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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Stochastic modeling of crack initiation and short-crack growth under creep and creep-fatigue conditions

A simplified stochastic model is proposed for crack initiation and short-crack growth under creep and creep-fatigue conditions. Material inhomogeneity provides the random nature of crack initiation and early growth. In the model, the influence of microstructure is introduced by the variability of: (1) damage accumulation along grain boundaries, (2) critical damage required for crack initiation or growth, and (3) the grain-boundary length. The probabilities of crack initiation and growth are derived by using convolution integrals. The model is calibrated and used to predict the crack density and crack-growth rate of short cracks of 304 stainless steel under creep and creep-fatigue conditions. The mean-crack initiation lives are predicted to be within an average deviation of about 10 percent from the experimental results. The predicted cumulative distributions of crack-growth rate follow the experimental data closely. The applicability of the simplified stochastic model is discussed and the future research direction is outlined.

Kitamura, Takayuki↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stochastic modeling of crack initiation and short-crack growth under creep and creep-fatigue conditions

A simplified stochastic model is proposed for crack initiation and short-crack growth under creep and creep-fatigue conditions. Material inhomogeneity provides the random nature of crack initiation and early growth. In the model, the influence of microstructure is introduced by the variability of: (1) damage accumulation along grain boundaries, (2) critical damage required for crack initiation or growth, and (3) the grain-boundary length. The probabilities of crack initiation and growth are derived by using convolution integrals. The model is calibrated and used to predict the crack density and crack-growth rate of short cracks of 304 stainless steel under creep and creep-fatigue conditions. The mean-crack initiation lives are predicted to be within an average deviation of about 10 percent from the experimental results. The predicted comulative distributions of crack-growth rate follow the experimental data closely. The applicability of the simplified stochastic model is discussed and the future research direction is outlined.

Kitamura, Takayuki↗
NASA NTRS1994

Influence of crack history on the stable tearing behavior of a thin-sheet material with multiple cracks

Fracture tests were conducted on 2.3mm thick, 305mm wide sheets of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy with from one to five collinear cracks. The cracks were introduced (crack history) into the specimens by three methods: saw cutting, fatigue precracking at a low stress range, and fatigue precracking at a high stress range. For the single crack tests, the initial crack history influenced the stress required for the onset of stable crack growth and the first 10mm of crack growth. The effect on failure stress was about 4 percent or less. For the multiple crack tests, the initial crack history was shown to cause differences of more than 20 percent in the link-up stress and 13 percent in failure stress. An elastic-plastic finite element analysis employing the CTOA fracture criterion was used to predict the fracture behavior of the single and multiple crack tests. The numerical predictions were within 7 percent of the observed link-up and failure stress in all the tests.

Dawicke, D. S.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hydro-chemo-mechanical phase field formulation for corrosion induced cracking in reinforced concrete

Steel corrosion induced cracking in reinforced concrete structures is often caused by volumetric straining at the steel-concrete interface. This volumetric strain is mainly controlled by the rate of generation of corrosion product, which depends on the diffusion of Cl{sup −} and dissolved O{sub 2} as well as the chemical reaction at the steel-concrete interface. While many numerical modeling techniques have been proposed to tackle this complex phenomenon, most have been limited to using staggered solution schemes, where the diffusion, chemical reaction, mechanical strain, and crack fields are solved for separately. Unfortunately, such approaches introduce numerical errors that can lead to unrealistic predictions. Therefore, a coupled solution, is needed to remove the formulation induced errors and understand this complex phenomenon. To provide a unifying solution framework for corrosion induced cracking in reinforced concrete, a phase field formulation is presented and implemented with FEM algorithms. The governing equations are derived from the system's free energy and Fick's law of diffusion. The proposed formulation was first validated in 1D by comparing the modeling results with the semi-analytical solution approximated via Laurent series to avoid singularities in the complex domain. 2D plane strain solutions to the embedded rebar undergoing corrosion induced cracking with pre-cracks are also presented and compared with the approximated solutions from linear elastic fracture mechanics theory (LEFM). The modeling of crack propagation enabled by the proposed formulation is also presented along with parametric studies to reveal the roles of the fracture toughness and permeability of the concrete on the corrosion induced cracking. A case study was also conducted on H-pile steel with concrete jackets to demonstrate the feasibility of modeling corrosion induced fracture in reinforced concrete structures with complex steel-concrete interfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Determination of Constraint-Independent Crack Tip Opening Angle for Stable Crack Growth in High-Strength Ductile Steels

