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Combination of soluble particles and absorbed solvents cause polymer cracking. New failure mechanism in glassy polymers identified. Cracking caused by presence of particles insoluble in polymer matrix but soluble in solvent. Experiments performed and equations describe cracking phenomenon set forth in concise report.
A theoretical model representing blunting of a crack tip radius through diffusion of vacancies is presented. The model serves as the basis for a computer program which calculates changes, due to successive weld heat passes, in the ultimate tensile strength of 2219-T81 aluminum. In order for the model to yield changes of the same order in the ultimate tensile strength as that observed experimentally, a crack tip radius of the order of .001 microns is required. Such sharp cracks could arise in the fusion zone of a weld from shrinkage cavities or decohered phase boundaries between dendrites and the eutectic phase, or, possibly, from plastic deformation due to thermal stresses encountered during the welding process. Microstructural observations up to X2000 (resolution of about .1 micron) did not, in the fusion zone, show structural details which changed significantly under the influence of a heat pass, with the exception of possible small changes in the configuration of the interdendritic eutectic and in porosity build-up in the remelt zone.
Magnesium aluminate spinel was tested in a water environment at room temperature to establish its slow crack-growth behavior. Ring specimens with artificial flaws on the outside surface were loaded hydraulically on the inside surface. The time to failure was measured. Various precracking techniques were evaluated and multiple precracks were used to minimize the scatter in the static fatigue tests. Statistical analysis techniques were developed to determine the strength and crack velocities for a single flaw. Slow crack-growth rupture was observed at stress intensities as low as 70 percent of K sub c. A strengthening effect was observed in specimens that had survived long-time static fatigue tests.
Both the macro studies of crack layer propagation are presented. The crack extension resistance parameter R sub 1 based on the morphological study of microdefects is introduced. Experimental study of the history dependent nature of G sub c supports the representation of G sub c as a product of specific enthalpy of damage (material constant) and R sub 1. The latter accounts for the history dependence. The observation of nonmonotonic crack growth under monotonic changes of J as well as statistical features of the critical energy release rate (variance of G sub c) indicate the validity of the proposed damage characterization.
A technique is developed for the detection of the onset of circumferential ring cracks in a flat brittle piece of an electrically insulating material. Thin metal films were deposited on both the insulating indentor (diamond) and the insulating brittle flat. The initiation of a ring crack was signified by a step in the monitored electrical contact resistance between the indentor and flat metal films versus the applied force. It was determined by tests performed on polished glass slides using diamond indentors that this technique is both sensitive and reproducible. The onset of crack formation as observed by optical means was found to occur at the same time as the step in the contact resistance when both experiments were carried out simultaneously.
The fatigue crack growth and low cycle fatigue behavior of two P/M superalloys, Rene 95 and Astroloy, in the hot isostatically pressed (HIP) condition, was determined. Test variables included frequency, temperature, environment, and hold times at peak tensile loads (or strains). Crack initiation sites were identified in both alloys. Crack growth rates were shown to increase in argon with decreasing frequency or with the imposition of hold times. This behavior was attributed to the effect of oxygen in the argon. Auger analyses were performed on oxide films formed in argon. Low cycle fatigue lives also were degraded by tensile hold, contrary to previous reports in the literature. The role of environment in low cycle fatigue behavior is discussed.
The transient thermal stress problem in a hollow cylinder or a disk containing a radial crack is considered. It is assumed that the cylinder is reinforced on its inner boundary by a membrane which has thermoelastic constants different than those of the base material. The transient temperature, thermal stresses and the crack tip stress intensity factors are calculated in a cylinder which is subjected to a sudden change of temperature on the inside surface. The results are obtained for various dimensionless parameters and material constants. The special cases of the crack terminating at the cylinder-membrane interface and of the broken membrane are separately considered and some examples are given.
Various analytical and numerical methods used to evaluate the stress intensity factors for cracks in three-dimensional (3-D) solids are reviewed. Classical exact solutions and many of the approximate methods used in 3-D analyses of cracks are reviewed. The exact solutions for embedded elliptic cracks in infinite solids are discussed. The approximate methods reviewed are the finite element methods, the boundary integral equation (BIE) method, the mixed methods (superposition of analytical and finite element method, stress difference method, discretization-error method, alternating method, finite element-alternating method), and the line-spring model. The finite element method with singularity elements is the most widely used method. The BIE method only needs modeling of the surfaces of the solid and so is gaining popularity. The line-spring model appears to be the quickest way to obtain good estimates of the stress intensity factors. The finite element-alternating method appears to yield the most accurate solution at the minimum cost.
