Assessment of Fully Plastic J and C*-Integral Solutions for Application to Elastic-Plastic Fracture and Creep Crack Growth

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Lee ◽  
J. M. Bloom

A critical part of the assessment of defects in power plant components, both fossil and nuclear, is the knowledge of the crack driving force (K1, J, or C*). While the determination of the crack driving force is possible using finite element analyses, crack growth analyses using finite element methods can be expensive. Based on work by Il’yushin, it has been shown that for a power law hardening material, the fully plastic portion of the J-integral (or the C*-integral) is directly related to an h1 calibration function. The value of h1 is a function of the geometry and hardening exponent. The finite element program ABAQUS was used to evaluate the fully plastic J-integral and determine the h1 functions for various geometries. The Ramberg-Osgood deformation theory plasticity model, which may be used with the J-integral evaluation capability, allows the evaluation of fully plastic J solutions. Once it was established that the grid used to generate the h1 functions was adequate (based on the more recent work of Shih and Goan), additional runs were made of other configurations given in the EPRI Elastic-Plastic Fracture Handbook. Differences as great as 55 percent were found when compared to results given in the Handbook (single-edge crack plate under tension and plane stress with a/b = 0.5). Effects of errors in h1 on predicted failure load and creep crack growth are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 09002
Author(s):  
Désiré Tchoffo Ngoula ◽  
Michael Vormwald

The purpose of the present contribution is to predict the fatigue life of welded joints by using the effective cyclic J-integral as crack driving force. The plasticity induced crack closure effects and the effects of welding residual stresses are taken into consideration. Here, the fatigue life is regarded as period of short fatigue crack growth. The node release technique is used to perform finite element based crack growth analyses. For fatigue lives calculations, the effective cyclic J-integral is employed in a relation similar to the Paris (crack growth) equation. For this purpose, a specific code was written for the determination of the effective cyclic J-integral for various lifetime relevant crack lengths. The effects of welding residual stresses on the crack driving force and the calculated fatigue lives are investigated. Results reveal that the influence of residual stresses can be neglected only for large load amplitudes. Finally, the predicted fatigue lives are compared with experimental data: a good accordance between both results is achieved.


2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 2876-2895 ◽  
Author(s):  
N SIMHA ◽  
F FISCHER ◽  
G SHAN ◽  
C CHEN ◽  
O KOLEDNIK

Author(s):  
Masataka Yatomi ◽  
Kamran M. Nikbin

The paper discusses numerically based virtual techniques of creep crack growth predictions in a fracture mechanics component. The material properties used are for 316H stainless steels and the constitutive behaviour of the steel is described by a power law creep model. A damage-based approach is used to predict the crack propagation rate in compact tension (C(T)) specimens and the data are correlated against an independently determined C* parameter. Elastic-plastic-creep analyses are performed using two different crack growth criteria to predict crack extension under plane stress and plane strain conditions. The NSW and NSW-MOD strain exhaustion models are applied to compare to the experimental data and FE predictions. The plane strain crack growth rate predicted from the numerical analysis is found to be less conservative than the plane strain NSW model but more conservative than plane strain NSW-MOD model, for values of C* within the limits of the present creep crack growth testing standards. At higher loads and C* values, the plane strain crack growth rates, predicted using an elastic-plastic-creep material response, approach is considered and compared to the plane strain NSW-MOD model.


Author(s):  
K. M. Tarnowski ◽  
C. M. Davies ◽  
K. M. Nikbin ◽  
D. W. Dean

Elastic and plastic load line displacement (LLD) rates are often ignored when analyzing Creep Crack Growth (CCG) tests due to difficulties in accurately determining their value for complex crack morphologies typical of creep. Instead, the total LLD rate is assumed to be entirely due to creep. This simplistic approach overestimates the crack tip characterizing parameter C* which is non-conservative. This paper presents a review of the current method of interpreting CCG test data in ASTM E1457 and proposes an improved approach which accounts for the elastic and plastic LLD rates. Estimations of the elastic and plastic LLD rate are obtained from a partial unload immediately after load-up and a full unload, at the end of the test, prior to final failure. Some finite element validation of this method is presented. Implementing this approach will facilitate more realistic CCG laws.


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