MCLE 371 – Machine Elements I

by
Asst. Prof. Dr. Doğuş Hürdoğanoğlu
 Introduction to Fracture Mechanics
Results of a Survey of Ships
‐ causes of failures

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 Failure Mechanisms
Failure mechanisms:
• Yielding (of ductile materials), i.e. permanent deformation
• Brittle fracture and stress‐corrosion fracture
• Fatigue failure
• Other causes, e.g. impact, wear, corrosion
Brittle fracture and fatigue failure are common.
We therefore need to design against the sudden and
dangerous failures due to:
• Brittle fracture
• Fatigue failure

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 Plan for Today
• Characteristics of brittle fracture
• Three modes of brittle fracture
• Stress intensity factor and critical stress intensity factor
• Geometric factor (or Shape factor) in relation to stress
intensity factor.
• Ductile to brittle transition of metals
• Fracture toughness and fracture strength
• Plate thickness effect and flaw size
• Non‐destructive inspection techniques
• Stress‐corrosion fracture
• Summary

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 Characteristics of Brittle Fracture
What is brittle fracture? (strain at failure ≤ 0.05% say)
What is common in catastrophic failures?
• Sudden failure!
• Not much yielding or plastic deformation
• Below ductile‐to‐brittle transition temperature
• Not much ‘pull‐out’ on the fractal surface
• Usually starts from a micro‐crack, a scratch or an inclusion
Common in glass/ceramics, in metals with cracks and in
metals at low temperatures
Think about how you cut a piece of window glass?

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 Modes of Crack Propagation

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 Stress Intensity Factor, 𝑲𝟎
• The earlier stress concentration
analysis breaks down for crack
problems ‐ the radius of the crack tip
is so small that the stress
concentration approaches infinity.
• The stress field is associated with the
crack length.
• A stress intensity factor for an infinite
plate is 𝑲𝟎
1
(Note: units are Pa∙𝑚 ) 2

• We will consider Mode I cracks only in

this module.
(Note: do not confuse 𝑲𝟎 with the
earlier stress concentration factors 𝑲𝒕
and 𝑲𝒕𝒔 !)
(Refer to Shigley, 9th Ed. p242)
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 Geometric Factor, Y (or Shape Factor)
• Under Mode I conditions, 𝑲𝑰 is used for the stress intensity factor
for a plate of finite dimensions.
• Geometric factor Y depends on crack position (edge or central,
etc.), plate width, and loading mode:

• 𝑲𝑰 is then given by:

e.g. For a plate with a central crack where, 2h = 2b,

i.e. square, and 2a = b.
What is the stress intensity factor ?
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 Plate with a Central Crack

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 Plate with a Central Crack

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 Plate with a Central Crack

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 Plate with a Central Crack

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 Factor of Safety against Fracture
• Stress intensity factor 𝑲𝑰 is analogous to applied stress
• The fracture toughness, 𝑲𝑰𝑪 (critical stress intensity factor) is
analogous to strength
• Therefore the factor of safety against fracture failure, 𝒏𝒅 is then:

• A failure occurs when 𝑲𝑰 → 𝑲𝑰𝑪 so whether a component is

going to fail depends on 𝑲𝑰

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 Example: The Deck of a Ship
A steel ship deck plate is 30mm thick, 12m wide and 20m long. It
is loaded with a tensile stress of 50 MPa along the length. It is
operated below its ductile‐to‐brittle transition temperature and 𝐾𝐼𝐶
1
= 28.3 MPa∙𝑚 . If a 65mm central transverse crack is present,
2

estimate:
(a) The factor of safety
(b) The tensile stress at which catastrophic failure will occur.
Compare with the yield stress value of 280 MPa for this
material.

(FoS = 1.69, 𝝈𝒇 = 84.35 MPa)

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 Example: The Deck of a Ship

Note: This stress is much lower than the yield stress of 280MPa (only 30%)
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 Fracture Toughness and Corrosion Fracture
Background
• The idea that cracks can exist in components even before
service begins and that cracks can grow during service as a
consequence of applied stress, has led to the concept of
“Damage‐tolerant Design”.
• The focus of the philosophy is on crack growth until it
becomes critical at which point the component is removed
from service.
• The ‘science’ behind this is called “Linear Elastic Fracture
Mechanics” (LEFM).
• In practice, regular inspection and maintenance are
essential in the decision to retire parts before cracks reach
catastrophic proportions and failures occur.
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 Ductile or Brittle Fracture?
• Transition from ductile to brittle failure occurs at low
temperatures after a low-temperature threshold is crossed
(DBTT ductile‐to‐brittle‐transition temperature) for the
particular material, e.g. in cast iron or hardened steel.
• Due to variability, very few figures have been published, so
testing is necessary!
• A high value of 𝑆𝑦 /𝑆𝑢𝑡 , (i.e. approaching 1) indicates that
there is only a small capacity to absorb energy in the plastic
region and hence there is more likelihood of a sudden
brittle fracture (i.e. shattering on impact, for example with
hardened steel) low temperatures.
(refer to stress‐strain graphs in Shigley, 9th Ed. p33)

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 Fracture Toughness 𝑲𝑰𝑪 and Fracture Strength 𝝈𝒇
• A crack will not propagate unless the applied stress is great enough.
• Toughness and strength are two quite different concepts!
» Strength - is the ability to resist stress
» Toughness - is the ability to resist cracking
• We have seen that the critical stress intensity factor, 𝑲𝑰𝑪 is related to
the fracture strength, 𝝈𝒇 as follows:

NOTE: Cracking is related to two factors: σ and a for a given geometry.

