Fundamentals of Fracture Mechanics

Prof. Sharon Kao – Walter

Dr. Wureguli Reheman

Blekinge institute of technology 2021

 General information
Level: D in Mechanical Engineering.
Purpose: Understanding of basic facture mechanics theory and its
applications.
Contents:
-the failure mechanisms
-stress intensity factor and fracture criteria,
-small plastic zone at crack tip, energy, and energy method
-consideration and crack propagation under cyclic loading and the
applications.
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 Literatures
• Tore Dahlberg and Anders Ekberg:
Failure Fracture Fatigue, An Introduction
ISBN 9-44-02096-1

• Ref: T.L. Anderson (1995):

• Fracture Mechanics, Fundamentals and Applications, second edition,
ISBN 0-8493-4260-0.

• Ref: Fred Nilsson (2001):

• Fracture Mechanics – from Theory to Applications, ISBN 91-972860-
3-6.

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 Teachers
Sharon Kao-Walter
(room J3412, tel. 0455-385506, skw@bth.se, Professor )

Wureguli Reheman (tel. 0707668603, wur@bth.se, Dr. )

Shafiqul Md Islam
(room J3524, tel. 0455-385505, mdm@bth.se, Dr. )

Sharlin Shahid (sharlinpritty92@gmail.com, MSc. )

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Teaching methods
Lectures and seminars will be given on the different
sections in the course. A number of specified
calculation problems will be given for each section
concerned.
Structure:
• Introduction of the chapter (teacher)
• group supervision
• Presentation of student groups (group)
• Classroom exam
• Lab: Finite Element Method in Fracture Mechanics

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 Examination
The examination will be divided to two parts:
- 3 ECTS is related to Finite Element Simulation
Assignments, Presentation, summary with G/U.

- 4.5 ECTS will graded with A-F (30-0 p)

which will be calculated based on the final exam.

- Plus three obligated moments

week exam + presentation + summarization

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Course program

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Fracture mechanics

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 Introduction
q 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥? q 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞?
ØElasZc instability (Buckling) ØNegligence in design
ØLarge elastic deformations(jamming) ØLack of interdisciplinary link
ØPlastic deformation ØManufacturing malfunction
ØCreep ØImproper operation
ØCorrosion(rusting, rotting) ØNew design to new material
ØFatigue Ø….
ØFracture
q Various f𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨
ØDeformation
ØFracture
Fracture
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 Common Industries Failure due to Fracture
q 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐠.
ØCivil engineering
ØConstruction
ØAutomotive
ØAviation
ØMaritime
ØNuclear
ØElectronics
ØHealthCare
Ø……ect
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Examples of Catastrophic Failures in structures

q Liberty ships q The Titanic q The Comet

q The Aloha q The Columbia q German train ICE accident in 1998

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 Histories of Fracture Mechanics
q There were more than 2700 liberty ships manufactured between 1941-
1945. Fracture occurred more than half of these ships, including 145
catastrophic failures (breaking into two without warning).
q The hulls of liberty ships fractured without warning, mainly in North
Atlantic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ship#Hull_cracks 12
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q Liberty ships – World War II
§ These are the first ships mass produced with welds.
§ The low temperatures of the North Atlantic caused the steel to be brittle.
§ Fractures occurred mainly in the vicinity of stress raisers.

n The problem may be prevented by employing

higher quality steels (i.e. lower % of carbon)
and improvement of the design of the ship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ship#Hull_cracks
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q 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜
-Failure of the Liberty Ships again raised the question as to why the
Titanic sank?.
§ The Titanic was a luxury liner which was never supposed to sink. But
on her maiden voyage in 1912, she collided with an iceberg in the
North Atlantic, broke into two and sank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic
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q 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜
§ A metallurgical analysis of steel taken from the hull of the Titanic’s
wreckage revealed that it had a high ductile-brittle transition temperature
making it unsuitable for service at low temperatures; at the time of the
collision the temperature of the sea was -2°C.

