9/8/2016

CrackTipPlasticity

Theory
Wecanunderstandtheconceptofcracktipplasticzonesandtheplasticitycorrectiontocracklengthquitereadily.Fromthe
definitionofthestressintensity,basedontheelasticstressfieldnearacracktip,i.e.:

wecanseethat,asrtendstowardszero,thecracktipstressesbecomesingular.Thisimpliesthatayieldedregionwillexistinthe
materialaheadofthecrackforallreasonablestressvalues.Theshapeandsizeoftheplasticzonecanbedetermined,toafirst
order,fromthesimplemodelsfirstproposedbyIrwin.Consideramaterialwithasimpleelasticperfectlyplasticresponse(i.e.no
strainhardeningoccurs).Afirstestimateoftheplasticzonesizeaheadofthecracktip(Rp ),alongtheplaneofthecrack,canbe
obtainedbysubstitutingtheyieldstrengthintotheaboveequation(seefigurebelow):

Theplasticzonesizeisobtainedas:

Anapproximateideaoftheshapecanbeobtainedbysubstitutingtheneartipstressesintoayieldcriterion,e.g.thevonMises
shearstrainenergycriterion,andallowingtheangleofthestressedelementtovary.
Importantly,Irwinobservedthatthepresenceofsignificantcracktipplasticitycausedthespecimentobehaveasthoughit
containedacrackofgreaterlengththanwasactuallythecase.Thatis,thecomplianceofthespecimenbecamegreateras
plasticitydevelopedatthecracktip.Thisobservationledhimtoproposea'plasticzonecorrection'tocracklength,basedona
moreaccuratemodelofcracktipplasticzonesize.
Thefirstmodelabovehastruncatedtheelasticstressfieldintheneartipregion,whereyieldingoccurs.Irwincalculatedamore
accurateestimateofplasticzonesize,takingthenecessaryredistributionofcracktipstresses(whichaccompaniesyielding)into
account.Thisleadstoalargerplasticzonesizeasindicatedinthefigurebelow.

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9/8/2016

CrackTipPlasticity

AreasBandCareequal,andtheeffectivecracklengthisAeff.Asimpleanalysisindicatesthatrp =2Rp withAeff=a+Rp .Thus

IrwinproposedthatRp representsaplasticitycorrectiontocracklengthwhichshouldbeappliedwhencracktipplasticityis
relativelyextensive,e.g.underplanestrainconditions.Undersuchcasesthestressintensityfactoriscorrectediterativelythrough
takingaccountoftheeffectivecracklength.TheprocedurefirstcalculatesKusingtheactualcracklength,thenfindsRp usingthis
valueofK.AeffisthenfoundandtheKvaluerecalculated.Thisiterationcanbecontinuedfurtherifnecessary.
Plasticityisimportantinfracturemechanics,astheextentofplasticity,relativetospecimendimensionsandcracksize,determines
thestateofstress(planestrainorplanestress)andwhetherLEFMisapplicableornot.Inturn,stressstateaffectsthedirectionof
planesofmaximumshearstressandhencethefractureplane.Thusfractureproceedsperpendicularlytothemaximumprincipal
stressinplanestrain,andat45tothisdirectioninplanestress.
Asageneralrule,thestressstateapproachesplanestrainwhentheplasticzoneisabout1/15ofthecracklengthandmaterial
thickness.Planestressoccurswhenthesizeofplasticzonetendstowardsthematerialthickness.Iftheplasticzoneisofthesame
orderofsizeasthecracklength,LEFMwouldnotbevalidandyieldingfracturemechanics(YFM)parametersmustbeused.
CloseWindow

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