DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT

INTRODUCTION TO FRACTURE MECHANICS

Assoc.Prof. Dr. M. Evren Toygar

FRACTURE MECHANICS

 REFERENCES:
 1. Anderson, “Fracture Mechanics Fundamentals and
Applications.”
 2. Richard W.Hertzberg, “Deformation and Fracture
Mechanics Of Engineering Materials.”
 3. Dowling, "Mechanical Behavior of Materials"
 4. Broek, “Elementary Engineering Fracture
Mechanics”
 5. Ağah Uğuz, “Kırılma Mekaniğine Giriş “
FRACTURE

When material damage like micro-cracks and

voids grow in size and become localized, the
averaging procedure can no longer be
applied and discontinuities must be taken into
account.This localization results in a
macroscopic crack, which may grow very
fast, resulting in global failure.
Fracture Mechanics

Definition: It is the field of mechanics

concerned with the study of propagation of
cracks in materails. It uses methods of
analytical solid mechanics to calculate the
driving force on acrack and those of
experimental solid mechanics to characterize
the material’s resistance to fracture.
Fracture Mechanics

 In modern materials science, fracture

mechanics is an important tool in improving
the mechanical performance of mechanical
components.
 It applies the physics of stress and strain, in
particular the theories of elasticity and
plasticity, to the microscopic defectsfound in
real materials in order to predict the
macroscopic mechanical failure of bodies.
Fracture Mechanics

In fracture mechanics attention is basically

focused on a single crack. Theoretical concepts
and experimental techniques have been and
are being developed, which allow answers to
questions like:
 Will a crack grow under the given load ?

 When a crack grows, what is its speed and

direction ?
Fracture Mechanics

 Will crack growth stop ?

 What is the residual strength of a
construction (part) as a function of the (initial)
crack
 What is the length and the load ?
 What is the proper inspection frequency ?
 When must the part be repaired or replaced ?
Fracture mechanics
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.
Linear elastic fracture mechanics
(LEFM)

A large field of fracture mechanics uses concepts and

theories in which linear elastic material behavior is an
essential assumption. This is the case for Linear Elastic
Fracture Mechanics (LEFM).
 is the basic theory of fracture, that deals with sharp
cracks in elastic bodies.
 It is applicable to any materials as long as the material is
elastic except in a vanishingly
 small region at the crack tip (assumption of small scale
yielding),
 brittle or quasi brittle fracture, stable or unstable crack
growth
Elastic-plastic fracture
mechanics
 is the theory of ductile fracture, usually
characterized by stable crack growth
 (ductile metals) the fracture process is
accompanied by formation of large
 plastic zone at the crack tip
Why structures Fail

1. Negligence during design, constuction, or

operation of structure.
2. Application of a new design or material,
which produces an unexpected result.
Historical Perspective
 Experiments performed by Leonardo da Vinci
several centuries earlier provided some clues as
to the root cause of fracture. He measured the
strength of iron wires and found that the strength
varied inversly with wire length.
 A quantitative connection between fracture
stress and flaw size came from the work of
Griffth 1920. He applied a stress analysis of an
elliptical hole to the unstable propagation of
crack. Griffth invoked the first law of
thermodynamics to formulate a fracture theory
based on a simple energy balance.
Figure 1 Galileo’ s tension Figure 2 Da Vinci’s cable
bar
Figure 3 schematic representation of ancient Rome bridge
During Design some important titles are:
 Deformation and Fracture
 Exceed the Elastic Deformation
 Buckling (Burkulma)
 Plastic Deformation
 Fracture (Kırılma)
 Fatique (Yorulma)
 Creep (Sünme )
 Stress Corrosion Cracking (Gerilme Korozyon
Çatlağı )
Crack and stress intensity approach

K I   a
The unit of Ki is MPam’
dır.
Stresses near and tip of the crack
 Loading types
 In all loading1/r singularity may ocur at the tip of the
crack., K (stress intensity factor) and fij (dimensionless
shape correction factor) depend on laoding type and
shape geomety. (i,j=1,3)
 There are three ways of applying a force to enable a
crack to propagate:
 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).
 Mode III fracture : Tearing mode (a shear stress acting
parallel to the plane of the crack and parallel to the
crack front)
 Cauchy stress around a crack tip

KI I
lim ij 
I
f ij 
r 0 2r

K II II
lim ij 
II
f ij 
r 0 2r

K III III
lim ij 
III
f ij 
r 0 2r
 Stress intensity factor types in a plate
including crack
 Mode I and Mode II calculations of a plate subjected to
tension
 Stresses in the systems with crack

 When the crack at the center of a plate the

stress and sterss intensity factorsterms can be
given as :

KI I
ij 
I
f ij 
2r f ij 

K I    a f a / r 
 Center crack in an infinite plate
subjected to tension

 Sterss Intensity Factor Aprroach K :

P K   a
2 3
a a a
  1  0.256   1.152   12.2 
 w  w  w
h
2a

a
  sec
b


P
 Types of Stress:
 Plane stress problem: in z- direction: z = xz =
yz = 0 olur,

 Plane strain problem: the stress in z direction

becomes zero. Therefore : xz = yz = 0 and
z =  (x + y).
Geometries of Fracture
 Center crack and finite plate:
Stress intensity factor K   a

a
  sec
w

2 3
a a a
  1  0.256   1.152   12.2 
 w  w  w

 infinite plate:
  Single sided notch, subjected to stress

Stres sintensity factor K   a

2 3 4
a a a a
  1.12  0.23   10.56   21.74   30.42 
w w w w

a) if( a w) semi infinite plate β=1.12 One-sided cracked plate

L
b) 2 when
w
 Double-sided notch

Stress intensity factor K   a

2 3
a a a
  1.12  0.43   4.79   15.46 
w w w

a) if( a w) semi infinite plate β=1.12

2 3
a a a
b)   1.12  0.43   4.79   15.46 
w w w
Stress intensity factors Y wrt a/w ratio
Eliptic Crack
Semi eliptic Surface crack
Problem 2 : AISI 4340 çelikten yapılmış ve merkezinde çatlak içeren plakanın boyutları
ve malzeme özellikleri aşağıda verildiği gibidir. Bu plakada başlangıç çatlağı olarak
a=1mm lik kusur mevcuttur. Plaka P=240 N lık bir çekme yüküne maruz olduğuna göre
plaka ve çatlak konumu için gerilme şiddeti faktörünü hesaplayınız. (W= genişlik,
B=kalınlık H=yükseklik olarak alınmaktadır.