Steel from the Titanic Modern steel

http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/holms/titanic2.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic
§ It is possible to observe that the steel from the Titanic is
brittle and breaks without much deformation.
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q 𝐃𝐞 Havilland DH 106 Comet
§ Based on the advances made during WW II in developing jet engines,
engineers without computers or calculators designed the Comet
which made its first commercial flight in 1952.

http://wiki.chssigma.com/index.php?title=A_Spectacular_Engineering_Failure-_by_Risa_P-R
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 q 𝐃𝐞 Havilland DH 106 Comet
§ In Jan 1954, by the fuselage breaking up in mid-air 26 minutes after taking off.
- Engineers suggested 60 immediate modifications to the design to rectify some of the
design flaws that were believed to have caused the accident. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZnn5OYcBc
§ In March 1954, Comet flights resume but only two weeks later again crashed
into the Mediterranean sea within 30 minutes of take-off.

- Evidence of fatigue cracking was

found that originated from the
lower corner of the forward
escape hatch and also from the
right-hand corner of the windows
http://aerospaceengineeringblog.com/dehavilland-comet-crash/

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 q 𝐃𝐞 Havilland DH 106 Comet
§ As a result of Comet disaster, the aircraft
design philosophy enriched. The viewing
windows are no longer designed square but
with rounded edges to reduce any stress
concentration, and other crack propagation
preventions included. http://www.cracked.com/article_19623_6-small-math-errors-that-caused-huge-disasters.html

Airplane window, prior to Comet disaster. Modern airplane window after that. 19
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 q 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐡𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟕𝟑𝟕 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 1988
§ The aircraft was 19 years old and had taken off almost 90,000 times.
§ The cause of the failure was multi-site damage.
§ Fatigue cracking initiated from the knife edge associated with the countersunk lap
joint rivet holes.

• Asa result of this accident the study of

”Ageing of Aircraft” began.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmqGWjPzr1w
https://www. thisdayinaviation. com/28 − april − 1988/

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 q German train ICE accident in 1998
§ Wheel fractured as a result of metal fatigue
The following factors, overlooked during design

Ø The tyres were flattened into an ellipse through evolution,

that cause the corresponding fatigue effects.

Ø Cracks could also form on the inside of the tyre.

Ø As the tyre became thinner due to wear, the dynamic forces

were exaggerated, resulting in crack growth

Ø Flat spots and ridges or swells in the tyre dramatically

increased the dynamic forces on the assembly and greatly
accelerated wear. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschede_derailment

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 q 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐭𝐡

http://bth.diva-
portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A104
4878&dswid=-861

http://bth.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:833809/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Several PhD thesis

Number of Master thesis

https://www.volvocars.com/se
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Application of the Fracture Mechanics to
Design
Packaging opening:

Cracks in sheet metal forming:

Safety design in constructions:

Exercise 1: Give at lease two examples

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 Importance of Fracture Mechanics(FM)
q If in all cases the principles of fracture mechanics were employed, some
of these disasters could have been avoided.

q Fracture mechanics enables engineers to predict under which conditions

cracks will propagate in order to prevent failure.
Ø What is the critical crack size
Ø What size of pre-existing flaw can be permitted at the moment the structure
starts its service life
Ø How long does it take for a crack to grow from a certain initial size to the
critical size
Ø What size of crack can be tolerated at the expected service load; i.e. what is
the critical crack size
Ø How often should the structure be inspected for cracks
Ø …..ect.
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 Analysis of Cracks and Defects in FM
q Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM)

q Elastic plastic fracture mechanics (EPFM)

q Fatigue fracture

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Basic Concepts in Fracture Mechanics
q Stress and displacement in the vicinity of a crack tip
q Stress intensity factor, fracture mode
q Fracture toughness
q Fracture criteria
q Plastic zones at the crack tip
q Energy release rate, J- integral
q Cyclic load, life time
q ….

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Fracture mechanics approach to design
Applied stress Yield or tensile strength

The strength of materials approach.

Applied stress

Flaw size Fracture toughness

The fracture mechanics approach.

