cases are different, due to the introduction of time dependent
FRACTURE MECHANICS
terms. This problem is dealt with in section 2 of this chapter. In this first section it is assumed that the solution of the
static ease is approximately valid for the dynamic situation.
The first assumption, relating to constant stress, is not essential. It is conceivable that unstable crack grow th occurs
under conditions of constant external load. Since this is a limiting case, the following considerations lead to an estimate
of the upper boundary of crack speed. In practical eases the load may drop during crack growth, which implies a
decreasing G. and hence a decreasing value of (G — R) provided R is a constant.
On the basis of dimensional analysis. Mott has derived an expression for the kinetic energy of a crack. An element of a
cracked plate behind the crack tip is subjected to displacements u and v. A fixed element will be further from the crack
tip if the crack tip moves away: its distance r from the tip is proportional to crack size. Hence the displacements are
proportional to crack size:
If the crack grows in time, the displacements it and v increase in time. The speed of displacement is:
where the dot indicates differentiation with respect to time. A mass moving at a velocity V has a kinetic energy \mV2.
Hence, the kinetic energy of the material in the cracked plate, moving at displacement rates it and i\ is given by:
where p is the specific density. Note that the equation is valid for a plate of unit thickness. Substitution of eqs (6.3) into
(6.4) gives
In the case of an inifinite plate, the crack size a is the only relevant length dimension. Then the area over which the
integration is carried out must be proportional to a2, implying that the solution to the integral is ka2, where k is a
constant;
The kinetic energy is proportional to the squares of the crack size and the stress. Evidently, it must also be proportional to
the specific mass and the square of the crack speed.
With the help of figure 6.1 it is possible to derive another expression for the kinetic energy from
Considering the case that R is constant and that G under constant stress can be described by the static equation, the
kinetic energy is given by t'k,n= -R{a-ae) + | J i
The constant R is equal to G'k, (which is given by Glc = 7ur2ac/E), at the onset of instability. Substitution of R = Glc in
eq (6.8) and integration yields (for two crack tips):
Dynamic stress intensity and Elastic energy release rate:
The stress distribution at the tip of a crack propagating at high speed is different from the static case due to the
introduction of time dependent terms. The equilibrium equations used as a basis for the computation of the static stress
field are replaced by the equations of motion. Solutions of dynamic crack problems are mathematically complex, but a
variety of cases has been studied.
The early work by Yoffe, suggested that the dynamic stress intensity was no different from the static one. Yoffe
considered a crack of constant size moving at constant velocity, i.e., the crack propagated at one tip and healed at the
other. Recent work on more realistic crack problems has shown that the dynamic stress intensity decreases with
FRACTURE MECHANICS
increasing crack velocity. The dynamic stress intensity becomes zero when the crack velocity reaches the Rayleigh
velocity (surface wave velocity) which is typically about 90 per cent of the shear wave velocity, c = where /< is the shear
modulus and p the specific density.
Some examples of the variation of the stress intensity factor as a function of crack velocity are presented in figure 6.4a in
terms of the ratio between static and dynamic stress intensity versus a/c. The results obtained by Nilsson [12] are for a
strip of finite height. Bromberg [13] treated the problem of an infinite plate with a crack 2a = 2iif propagating with a
constant
Figure 6.4. Effect of crack velocity on K and G a. Dynamic stress intensity factors; b. Dynamic strain energy release rates
Figure 6.4. Effect of crack velocity on K and G a. Dynamic stress intensity factors; b. Dynamic strain energy release rates
velocity a at both tips and starting with zero size. According to Freund [17], the stress intensity will generally go to zero
at the Rayleigh velocity for other crack problems as well.
The relation between the elastic energy release rate, G, and the stress intensity factor is more complex in the dynamic
case than in the static case. The dynamic energy release rates are given in figure 6.4b for the same cases as in figure 6.4a.
For Nilsson's strip problem G is independent of crack velocity, however, in Broberg's problem G approaches zero at the
Rayleigh velocity. Taking the shear wave velocity, c, approximately as c^0.5 Vs, the crack velocities given in table 6.1
would be typically of the order of 0.4 c-0.5 c. At these velocities, the elastic energy release rate would be considerably
less than in the static case (figure 6.4b).
According to the analysis by Baker [15], the stress and strain distribution is not largely affected by crack velocity up till
d^ 0.3 Vs. At higher speeds, the differences become appreciable. This is illustrated in figure 6.5 [21], The maximum
values of the tensile stress occur no longer in the plane of the crack - at crack speeds in excess of ¿>0.5 c, the tensile
stress
Figure 6.5. Tensile stress and shear stress as a function of 0. as affected by crack speed
tends to develop a maximum on a plane at an angle of about 60 degrees to the crack plane. The photo elastic
measurements of Wells and Post [22] seem to support this. It has been suggested that this rotation may cause crack
branching. The problem of a bifurcating dynamic crack was treated by Achenbach [19],
In the following discussion the dynamic effect on K and G will be disregarded, and elastic energy release rate and kinetic
energy will be treated separately. This restriction is not considered a serious drawback for a qualitative explanation of the
principles of dynamic crack growth and crack arrest. In part of the discussions it will be assumed that there exists no rate
effect on the crack resistance, except in cases where this rate effect is essential to explain the behaviour. It should be kept
in mind that the real dynamic behaviour is different and more complex, but the principles are conceivably the same. The
limitations of the arguments put forward in the following sections are pointed out where appropriate. In view of the
development stage of the subject, there is some speculation involved in the discussions.
Variable amplitude loading (H)
FRACTURE MECHANICS
A (tensile) overload will introduce (compressive) residual stresses. These residual stresses will influence ∆K
and thus the rate of crack propagation.
Dynamic Fracture Mechanics