Boron/aluminum specimens were made with crack-like slits in the center and with various proportions of 0 and + or - 45 deg plies. They were fatigue loaded and then fractured to determine their residual strengths. The fatigue loads were generally in the range of 60 to 80 percent of the static tensile strength of the specimen as determined from a previous study, and the stress ratio was .05. For virtually all of the specimens the fatigue loading was continued for 100,000 cycles. The specimens were radiographed after the fatigue loading to determine the nature of the fatigue damage. A few specimens were sectioned and examined in a scanning electron microscope after being radiographed in order to verify the interpretation of the radiographs and also to get a better insight into the nature of the fatigue damage. The results indicate that the fatiguing does not significantly affect the strength of the specimens tested. The results of the radiography and of the scanning electron microscopy indicate that the 45 deg plies suffer extensive damage in the form of split and broken fibers and matrix cracking in the vicinity of the ends of the split. By contrast, the only significant damage to the 0 deg plies was a single 0 deg matric crack growing from the ends of the slit and between the 0 deg fibers.
The effect of microstructure on fatigue crack propagation at 650 C has been studied in a P/M nickel-base superalloy, Astroloy. Crack propagation data were obtained in air and vacuum at 20 cpm with a modified compact tension specimen. The rate of crack growth, da/dn, was correlated with the stress intensity range. Key microstructural variables examined were grain size and the distribution and size of the strengthening gamma prime phase. A fine grain size less than 20 microns always promoted rapid, intergranular failure, while a large grain size promoted slower, transgranular failure which decreased as the size and volume fraction of aging gamma prime was manipulated so as to increase alloy strength. The rapid, intergranular mode of failure of the fine grain microstructures was suppressed in vacuum.
The elasticity problem for a long hollow circular cylinder containing an axisymmetric circumferential crack subjected to general nonaxisymmetric external loads is considered. The problem is formulated in terms of a system of singular integral equations with the Fourier coefficients of the derivative of the crack surface displacement as density functions. The stress intensity factors and the crack opening displacement are calculated for a cylinder under uniform tension, bending by end couples, and self-equilibrating residual stresses.
A discrete atomic model of a crack tip in iron under mixed mode loads is examined. The results indicate that the behavior of the crack at the atomic scale as a function of the ratio of mode I to mode II component of load is quite complex. In general, crack tip plasticity appears to increase as the mode II component of load increases.
The transient thermal stress problem in a hollow cylinder or a disk containing a radial crack is considered. It is assumed that the cylinder is reinforced on its inner boundary by a membrane which has thermoelastic constants different than those of the base material. The transient temperature, thermal stresses and the crack tip stress intensity factors are calculated in a cylinder which is subjected to a sudden change of temperature on the inside surface. The results are obtained for various dimensionless parameters and material constants. The special cases of the crack terminating at the cylinder-membrane interface and of the broken membrane are separately considered and some examples are given.
The residual strength of composite sheets with bonded composite stringers loaded in tension was determined. The results are summarized. About 50 graphite/epoxy composite panels with crack-like slots were monotonically loaded in tension to failure. Both sheet layup and stringer configuration were varied. The composite panels have considerable damage tolerance. The stringers arrested cracks that ran from the crack-like slots, and the residual strengths were considerably greater than those of unstiffened composite sheets. A stress-intensity factor analysis was developed to predict the failing strains of the stiffened panels. Using the analysis, a single design curve was produced for composite sheets with bonded stringers of any configuration.
With the application to weld defects in mind, the interaction problem between a planar-crack and a flat inclusion in an elastic solid is considered. The elastic inclusion is assumed to be sufficiently thin so that the thickness distribution of the stresses in the inclusion may be neglected. The problem is reduced to a system of four integral equations having Cauchy-type dominant kernels. The stress intensity factors are calculated and tabulated for various crack-inclusion geometries and the inclusion to matrix modulus ratios, and for general homogeneous loadiong conditions away from the crack-inclusion region.
The general problem of a rectangular plate clamped along two parallel sides and containing a crack parallel to the clamps is considered. The problem is formulated in terms of a system of singular integral equations and the asymptotic behavior of the stress state near the corners is investigated. Numerical examples are considered for a clamped plate without a crack and with a centrally located crack, and the stress intensity factors and the stresses along the clamps are calculated.
The non-unique, dynamic stress intensity factor versus crack-velocity relation as well as the lack of a dynamic arrest stress intensity factor in reaction bonded silicon nitride are contrasted with the gamma-shaped, dynamic stress intensity factor versus crack velocity relation and the dynamic arrest stress intensity factor of structural steel. These differences in dynamic fracture responses resulted in fracture of a hypothetical reaction bonded silicon nitride disk during a simulated start up condition of a gas turbine engine. A larger initial crack in a similar steel disk was arrested after propagating into a decreasing stress field generated by a steady state thermal gradient.
Since the pioneer work of Brown (1966), precracked specimens and related fracture mechanics analyses have been extensively used to study stress corrosion cracking. Certain questions arose in connection with initial attempts to prepare standardized recommended practices by ASTM Committee G-1 on Corrosion of Metals. These questions were related to adequacy of test control as it pertains to acceptable limits of variability, and to validity of expressions for stress intensity and crack-surface displacements for both specimen configurations. An interlaboratory test program, was, therefore, planned with the objective to examine the validity of KIscc testing for selected specimen configurations, materials,and environmental systems. The results reported in the present paper include details of a single laboratory test program. The program was conducted to determine if the threshold value of stress intensity for onset and arrest of stress corrosion cracking was independent for the two specimen configurations examined.