[Ted, Anderson 1995]

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Fracture mechanics approach to design

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Time-dependent crack growth and damage tolerance

[Ted, Anderson 1995]

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 [Ted, Anderson 1995]

Sharon Kao-Walter, 2021 30

 Chapter 1
q Recalling solid mechanics

- Components of stress & Strains

- Tensor notations (Appendix 1)
- Equilibrium equations (Dynamic and static)
- Deformation equations
- Navier’s equations
- Examples related to application of solid mechanics

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An infinitesimal (”very small”) volume element

és xx t xy t xz ù
ê ú
S = êt yx s yy t yz ú
êt zx t zy s zz ú
ë û

s xx , s yy , s zz (Normal Stress)

txy, txz, tyz (Shear Stress)

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Tensor notation (see appendix for more information)
és xx t xy t xz ù
ê ú i=x, y, z
s ij = êt yx s yy t yz ú j=x, y, z
êt zx t zy s zz ú
ë û

The same index repeated twice Þ Summation

s ii = s xx + s yy + s zz
Comma sign ÞDifferentiation
¶s x
s i, j = when i=x and j=z
¶z
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 Equilibrium equation
Newton’s law: For a small volume element:
¶ 2 ui
å Fi = m ¶t 2 ¶ 2 ui
s ij , j + ki = r 2
¶ 2f
å M i = J i ¶t 2 ¶t

Where, i,j stands for the coordinate directions

x, y, z.
• i=x?
The sum of all forces/moments will be zero.

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 Static equilibrium equation

Example: Equilibrium for a volume element at rest:

s ij , j + ki = 0 ki: volume force (N/m3)

¶s xx ¶t xy ¶t xz
If i=y? + + + kx = 0
¶x ¶y ¶x

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 Compatibility (deformation ) equation
Relate deformations at different parts of the body.
Example: Relationship between strain and displacement in linear theory:

e ij = (ui , j + u j ,i )
1
2
For i=x, j=z:
For i=y,
1 æ ¶u x ¶u z ö j=z?
e xz = ç + ÷
2 è ¶z ¶x ø

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1.2.3 Constitutive (material) Equations

Constitutive relationships.

Example: A linear thermo-elastic material:

1 +n ì n ü
e ij = ís ij - s kk d ij ý + aDTd ij
E î 1 +n þ
(Hooke’s law with temperature)
For i,j=x

e xx = (s xx - v(s yy + s zz )) + aDT
1
For i=y,j=x?
E
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Three type of equations

v Compatibility Equations: e ij = (ui , j + u j ,i )

1
(deformation equations ) 2

1 +n ì n ü
vConstitutive Equations: e ij = ís ij - s kk d ij ý + aDTd ij
E î 1 +n þ

vEquilibrium Equations:
(Static or dynamic equilibrium) s ij , j + ki = 0

+ at least one condition about BC

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1.2.5 Navier’s equations

Simplify equations by removing s ij and e ij

by Equations of 1) an 2) in above slide:

µu i , jj + (l + µ )u j , ji + k i = 0

Here, the material parameters µ and l are called Lamé

constants. µ=G and l =En/(1+ n )(1-2 n )

E: Young’s Modulus
Extra home work:
G: Shear Modulus derive Navier equation
n: Poisson’s ratio
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Sharon Kao-Walter, 2018
• By considered the inertia forces, Navier’s equations
become:

¶ ui 2
µui , jj + (l + µ )u j , ji + ki = r 2
¶t

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 1.2.8 Numerical Solutions

Approximate methods:

- Finit Element Method (FEM) where, normally, displacements are

selected as unknowns.
Commertial program: ABAQUS (Dyna 3D, …)
- Finite Boundary Method.
- ….

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1.4 Examples
1.4.1. elastic deformations
1.4.2. plasticity, Tresca and von Mises yield criteria
1.4.3. plastic collapse
1.4.4. plastic instability
1.4.5. stationary creep
1.4.6. fracture, maximum normal stess criterion

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 Home Work

q Home work
Ø 1.3, 1.7, 1.10

q Discussion for class room exercise

ØExercise: Give at lease two examples of application of fracture mechanics
in design by internet searching

ØOn Thursday we will solve two problems together and there will be a week
exam from home work afterwards.
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