DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

INTRODUCTION TO FRACTURE MECHANICS

FRACTURE TOUGHNESS

Prof. Dr. M. Evren Toygar

 FRACTURE TOUGHNESS
What is fracture toughness?
 Toughness is the resistance of a material to the propagation of crack.
 The stress intensity at the crack tip is dependent on both the applied
stress and the length of the crack.
 A mechanical variable, Stress Intensity Factor, KI, is used to define
the behavior of the elastic region at the crack tip and NOT a material
property:
K I  f a
where,
f is shape correction factor and it is related to geometry of specimen
and flaw
 is the applied stress
a is the half of a crack length or the length of an internal crack
KI has a unit of Mpa(m)½ or psi(in)½ . Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
 Fracture Toughness
When the stress intensity, KI is increased to a critical value,
i.e., the critical stress intensity, KIC , crack propagation will occur,
which will lead to fracture.
It is written as:

K IC  f a
where,
KIC is a measure of a materials resistance to crack propagation.
It is a material property.
KIC is dependent on temperature, microstructure, thickness and strain
rate.
KIC usually increases with a reduction in grain size.
Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
 Fracture Toughness
How to use KIC ?
 Fracture toughness is most useful in mechanical designs.
 The design criterion that should be used is KIC , where K I  K IC
 Taking into account KIC , which is a material property, the
allowable stress (s) and/or the allowable flaw size a, half of a
crack length can be determined.

 Material Selection:
If the maximum applied stress, σmax , and maximum crack
length acr are specified for a certain application, then only the
materials with KIC greater than KI can be used:

K IC  f max amax
Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
 Fracture Toughness
Allowable stress design (if amax and KIC are specified, then the allowed
stress is,

K IC
 max 
f amax

 K IC 1
amax   
 f max 
Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
 Critical Stress Intensity Factor

Variation of K with thickness of the material.

As the thickness increases, the stress intensity
A crack propagates when KIC is becomes the material fracture toughness,
KIC, and independent of thickness.
achieved at the tip of a crack.
Thus, objects break independent of their
size.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

 Fracture Toughness – Crack Surface Energy
When a material has an applied strain, it undergoes an elastic strain related
to the modulus of elasticity, E, of the material.
When a crack propagates, this strain energy is released, which reduces the
overall energy.
However, two new surfaces are created by the extension of the crack,
which increase the energy associated with the surface.
By balancing the strain energy and the surface energy, g, we find that the
critical stress required to propagate the crack is given by:
E
 critical  2
a
This equation shows that even small cracks can severely limit the
strength of a material.
This equation is particularly applicable to ceramics.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

 Determination of Fracture Toughness
Fracture toughness of material can be determined according to LEFM
analysis:
 KIC Fracture Toughness (stress based)
Works well for very high strength materials
 Crack Tip Opening Displacement CTOD (displacement based)
Used for lower strength materials (σo < 1400 MPa),
exhibiting small amount of plastic deformation before failure.
 J- Integral JIC (energy based)
Used for lower strength materials, exhibiting small amount of plastic
deformation before failure.
 R – Curve (energy based)
The resistance to fracture of a material during slow and stable crack
propagation. Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
 Determination of Fracture Toughness KIC

 KIC - the critical stress intensity in mode I fracture

Need to make sure that the specimen is tested under mode I fracture
and in a plane strain condition.
Therefore, brittle condition will be obtained.
 Validation of KIC fracture toughness value
 Specimen preparation
 Testing procedure
 Calculation of KIC value

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

 Validation of KIC value
 Since the stress distribution under the notch varies due to specimen
thickness, which also affect toughness of materials of different test
specimen dimensions.
 Due to the criterion for brittle fracture in the presence of the notch,
the plane strain condition, is required for the validation of fracture
toughness KIC values.
2
K 
B, w  a, a  2.5 IC 
 
 ys 

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

 Specimen preparation

 Select the specimen dimensions.

 Select the crack propagation direction.
 Fatigue pre-cracking by applying fatigue load at a controlled
condition of small load and amplitude to obtain a sharp fatigue
pre-crack to ensure high stress distribution ahead of the crack
tip.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

 Test procedure for KIC fracture toughness
 A pre-cracked specimen (three point bending specimen) is arranged
and monotonically loaded until failure.
 Load and clip gauge displacement are recorded during loading to give
a graph, which will be used for calculation.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

How to measure fracture toughness, K1C

Measuring fracture toughness, K1c. Two test configurations

are shown here. Again, fracture toughness is a material property not to be confused with impact.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

 Calculation of KIC fracture toughness
Fracture toughness KQ is calculated using the following expression
(for a bend specimen).