The crack tip opening angle (CTOA) is one of fracture toughness parameters that has been used for decades in describing large stable crack growth in thin-walled aerospace structures under the low-constraint conditions. Recently, the pipeline industry has developed a growing interest in using the CTOA parameter to serve as the minimum required fracture toughness to arrest dynamic crack propagation in modern gas transmission pipelines made of high-strength ductile steel. To meet this industrial need, the CTOA test standard ASTM E3039 was therefore developed for measuring the constant critical CTOA. ASTM E3039 recommends a drop weight tearing test (DWTT) specimen with a shallow crack for standard CTOA testing, but its CTOA may depend on the low constraint condition of the DWTT specimen at the crack tip. Verifying the constraint independence of the DWTT-measured CTOA thus becomes indispensable for applying CTOA toughness to the running fracture control in the pipeline design. For this purpose, the present paper evaluates critical CTOA values in a set of fracture toughness tests on single-edge notched bend (SENB) specimens with shallow and deep cracks, based on four CTOA estimation models. Among these, the Ln(P)-LLD linear fit model is similar to that recommended by ASTM E3039 for CTOA calculation. Fracture test data for X80 pipeline steel and HY80 structural steel were considered in the CTOA evaluation. The results showed that the four CTOA models were able to determine a constraint independent CTOA value for stable crack growth in the SENB specimens. As a result, a single, reliable, constant CTOA value could be determined regardless of the specimen geometry or the crack-tip constraint conditions. Therefore, the CTOA measured using ASTM E3039 is constraint-independent and transferable to use in cases of actual cracks propagating in gas transmission pipelines.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1976

Predicting failure of specimens with either surface cracks or corner cracks at holes

A previously developed fracture criterion was applied to fracture data for surface-cracked specimens subjected to remote tensile loading and for specimens with a corner crack (or cracks) emanating from a circular hole subjected to either remote tensile loading or pin loading in the hole. The failure stresses calculated from this criterion were consistent with experimental failure stresses for both surface and corner cracks for a wide range of crack shapes and crack sizes in specimens of aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, and steel. Empirical equations for the elastic stress-intensity factors for a surface crack and for a corner crack (or cracks) emanating from a circular hole in a finite-thickness and finite-width specimen were also developed.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Measurement and analysis of critical crack tip processes associated with variable amplitude fatigue crack growth

Crack growth retardation following overloads can result in overly conservative life predictions in structures subjected to variable amplitude fatigue loading when linear damage accumulation procedures are employed. Crack closure is believed to control the crack growth retardation, although the specific closure mechanism is debatable. Information on the relative contributions to crack closure from: (1) plasticity left in the wake of the advancing crack and (2) crack tip residual stresses is provided. The delay period and corresponding crack growth rate transients following overloads are systematically measured as a function of load ratio (R) and overload magnitude. These responses are correlated in terms of the local 'driving force' for crack growth as measured by crack tip opening loads and delta K sub eff. The latter measurements are obtained using a scanning electron microscope equipped with a cyclic loading stage; measurements are quantified using a relatively new stereoimaging technique. Combining experimental results with analytical predictions suggests that both plastic wake and residual stress mechanism are operative, the latter becoming predominate as R increases.

Hudak, S. J., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Variables controlling fatigue crack growth of short cracks

A study was conducted to evaluate the roles of crack closure and microstructure in the fatigue growth of short cracks. Testing was performed at R ratios of 0.1, 0.5, and 0.7. At all R ratios short cracks exhibited accelerated growth rates in comparison to long cracks. It was concluded that crack closure could not entirely account for the accelerated growth rates of short cracks. The accelerated growth rates occurred over crack lengths on the order of grain size, suggesting a strong influence of microstructure. A significant effect of grain boundaries and inclusions on short crack FCG behavior was observed. For very short crack lengths, fatigue growth rates do not appear to be a function of either delta K or R ratio.