Dynamic fracture is a branch of the engineering science of fracture mechanics concerned with fracture
phenomena on a time scale for which inertial resistance of the material to motion is significant. The
deformable body typically contains a dominant crack or other stress concentrating defect, and the phenomena
of primary interest are those associated with conditions for the onset of extension of a crack or its arrest.
Material inertia can have a significant effect in a variety of ways. Load transfer from the rapidly loaded
boundary of a body to the region of a crack edge can occur by means of stress waves. Likewise, a rapidly
running crack emits stress waves which can be geometrically reflected or scattered back to the region of the
crack. It is through such waves that a rapidly running crack senses the nature of the imposed loading on the
body through which it runs, as well as the configuration of the body. Material inertia may also lead to effects
more subtle than those associated with load transfer. Crack tip fields are usually distorted from their
equilibrium forms during rapid crack growth. Inertial resistance to motion on a very small scale near the edge
of a crack may make the material appear more resistant to separation than it is due to its strength alone. There
is a wide range of physical mechanisms by which materials separate on the scale of material microstructure
and, in cases where multiple mechanisms are competing, inertial effects can have an influence on which is
operative.

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FRACTURE MECHANICS

Fracture mechanics is a failure theory that:

It is a useful method of determining:

 Stress and flaw size

 Overall dimensions of the structure

Fracture mechanics can be used in:

1. What is the strength of the component as a function of crack size?

Characteristic Terms used Terms used

By area of deformation under load, fracture mechanics is divided into:

field at the tip of the crack.

Stress intensity factor ( ):

Stress concentration factor

Characteristics of stress-concentration factors:

Methods of reducing stress concentration:

 Providing a fillet radius so that the cross-section may change gradually

Few Historical Instances Which Lead to Birth of Fracture Mechanics

Liberty Ship Failures

Remedial measures taken to correct these problems included the following:

 Lowering the ductile-to-brittle temperature of the steel to an acceptable level by improving

Recent trends in Fracture Mechanics research

Critical stress intensity factor (KIC):

1) Slanting edge 2) Kinked crack 3) Branch crack 4) Arrange of crack

Fracture Mechanics Principle:

Fracture process & crack front

Sources of Micro cracks

3) Chemical effects (corrosion environmental factors):

Structural effects (Micro):

(ii) Coalescence of dislocation:

Fracture criteria based on stress cone and theoretical strength:

Where ‘bo’ is the equilibrium inter atomic separation distance.

Square & rearrange.

The radius of curvature at θ=0 is given by x = a Cos y = b Sin

 Eqn (2) reduces to

----------- -------------------------- (3)

2) Field of fracture mechanics

 There is no gross, permanent deformation of the material.

Brittle fracture (fast or cleavage):

Difference between Brittle & Ductile fracture

4. Negligible Plastic Deformation. 4. More Plastic Deformation.

Modes of Fracture failure

Damage tolerance approach to design

An atomic view of fracture (Theoretical cohesive strength):

Let Na be the no of atoms per unit area

For small displacement

For small displacement as per Hook’s law

Theoretical cohesive strength of material

This is maximum force, which has to be exceeded in order to undergo fracture.

Griffiths Energy Balance Approach

Sub all the values in (1)

 The crack is in equilibrium

a Half crack length

Griffith’s verification experiment

Fracture Mechanics approach to design:

1. Energy Criteria Approach:

For a crack length 2a in an infinite plate subjected to stress as shown in fig.

2. Stress intensity Factor approach

KI mainly depends on the loading configuration & geometry of the system.