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Griffith Theory

- Griffith's theory explains brittle fracture by considering the balance between elastic strain energy released and new surface energy created when a crack propagates. - It states that a crack will propagate when the decrease in elastic strain energy is greater than or equal to the energy required to create new crack surface. - The theory predicts that the fracture stress is inversely proportional to the square root of the crack length, meaning longer cracks require less stress to propagate. - While originally developed for brittle materials like glass, it has been modified to also apply to metals which exhibit some plasticity prior to fracture.

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400 views25 pages

Griffith Theory

- Griffith's theory explains brittle fracture by considering the balance between elastic strain energy released and new surface energy created when a crack propagates. - It states that a crack will propagate when the decrease in elastic strain energy is greater than or equal to the energy required to create new crack surface. - The theory predicts that the fracture stress is inversely proportional to the square root of the crack length, meaning longer cracks require less stress to propagate. - While originally developed for brittle materials like glass, it has been modified to also apply to metals which exhibit some plasticity prior to fracture.

Uploaded by

HariDharan M
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Griffith Theory

Fracture
• Separation or fragmentation of a solid body
into two or more parts under the action of
stress
Components of Fracture Process
• Crack Initiation
• Crack Propagation
Fracture - Classification
• Ductile fracture
– Appreciable plastic deformation prior to and during
the propagation of crack
• Brittle fracture
– Rapid rate of crack propagation
– No gross deformation and very little micro
deformation
– No warning and disastrous consequences
– Observed in BCC and HCP metals
(a) Highly ductile fracture in which the specimen necks down to a point.
(b) Moderately ductile fracture after some necking.
(c) Brittle fracture without any plastic deformation.
• Brittle fracture increases with
– Decreasing temperature
– Increasing strain rate
– Triaxial stress conditions
Griffith…
• Alan Arnold Griffith (1893−1963), British
engineer. Griffith’s career was spent primarily
in aeronautical engineering.
• He was one of the first to suggest that the gas
turbine would be a feasible propulsion system
for aircraft
Griffith Theory of Brittle Fracture
• In most basic terms, strength is due to the cohesive
forces between atoms.
• Fracture strength of a brittle material is related to
the cohesive forces between atoms
• Theoretical cohesive strength is approximated as ~
E/10
• But experimental fracture strength is normally
between E/100 – E/10,000
• This difference between cohesive and fracture
strength is due to inherent flaws or defects in the
materials which lower the fracture strength in
engineering materials.

• Griffith explained the discrepancy between the


fracture strength and theoretical cohesive strength
using the concept of energy balance
• Discrepancy is due to inherent defects in
brittle materials leading to stress
concentration  lowering the fracture
strength of the material.

• Griffith theory in its original form is applicable


only to a perfectly brittle material such as
glass.
• Griffith proposed that a brittle material
contains a population of fine cracks

• This produces a stress concentration of


sufficient magnitude so that theoretical
cohesive strength is reached in localized
regions at a nominal stress which is well
below the theoretical value
Griffith criterion for propagation of crack

• A crack will propagate when the decrease in


elastic strain energy is at least equal to the
energy required to create the new crack
surface
Strain Energy
• When an elastic body is deformed, work is done.

• The energy used up is stored in the body as strain energy


and it may be regained by allowing the body to relax.

• Example: the clockwork device which stores strain


energy and then gives it up.
Griffith crack model

Thickness of plate negligible

Crack assumed to be elliptical shape

Length of crack at interior – 2c

Length of crack at edge - c


• Decrease in strain energy results from the formation of a crack
• Strain energy = ½ x stress x strain/unit volume
• The elastic strain energy per unit of plate thickness

• Tensile stress acting normal to the crack length – 2c


• - ve sign is used because growth of crack releases elastic strain energy
• Surface energy due to the presence of crack

• Total change in potential energy from the creation of crack


• According to Griffith, increased surface energy
is compensated by decrease in elastic strain
energy
• Stress required to propagate a crack in a brittle material as a function of the size of the
micro crack

• Fracture stress is inversely proportional to the square root of crack length


• Griffith theory in its original form doesn’t
apply to metals and cannot be used for many
engineering applications.

• Metals which fail in a completely brittle


manner have undergone some plastic
deformation prior to fracture
• Orowan modified the equation by introducing
a new term

Plastic work required to extend the crack wall


Solve
• A relatively large plate of a glass is subjected
to a tensile stress of 40 MPa. If the specific
surface energy and modulus of elasticity for
this glass are 0.3 J/m2 and 69 GPa,
respectively, determine the maximum length
of a surface flaw that is possible without
fracture
Solution
References
• Dieter.G.E, Mechanical Metallurgy, McGraw
Hill, Singapore, 2001

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