For Engineering Metals:
• 𝑲𝑰𝑪 is in the range 20~200 MPa 𝑚
For Plastics, Glass and Ceramics:
• 𝑲𝑰𝑪 is in the range 1~10 MPa 𝑚

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 Damage Tolerant Design
(based on Fracture Mechanics)
• If the applied stress is below the fracture strength, the component will not
fail immediately, i.e. σ < 𝜎𝑓
• However, a crack can grow slowly and lead to a brittle fracture over a
period of time.
• The questions might be: What is the critical crack length and how long will
it take for a failure to occur?

σ is the applied stress, Y is the geometric factor and 𝑎𝑐 is the critical crack half-length at
which failure occurs. The crack length can be monitored and the component replaced when
necessary.

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 Plate Thickness
(refer to Shigley, 9th Ed. p245)

• An increase in plate thickness leads to a decrease in the 𝑲𝑰𝑪 value.

• The decrease however is asymptotic, reaching a minimum value with
increasing plate thickness – refer to the graph on the next slide.
• The fracture toughness for plane strain is normally lower than for
plane stress.
• The minimum value is called the “Plane Strain fracture toughness”.
• The published values of fracture toughness, 𝑲𝑰𝑪 are usually these
Mode I plane strain figures.
• This leads to a ‘conservative’ (safe) design for minimum thickness
plates.

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 Plate Thickness Effect

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 Flaw Size and Orientation
• The designer must assume the worst-case crack orientation.
• Also, we must assume the crack length will be the longest
that will still be undetectable by the inspection methods in
use during manufacture or in service inspections.
Inspection technologies in use:
• Visual inspection: e.g. by microscope – can detect surface
cracks only
• Non-destructive scanning/testing (NDT): e.g. ultrasonic
scanning, X-ray tomography (looking at cross-sections by
‘slicing’), etc.

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 Non-destructive Inspections

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 Stress-Corrosion Cracking Effect
• Components subjected to continuous static loadings in
certain corrosive environments may, over a period of
time, develop serious cracks.
• This effect is known as stress-corrosion cracking.
• Examples of components subject to this effect range
from marine and bridge cables to springs in door-locks
and clocks/watches, lock washers, etc.
• The stress, environment, time and alloy structure all have
an influence on the cracking with each factor speeding
up the influence of the others, i.e. cross-effects exist
between the factors.
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 Cracking Effect Testing
• The rate of crack growth depends both upon stress and upon
time.
• Stress-time tests can be carried out to determine the limiting
values of the critical stress intensity factors, 𝑲𝑰𝑪 involved.
• Tests must be run on samples under constant but differing
loadings, with each sample starting with the same initial crack
size, and the results plotted.
• Unfortunately these tests require a great deal of care and time
for completion – at least 1,000 hours.

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 Stress-Corrosion Effect Results

• Stress increases corrosion rate, and corrosion reduces fracture

toughness.
• Off-shore structures are particularly vulnerable to the stress-
corrosion effect, especially those in the so-called ‘splash zone’.
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 Example: Involving Flaw Size
A plate of width 1.4 m and length 2.8 m is required to support a
tensile load of 4.0 MN in the 2.8 m direction. Inspection
procedures will only detect through thickness edge cracks larger
than 2.7 mm. The Titanium alloy being considered for this
application has 𝑲𝑰𝑪 = 55 MPa 𝑚, 𝑺𝒚 = 1035 MPa and the factor of
safety is to be 1.3. Determine the minimum plate thickness.

Designing against yield: 𝒕𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 3.59mm

Designing against fracture: 𝒕𝒎𝒊𝒏 = 6.84mm

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Estimating thickness to resist yielding:

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Estimating thickness to resist crack growth and fracture:

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Estimating thickness to resist crack growth and fracture:

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 Summary
1. Failure mechanisms
2. Characteristics of brittle fracture
3. Stress intensity factor and critical stress intensity factor
(fracture toughness)
4. Geometric (or Shape) factor Y – the curves and the example
5. Fracture strength is sensitive to surface or internal defects –
need to specify surface finish.
6. Visual inspection and non-destructive scanning techniques.
7. Corrosion effects – need to specify service and
maintenance guidelines.
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 Any Questions?

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