SENB Specimen C(T) Specimen

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
 Calculation of KIC fracture toughness
If KQ value obtained from above equation is verified according to
2

thickness Equation , B, w  a, a  2.5 K  ,KIC will be obtained.

IC
 
 ys 

Fracture toughness and design

If the KIC value of material is known and the presence of a crack is
allowed, we can then monitor the crack propagation during service
prior to failure. How long we can use the component before it fails.
Crack in the component (in service) can be detected by using Non
Destructive Testing (NDT), i.e., ultrasonic, dyepenetrant, X-ray, Eddy
current, ferromagnetic inspection.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

A chart of fracture toughness Klc and modulus E.
The contours show the toughness, Gc.
Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
A chart of fracture toughness K1c and yield strength σy.
The contours show the transition crack size, ccrit.
Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
Fracture toughness is required in the system of high strength and light weight, i.e., high
strength steels, titanium and aluminium alloys. The cylindrical pressure vessel can be
given as an example:

Flaw geometry and design of cylindrical pressure vessel

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
Problems:

Problem 1: The dimensions and material properties of the AISI 4340 plate made of
steel and containing a crack in the center are as given below. This plate has a defect of a
1mm as an initial crack. Calculate the stress intensity factor for the plate and the crack
position as the plate is subjected to a tensile load of P = 240 N. (W = width, B =
thickness, H = height) .

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

Problems:

Problem 2: The fracture toughness of a piece of aircraft made of aluminum is 40

MPa(m)1/2. It has been identified that the fracture occurs under 300 MPa stress and
the maximum internal crack length reaches 4.0 mm. For the same part and alloy,
calculate whether the fracture occurs while 260 MPa stress applied and the
maximum internal crack length reaches 6.0mm? Why?or why not? Please explain?

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

Problems:

Solution 2: Airplane parts are made of aluminum alloy ...If we look at the
definition of critical fracture toughness, to provide information about the
geometry of. We can use.
(Y) is the shape correction factor and it can be used to calculate KI value and
after second loading the crack dimension is measured, and the resulting value is
compared with fracture toughness value.

In the second case fracture will occur because the value of KI is greater than
the value of KIC.
Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR
Problems:
Problem 3 : You are asked to confirm that he fracture toughness of a particular steel alloy is
approximately 60 MPa√m. Furthermore the test is the test is to be conducted with the smallest
possible load cell, using either a 1-cm thick, center-cracked panel (CCT) or compact (CT)
specimen. Which specimen would you choose for this property verification? The stress
intensity relations
for CCT (center-cracked tension) panel :

P a a
K f (a / W ) f (a / W )  sec
BW W

for CT (compact tension) panel :

P
f (a / W ) 
2  a / W  0.886  4.64a / W  13.32(a / W ) 2  14.72(a / W )3  5.6(a / W ) 4 
K f (a / W )
B W 1  a / W 1.5
For the CCT panel, a=2 cm and W=10 cm,
For CT panel, a=3 cm and W=6 cm

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

Problems:
Problem 4:20 inc. in width and 0.050 inc. In thickness of a plate is fixed at one end and
pulled from the other end with a force of 36000 lbs. The fracture toughness of this plate
made of steel is KIC = 50 ksi(in) ½ . When the plate contains the center crack, calculate
the critical crack length before fracture occurs.

Answer 4 : a=0.60 inc (15.2mm) , 2a=1.20 inc (30.4 mm)

Problem 5: Plates with dimensions of 180-350 mm from two different A and B steels
are subjected to a pull load of P = 45000 N. If the minimum crack size is 2.5 mm with
non-destructive control and the minimum weight in design is taken into consideration,
which steel should be selected?
A steel : yield strength = 91 N/mm2 , fracture toughness = 364 N/mm 3/2
B steel : yield strngth = 103.5 N/mm2 , fracture toughness = 174 N/mm 3/2

Answer 5: A steel must be choosen.

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR

Problems:

Problem 6: Bir A tensile sample is 10 mm wide and the half of a crack length is a = 0.3
mm long. When the applied tensile stress reaches 450 MPa on this sample, the crack
propagates suddenly. The elastic modulus is given as 200 GPa
a) when there is a center crack,
b) when there is a edge crack,
Calculate the fracture toughness.

Problem 7: The width of the plate made of low carb is 4 in. And the tensile stress
applied to this plate is 32 ksi. Calculate the value of the minimum fracture toughness to
be tolerated for the plate with a 2 mm crack with edge notch.
Answer 7 : 19.4 MPa(m)1/2

Prof.Dr. M.Evren TOYGAR