32 Elements of Fmcture Mechanics

10. Why does a brittle material not have stable crack growth?
11. Why are thin plates tougher in comparison to thick plates?
12. Why is critical energy release rate not given in handbooks for thin plates?

PROBLEMS

1. Determine the energy release rate of a DCB specimen through change in strain energy
approach for constant load.
2. Determine the energy release rate, using elementary beam analysis, for the configurations
given in Fig. 2.18 (h<<a).

(b)
h
p

p
4 h

p~
~'},IJ

(c) (d)

Fig. 2.18 The figure of Problem 2

3. G1 is determined for a DCB specimen with a load at the end of each cantilever in
Section 2.7 by neglecting the effect of the shear stress. If the strain energy of the shear
force is also considered, find G1.
 Energy Release Rate 33

4. Consider a plate with a crack of length a and lateral load P acting on the corners as shown
in Fig. 2.19. Find the energy release rate.
[e= TL I Kµ where eis the angle of twist, T twisting moment, L length, µ shear modulus
and

K = bh3 [16 -3.36!:(1- ~ ) ]

16 3 b 12b4

12=5
h
h<<b
h<<a

Fig. 2.19 The figure of Problem 4

5. The load on a 30 mm thick plate with an edge crack of 50 mm length was increased very
slowly and the displacement of the load point was monitored. It was observed. that at the
load of 2100 N and displacement u = 4.1 mm, the crack started growing. The rate of crack
growth was much faster than the rate at which the load increased and therefore the crack
essentially was grown at the load of 2100 N. Through an optical recording using a rapid
camera it was found that the crack grew up to 65 mm length with the rapid increase in
displacement to u = 7.5 mm. Determine the critical energy release rate.
6. A large plate of 36 mm thickness with an edge crack of a = 32 mm length is pulled very
slowly under displacement control loading. At the displacement of 7.2 mm, when the
recorded load is 2750 N, the crack starts growing. At a= 41.7 mm, the crack is arrested
and the load decreases to 1560 N. Determine the critical energy release rate.
7. A double cantilever beam of a fiber composite laminate with an initial pre-crack is loaded
under displacement control to the critical load and the crack is allowed to grow by a small
length. Then, the specimen is unloaded to zero load. Now, the specimen with a larger
crack length is loaded again to the new critical load and allowed to grow further by a
small length. Such load cycles are repeated five times and compliance is obtained during
each cycle. The data is summarized in Table 2.4. The load displacement curve remains
elastic up to the critical point and the thickness of the specimen is B = 30 mm. Determine
the critical strain energy rate for each segment of crack growth through the approach of
finding the area enclosed in the corresponding triangle of the load-displacement recording.
34 Elements of Fracture Mechanics

TABLE 2.4 The table of Problem 7

Crack length a (mm) Compliance C (m/N) Critical load P (N)

32 33.5 X 10- 6 94.3
42 68.9 X 10- 6 78.8
50 121.0 X 10- 6 64.0
58 191.0 X 10- 6 53.5
67 294.0 X 10- 6 44.0

REFERENCES

2.1 Kanninen, M.F. and Popelar, C.H. (1985). Advanced Fracture Mechanics, Oxford University
Press, New York.
2.2 Gdoutos, E.E. (1993). Fracture Mechanics-An Introduction, Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Dordrecht.
2.3 Broek, D. (1982). Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,
The Hague.
2.4 Meguid, S.A. (1989). Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Elsevier Applied Science, London.
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Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
2.6 Hertzberg, R. W. (1989). Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, John
Wiley and Sons, New York.
2.7 Knott, J.F. (1973). Fundamentals of Fracture Mechanics, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
2.8 Griffith, A.A. (1921). The Phenomena of Rupture and Flow in Solids, Philosophical
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2.9 Griffith, A.A. (1924). The Theory of Rupture, Proceedings of the First International Conference
of Applied Mechanics, Delft.
2.10 Inglis, C. E. (1913). Stress in a Plate due to the Presence of Cracks and Sharp Corners,
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2.11 Irwin, G. R. (1948). Fracture Dynamics: Fracturing of Metals, American Society for Metals,
Cleveland, pp. 147-166.
2.12 Orowan, E. (1948). Fracture and Strength of Solids, Reports on Progress in Physics, XII,
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2.13 Anderson, T. L. (2004). Fracture Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications, CRC, Press-Book.
2.14 Sanford, R. J. (2003). Principles of Fracture Mechanics, Prentice Hall,Upper Saddle River.
2.15 Janssen, M., Zuidema, J. & Wanhill, R.J.H. (2004). Fracture Mechanics, Spon Press,Abingdon.
2.16 Ramesh, K. (2007). e-Book on Engineering Fracture Mechanics, IIT Madras,
URL: http// apm.iitm.ac.in/ smlab /kramesh/book_4_htm.