Telesman, J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Crack-mouth displacements for semielliptical surface cracks subjected to remote tension and bending loads

The exact analytical solution for an embedded elliptical crack in an infinite body subjected to arbitrary loading was used in conjunction with the finite element alternating method to obtain crack-mouth-opening displacements (CMOD) for surface cracks in finite plates subjected to remote tension. Identical surface-crack configurations were also analyzed with the finite element method using 20-noded element for plates subjected to both remote tension and bending. The CMODs from these two methods generally agreed within a few percent of each other. Comparisons made with experimental results obtained from surface cracks in welded aluminum alloy specimens subjected to tension also showed good agreement. Empirical equations were developed for CMOD for a wide range of surface-crack shapes and sizes subjected to tension and bending loads. These equations were obtained by modifying the Green-Sneddon exact solution for an elliptical crack in an infinite body to account for finite boundary effects. These equations should be useful in monitoring surface-crack growth in tests and in developing complete crack-face-displacement equations for use in three-dimensional weight-function methods.

Raju, Ivatury S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Discrete crack growth analysis methodology for through cracks in pressurized fuselage structures

A methodology for simulating the growth of long through cracks in the skin of pressurized aircraft fuselage structures is described. Crack trajectories are allowed to be arbitrary and are computed as part of the simulation. The interaction between the mechanical loads acting on the superstructure and the local structural response near the crack tips is accounted for by employing a hierarchical modeling strategy. The structural response for each cracked configuration is obtained using a geometrically nonlinear shell finite element analysis procedure. Four stress intensity factors, two for membrane behavior and two for bending using Kirchhoff plate theory, are computed using an extension of the modified crack closure integral method. Crack trajectories are determined by applying the maximum tangential stress criterion. Crack growth results in localized mesh deletion, and the deletion regions are remeshed automatically using a newly developed all-quadrilateral meshing algorithm. The effectiveness of the methodology and its applicability to performing practical analyses of realistic structures is demonstrated by simulating curvilinear crack growth in a fuselage panel that is representative of a typical narrow-body aircraft. The predicted crack trajectory and fatigue life compare well with measurements of these same quantities from a full-scale pressurized panel test.

Potyondy, David O.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Calculating 3-D Crack-Opening Behavior Of A Fatigue Crack

Method for calculating through-the-thickness, three-dimensional (3-D) crack-opening behavior in standard fatigue-crack-growth test specimens devised. Involves determination of crack-opening loads from crack-propagation data and finite-element analyses. In method, one considers variation in rate of crack growth along crack front, relationship between rate of crack growth and effective stress intensity factor, and variation in three-dimensional stress-intensity factor along crack front. Developed to provide simpler means for obtaining fatigue-crack-opening behavior loads.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2015

On the Crack Bifurcation and Fanning of Crack Growth Data

Crack growth data obtained from ASTM load shedding method for different R values show some fanning especially for aluminum alloys. It is believed by the authors and it has been shown before that the observed fanning is due to the crack bifurcation occurs in the near threshold region which is a function of intrinsic properties of the alloy. Therefore, validity of the ASTM load shedding test procedure and results is confirmed. However, this position has been argued by some experimentalists who believe the fanning is an artifact of the test procedure and thus the obtained results are invalid. It has been shown that using a special test procedure such as using compressively pre-cracked specimens will eliminate the fanning effect. Since not using the fanned data fit can result in a significantly lower calculated cyclic life, design of a component, particularly for rotorcraft and propeller systems will considerably be impacted and therefore this study is of paramount importance. In this effort both test procedures i.e. ASTM load shedding and the proposed compressive pre-cracking have been used to study the fatigue crack growth behavior of compact tension specimens made of aluminum alloy 2524-T3. Fatigue crack growth paths have been closely observed using SEM machines to investigate the effects of compression pre-cracking on the crack bifurcation behavior. The results of this study will shed a light on resolving the existing argument by better understanding of near threshold fatigue crack growth behavior.

Forman, Royce G.↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Enhanced Virtual Crack Closure Technique for Stress Intensity Factor Calculation along Arbitrary Crack Fronts and the Application in Hydraulic Fracturing Simulation

The virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) is widely used for calculating energy release rates along crack fronts and modeling the propagation of cracks in solid materials. Although the VCCT formulation for smooth crack fronts has been sufficiently addressed in the literature, the application of VCCT to a nonsmoothed crack front with sharp corners warrants further investigation. In this study, we describe an enhanced VCCT to calculate energy release rates and stress intensity factors for cracks with arbitrary shapes in 3D domains discretized on structured grids. The formulations of the enhanced VCCT were developed and implemented into a multiphysics simulation environment capable of simulating crack propagation in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. Comparisons with existing analytical/numerical solutions and other VCCT approaches were performed to verify the enhanced VCCT in terms of SIF calculation along nonsmoothed crack fronts. We then applied the enhanced VCCT to a hydraulically driven penny-shaped fracture problem to further demonstrate its capability to simulate nonsmoothed fracture propagation.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS1972

