Fracture Mechanics Class Exercise 1

1. What is the residual strength of a centre cracked panel with a crack

of 2a = 100 mm? Given W = infinite, = 1.0, KIC = 45 MPam.
See Figure Q1.

2a
W

Figure Q1. Centre Crack under Tension

2. What is the critical crack length of an edge crack in tension under

the applied stress = 310 MPa? Given: W = semi-infinite, =1.12,
KIC = 165 MPam. See Figure Q2.

a
W

Figure Q2. Edge Crack under Tension

Worked Example 1

A semi-infinite wide panel containing an edge

crack of 7.5 mm length is subject to constant
amplitude stress cycles of max = 310 MPa and
min = 25 MPa. The plate is made of A1S1 403
steel alloy having fracture toughness of 165
MPa m . Find the crack growth life using the
a

following given data and the Paris crack growth

law. Coefficient of stress intensity factor =
1.12, crack growth rate da/dN = C(K)n, where

C = 4.9 x 10-11, n = 2.2.

Unit: da/dN in m/cycle and K in MN, m.

Answer:
(1) Critical crack length acrit at max = 310 MPa can be found from fracture criterion KI
= KIC; Hence acrit = 0.072 m
(2) Using the Paris law, crack growth life can be found from the numerical integration
procedure (see table below). Alternatively, the direct integration method can be used
because is a constant.
da/dN
mean 1

a (m)

0.0075

0.0050

1.12

285

48.99688

2.56193E-07

0.0125

0.0050

1.12

285

63.25470

4.49366E-07

3.52779E-07

0.0175

0.0050

1.12

285

74.84397

6.50641E-07

0.0225

0.0050

1.12

285

84.86509

0.0275

0.0050

1.12

285

0.0325

0.0050

1.12

0.0375

0.0050

0.0425

da/dN

da/dN
mean 2

N1

N2

N=
N2

3.393E-07

14173

14736

14736

5.50003E-07

5.40718E-07

9091

9247

23983

8.57828E-07

7.54234E-07

7.47086E-07

6629

6693

30676

93.82189

1.06971E-06

9.63768E-07

9.57928E-07

5188

5220

35895

285

101.99514

1.2855E-06

1.1776E-06

1.17265E-06

4246

4264

40159

1.12

285

109.56036

1.50464E-06

1.39507E-06

1.39076E-06

3584

3595

43754

0.0050

1.12

285

116.63591

1.72674E-06

1.61569E-06

1.61187E-06

3095

3102

46856

0.0475

0.0050

1.12

285

123.30612

1.95147E-06

1.83911E-06

1.83567E-06

2719

2724

49580

0.0525

0.0050

1.12

285

129.63357

2.17859E-06

2.06503E-06

2.0619E-06

2421

2425

52005

0.0575

0.0050

1.12

285

135.66623

2.40787E-06

2.29323E-06

2.29036E-06

2180

2183

54188

0.0625

0.0050

1.12

285

141.44182

2.63917E-06

2.52352E-06

2.52087E-06

1981

1983

56172

0.0675

0.0045

1.12

285

146.99065

2.87232E-06

2.75575E-06

2.75328E-06

1814

1816

57988

1.12

285

151.81129

3.08365E-06

2.97799E-06

2.97611E-06

1511

1680

59668

0.0720

Therefore the crack growth life from initial crack of 7.5 mm to final crack
length 72 mm is approximately 59,668 cycles.
Crack growth curve is presented by plotting crack length (a) against
the cycles (N).
Fatigue crack growth curve
80.0

70.0

Crack length (mm)

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

N (Number of loading cycles)

In this example the total life to propagate a crack from 7.5 mm to 72 mm

is about 60,000 cycles. Should a greater life be required then one or
more of the following changes could be made:

(1) Increase the critical crack size at failure (acrit) by using a material
with a higher KIC value. However, this may not provide significant
life increment since crack growth rate will be much higher at the
longer crack length (i.e. when KI is close to KIC). Nevertheless, a
longer critical crack length could help with inspection.
(2) Lower the design stress (max) to increase the critical crack size at
failure (acrit).
(3) Lower the stress range () to decrease the rate of crack growth,
thereby increasing the crack growth life. Note that because crack
growth rate is a power function of , or actually , lowering the
stress range slightly has a significant effect on the life.
(4) Improve the inspection capability so that the initial flaw size (ao) is
reduced. It is clear from the result presented in the Table and Figure
above that most of the life is taken up in the early stages of crack
propagation. In this example, if ao were only 5 mm instead of 7.5
mm, then the number of cycles to grow the crack from 5 to 7.5 mm
is about 12,150 giving a total life of 72,150 cycles (from 5 to 72
mm), which is a 20% improvement of the fatigue life. Therefore
any decrease in initial crack size has a very significant effect on the
fatigue life of a structural member.

Worked Example 2
A stiffened skin panel with stringers at 200 mm pitch is subjected to a
constant amplitude stress varying from 0 to 120 N/mm2. Using Figure Q2 to
determine the number of cycles required to grow a mid-bay crack (2a)
initially 100 mm long to a length of 300 mm.
Take S = E2A/(E1bt) = 0.111, da/dN = C(K)n, where C = 2 x 10-11, n = 3.5.
Unit: where da/dN is in m/cycle and K is in MN, m units.

KI for a crack between two stiffeners in a periodically stiffened sheet subjected to a uniform uniaxial tensile
stress [DP Rooke & DJ Cartwright, Compendium of Stress Intensity Factors, HMSO, London, 1976.]

Answer:

Choose a = 0.01 m
da/dN (mean 1) = 0.5(da/dN1 + da/dN2),
da/dN (mean 2) = (da/dN1 x da/dN2)1/2

N1 = a / [da/dN mean]
a
(m)

a/b

da/dN

da/dn
mean1

0.05

0.25

0.985

120

46.84653

1.40735E-05

0.06

0.30

0.980

120

51.05730

1.9021E-05

1.65472E-05

0.07

0.35

0.965

120

54.30409

2.36017E-05

0.08

0.40

0.945

120

56.85033

0.09

0.45

0.910

120

0.10

0.50

0.850

0.11

0.55

0.12

da/dN
mean2

N 1

N 2

1.63613E-05

604.3313

611.1998

2.13113E-05

2.11879E-05

469.2336

471.9672

2.77074E-05

2.56546E-05

2.55723E-05

389.7944

391.0483

58.06559

2.98364E-05

2.87719E-05

2.87522E-05

347.5617

347.7998

120

57.17091

2.82581E-05

2.90472E-05

2.90365E-05

344.2669

344.3940

0.780

120

55.02336

2.47141E-05

2.64861E-05

2.64268E-05

377.5565

378.4043

0.60

0.750

120

55.25964

2.50875E-05

2.49008E-05

2.49001E-05

401.5931

401.6044

0.13

0.65

0.735

120

56.36574

2.68895E-05

2.59885E-05

2.59729E-05

384.7850

385.0165

0.14

0.70

0.725

120

57.69766

2.91799E-05

2.80347E-05

2.80113E-05

356.7007

356.9986

0.15

0.75

0.720

120

59.31087

3.21366E-05

3.06583E-05

3.06226E-05

326.1764

326.5563

4002

4015

Therefore crack growth life is about 4,000 cycles.