A Transferability Model for Brittle Fracture Including Constraint and Ductile Tearing Effects: A Probabilistic Approach

Ruggieri, C.; Dodds, Robert H., Jr.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/14232 Copy

Description

Title

A Transferability Model for Brittle Fracture Including Constraint and Ductile Tearing Effects: A Probabilistic Approach

Author(s)

• Ruggieri, C.
• Dodds, Robert H., Jr.

Issue Date

1996-08

Keyword(s)

• Weibull stress
• Cleavage fracture
• Micromechanics
• Finite elements

Abstract

This study describes a computational framework to quantify the influence of constraint loss and ductile tearing on the cleavage fracture process, as reflected by the pronounced effects on macroscopic toughness (Jc, Dc). Our approach adopts the Weibull stress, Ow, as a suitable near-tip parameter to describe the coupling of remote loading with a micromechanics model incorporating the statistics of microcracks (weakest link philosophy). Unstable crack propagation (cleavage) occurs at a critical value of Ow which may be attained prior to, or following, some amount of stable, ductile crack extension. A central feature of our framework focuses on the realistic numerical modeling of ductile crack growth using the computational cell methodology to define the evolution of near-tip stress fields during crack extension. Under increased remote loading (J), development of the Weibull stress reflects the potentially strong variations of near-tip stress fields due to the interacting effects of constraint loss and ductile crack extension. Computational results are discussed for well-contained plasticity, where the near-tip fields for a stationary and a growing crack are generated with a modified boundary layer (MBL) formulation (in the form of different levels of applied T-stress). These analyses demonstrate clearly the dependence of Ow on crack-tip stress triaxiality and crack growth. The paper concludes with an application of the micromechanics model to predict the measured geometry and ductile tearing effects on the cleavage fracture toughness, J c, of an HSLA steel. Here, we employ the concept of the Dodds-Anderson scaling model, but.replace their original local criterion based on the equivalence of near-tip stressed volumes by attainment of a critical value of the Weibull stress. For this application, the proposed approach successfully predicts the combined effects of loss of constraint and crack growth on measured Jc-values.

Publisher

University of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station. College of Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Civil Engineering Studies SRS-611

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14232

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. Division of Engineering.
• NASA-AMES Research Center
• Contract Nos. N61533-92-K-0030 and NCC2-5022

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