Fatigue crack tip deformation and fatigue crack propagation

The effects of stress ratio, prestress cycling and plate thickness on the fatigue crack propagation rate are studied on 2024-T351 aluminum alloy. Fatigue crack propagation rate increases with the plate thickness and the stress ratio. Prestress cycling below the static yield strength has no noticeable effect on the fatigue crack propagation rate. However, prestress cycling above the static yield strength causes the material to strain harden and increases the fatigue crack propagation rate. Crack tip deformation is used to study the fatigue crack propagation. The crack tip strains and the crack opening displacements were measured from moire fringe patterns. The moire fringe patterns were obtained by a double exposure technique, using a very high density master grille (13,400 lines per inch).

Kang, T. S.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Crack shapes and stress intensity factors for edge-cracked specimens.

A simple stress intensity factor expression is given for a deep edge crack in a plate in tension. The shapes of cracks opened by tension or bending are approximated by conic sections, and the conic section coefficients are related to plate geometry by very simple empirical equations. The magnitude of the crack displacement is a function of applied load, plate geometry, and the elastic constants of the plate material. The shape of a loaded crack in a semiinfinite plate is, approximately, a portion of an ellipse whose semimajor axis is about three times the crack length. As the crack length (relative to the plate width) increases, the crack shape becomes parabolic, then hyperbolic, the acuity of the hyperbola increasing with the relative crack length.

Orange, T. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Crack-closure and crack-growth measurements in surface-flawed titanium alloy Ti6Al-4V

The crack-closure and crack-growth characteristics of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V were determined experimentally on surface-flawed plate specimens. Under cyclic loading from zero to tension, cracks deeper than 1 mm opened at approximately 50 percent of the maximum load. Cracks shallower than 1 mm opened at higher loads. The correlation between crack-growth rate and the total stress-intensity range showed a lower threshold behavior. This behavior was attributed to the high crack-opening loads at short cracks because the lower threshold was much less evident in correlations between the crack-growth rates and the effective stress-intensity range.

Elber, W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the measurement of the crack tip stress field as a means of determining Delta K(sub eff) under conditions of fatigue crack closure

The optical method of caustics has been successfully extended to enable stress intensity factors as low as 1MPa square root of m to be determined accurately for central fatigue cracks in 2024-T3 aluminium alloy test panels. The feasibility of using this technique to study crack closure, and to determine the effective stress intensity factor range, Delta K(sub eff), has been investigated. Comparisons have been made between the measured values of stress intensity factor, K(sub caus), and corresponding theoretical values, K(sub theo), for a range of fatigue cracks grown under different loading conditions. The values of K(sub caus) and K(sub theo) were in good agreement at maximum stress, where the cracks are fully open, while K(sub caus) exceeded K(sub theo) at minimum stress, due to crack closure. However, the levels of crack closure and values of Delta K(sub eff) obtained could not account for the variations of crack growth rate with loading conditions. It is concluded that the values of Delta K(sub eff), based on caustic measurements in a 1/square root of r stress field well outside the plastic zone, do not fully reflect local conditions which control crack tip behavior.

Wallhead, Ian R.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Effect of Crack Opening on Penetrant Crack Detectability

Results: From the testing we were able to determine all the cracks within the test range were detectable or better with developer. Many of the indications after development lost their linearity and gave circular indications. Our tests were performed in a laboratory and our procedure would be difficult in an industrial setting. Conclusions: The "V" did not significantly affect our ability to detect the POD cracks with fluorescent penetrant. Conduct same experiment with more cracks. The 0.025 and 0.050 POD specimens are clean and documented with the SEM. Conduct water-wash fluorescent penetrant test at EAFB. The poppet cracks are tighter than the POD specimen cracks. Flight FCV poppets: 0.01 mils (0.3 microns) Langley fatigue cracked poppets: 0.02 mils (0.5 microns) POD specimen (post 5 mils): 0.05 mils (1.4 microns) We could not detect cracks in Langley fatigue-cracked poppets with fluorescent penetrant. Investigate inability of penetrant to wet the poppet surface.

Weaver, Devin↗