Understanding Effect of Grain Boundaries in the Fracture Behavior of Polycrystalline Tungsten under Mode-I Loading

Author(s):  
Hongsuk Lee ◽  
Vikas Tomar

Polycrystalline tungsten is considered as an important material in aerospace, automobile, and energy industries due to its excellent thermal and mechanical properties. While grain boundaries (GBs) are perceived to play a major role in polycrystalline tungsten failure resistance, experimental data are scarce on explicit contribution of GBs to tungsten failure resistance. The present work focuses on understanding the effect of GB property variation on fracture resistance of polycrystalline tungsten. The cohesive finite element method is used for the simulation of crack propagation in polycrystalline tungsten microstructures. The results show a significant effect of GB property variation on change of crack propagation patterns during tungsten fracture. A variation of 10% in GB fracture energy resulted in distinctly different crack patterns with different primary crack propagation direction and the microcrack density. Based on the observed microstructural fracture attributes, a relation between cohesive energy dissipation and microcrack density in polycrystalline tungsten microstructures is proposed.

2000 ◽  
Vol 657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Takashima ◽  
Akio Ogura ◽  
Yusuke Ichikawa ◽  
Yakichi Higo

ABSTRACTFracture tests have been carried out for an electroless deposited Ni-P amorphous alloy thin film with different crack growth directions. Cantilever beam type specimens with dimensions of 10 × 10 × 50 μm3 were prepared from a Ni-P amorphous thin film and notches with different directions, which are perpendicular and parallel to the deposition growth direction, were introduced by focused ion beam machining. Fatigue pre-cracks were introduced ahead of the notches. Fracture tests were performed using a mechanical testing machine for micro-sized specimens. Fracture behavior is different between the two types of specimens. As KIC values were not obtained because the criteria of plane strain were not satisfied for this size of the specimen, the provisional fracture toughness KQ values were determined. The KQ value of the specimen with crack propagation direction being perpendicular to the deposition growth direction was 4.2 MPam1/2, while that with crack propagation direction being parallel to the deposition growth direction was 7.3 MPam1/2. This result suggests that the electroless deposited Ni-P amorphous alloy thin film has anisotropic fracture properties.


2007 ◽  
Vol 348-349 ◽  
pp. 45-48
Author(s):  
Guido Dhondt

In recent years, increased loading and low weight requirements have led to the need for automatic crack tracing software. At MTU a purely hexahedral code has been developed in the nineties for Mode-I applications. It has been used extensively for all kinds of components and has proven to be very flexible and reliable. Nevertheless, in transition regions between complex components curved cracks have been observed, necessitating the development of mixed-mode software. Due to the curvature of the crack faces, purely hexahedral meshes are not feasible, and therefore a mixture of hexahedral elements at the crack tip, combined with tetrahedral in the remaining structure has been selected. The intention of the present paper is to compare both methods and to point out the strength and weaknesses of each regarding accuracy, complexity, flexibility and computing time. Furthermore, difficulties arising from the out-of-plane growth of the crack such as the determination of the crack propagation direction are discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladamir Kerchman ◽  
Cheng Shaw

Abstract IR thermography was used to measure surface temperature profiles of cylindrical rubber specimens during cyclic compression. A linearized constitutive approach and finite element analysis were used to evaluate heat generation and associated transient temperature fields. Modeled temperatures compared well with the IR measurements. This led to extended simulation efforts on lab fracture samples. IR thermography was used to measure temperature of filled NR and filled SBR specimens during tensile fatigue cut growth tests. Temperature gradients are expected to relate to kinetics of rubber fracture and identify regions within the sample that are undergoing accelerated damage. The following cut growth issues were addressed: 1) crack propagation direction in a non-uniform stress field; 2) crack propagation direction as a function of the angle of initial cuts; 3) initiation of crack branching; and 4) catastrophic failure. The nonlinear coupled mechanical and thermal FEA was used to evaluate the energy dissipation in the non-homogeneous cyclic deformation of cracked samples. Modeled and measured surface temperatures are in good agreement. Accounting for heat build-up ahead of an advancing crack can improve numerical models that quantify fatigue cut growth behavior in rubber compounds.


Author(s):  
Yukihiko Okuda ◽  
Yuuji Saito ◽  
Masayuki Asano ◽  
Masakazu Jimbo ◽  
Hiroshi Hirayama ◽  
...  

Recently, several cracks have been found on the weld joints of Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) core shrouds during inspection. In order to ensure the continuous operation of nuclear power plants, it is necessary to assess the structural integrity of core shrouds with cracks on the weld joints. In general, a crack propagates in a complicated manner according to three-dimensional stress field and it is difficult to predict crack propagation direction and crack shape change. Usually, half ellipsoid crack shape is assumed and the propagation of the crack is calculated in the constant direction for assessment. In this study, crack propagation analysis procedure using the Finite Element Method (FEM) is developed for general shaped crack, and the procedure is verified by experiments. In this procedure, it is assumed that the crack propagates according to the maximum J-integral under three-dimensional stress fields and the re-mesh technique is used in the FEM analysis in order to calculate crack shape variation during propagation. The fatigue crack propagation tests under cyclic tensile load were performed to verify the analysis procedure. The specimens are made of a plate from 316SS and designed to generate non-uniform stress distribution on the crack front in order to observe continuous crack propagation direction change.


Author(s):  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Jianfeng Shi ◽  
Jinyang Zheng

Electrofusion joint plays an important role in connecting polyethylene (PE) pipe. In our previous study, penetrating crack failure through the fitting with an angle of about 70° was observed, and axial stress was found to be an important factor in the crack propagation. In this paper, experiments were carried out to study the crack propagation phenomena of the electrofusion joint of PE pipe. Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method was used to measure the displacement on specimen’s surface, as well as full-field strain distribution, based on which the J-integral of the crack tip was calculated. Besides, a finite element numerical simulation was conducted, and its accuracy was verified by experimental J-integral value. Through combination of experimental observations and finite element method, the phenomenon that the angle between crack propagation direction and tube axial is about 70° is detailed analysed. By comparison and analysis of the testing results, critical J-integral value during crack propagation is determined. Furthermore, critical J-integral value of crack propagation in electrofusion joint is predicted.


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