scholarly journals Growth Ring Orientation Effects in Transverse Softwood Fracture

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 5755
Author(s):  
Parinaz Belalpour Dastjerdi ◽  
Eric N. Landis

In this study, the fracture mechanics of eastern spruce were characterized in relation to end-grain orientation. Compact tension-type specimens with small pre-formed cracks were prepared such that grain angle varied relative to the load axis. Specimens were loaded under crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control as to maintain stable crack growth. Specimen fracture was characterized using both R-curve and bulk fracture energy approaches. The results showed that under a RT grain orientation, as well as grain deviations up to about 40∘, cracks will follow a path of least resistance in an earlywood region. As the grain angle exceeds 40∘, the crack will initially move macroscopically in the direction of maximum strain energy release rate, which extends in the direction of the pre-crack, but locally meanders through earlywood and latewood regions before settling once again in an earlywood region. At 45∘, however, the macroscopic crack takes a turn and follows a straight radial path. The results further show that RT fracture is macroscopically stable, while TR fracture is unstable. None of the end-grain fracture orientations showed rising R-curve behavior, suggesting that there is not a traditional fracture process zone in this orientation.

Author(s):  
J. Saliba ◽  
A. Loukili ◽  
J.P. Regoin ◽  
D. Grégoire ◽  
L. Verdon ◽  
...  

The fracture process zone (FPZ) was investigated on unnotched and notched beams with different notch depths. Three point bending tests were realized on plain concrete under crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control. Crack growth was monitored by applying the acoustic emission (AE) technique. In order to improve our understanding of the FPZ, the width and length of the FPZ were followed based on the AE source locations maps and several AE parameters were studied during the entire loading process. The bvalue analysis, defined as the log-linear slope of the frequency-magnitude distribution of acoustic emissions, was also carried out to describe quantitatively the influence of the relative notch depth on the fracture process. The results show that the number of AE hits increased with the decrease of the relative notch depth and an important AE energy dissipation was observed at the crack initiation in unnotched beams. In addition, the relative notch depth influenced the AE characteristics, the process of crack propagation, and the brittleness of concrete.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Y. Pastor ◽  
J. LLorca ◽  
J. Planas ◽  
M. Elices

Quasi-static, stable crack propagation tests in ceramics are presented. The tests are performed using a recently developed technique in which the crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) is continuously monitored during the test by means of a laser extensometer, and this signal is employed to control a servo-hydraulic testing machine. The advantages of such tests to characterize the fracture behavior of ceramics at high temperature are described, and the technique is used to study the fracture behavior of an ytria-partially stabilized zirconia ceramic at ambient and elevated temperatures.


2015 ◽  
Vol 769 ◽  
pp. 308-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Havlikova ◽  
Ildikó Merta ◽  
Andreas Schneemayer ◽  
Vaclav Vesely ◽  
Hana Šimonová ◽  
...  

Concrete is a traditionally used building material and its crack resistance can be improved by the addition of different types of fibres. Wedge splitting tests on specimens fabricated from five types of concrete mixture (six identical specimens from each mixture) were used to quantify the mechanical fracture parameters of these materials – a reference specimen without fibres, two others with steel fibres (Dramix, Tabix), and a final two with synthetic fibres (Enduro, Strux). Vertical load versus crack mouth opening displacement (P–CMOD) diagrams were recorded during the tests. The data points creating these diagrams were filtered first, subsequently processed and then evaluated using the double-K fracture model. Thus, values were obtained for e.g. Young’s modulus and fracture toughness. This paper is focused on quantification of the effect of the fibre type used in concrete on crack initiation, which corresponds to the beginning of stable crack growth in this sort of composite material.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jing Chen ◽  
Zhoudao Lu

Determination of the residual crack extension resistance curves (KR-curves) associated with cohesive force distribution on fictitious crack zone of complete fracture process is implemented in present research. The cohesive force distributes according to bilinear softening traction-separation law proposed by Petersson. Totally ten temperatures varying from 20°C to 600°C and the specimen size of230×200×200 mm with initial-notch depth ratios 0.4 are considered. The load-crack mouth opening displacement curves (P-CMOD) of postfire specimens are obtained by wedge-splitting method from which the stress intensity factor curves (K-curves) are calculated. In each temperature, with the distribution of cohesive force along the fracture process zone, the residual fracture toughnessKR(Δa) increases with increasing crack lengthΔa, whereas theKR-curves decrease with increasing temperaturesTmfor the thermal damage induced. The stability analysis on crack propagation demonstrates that when the residualKR-curve is higher thanK-curve, the crack propagates steadily; otherwise, the crack propagates unsteadily.


Author(s):  
Douglas A. Scarth ◽  
Joanna Wu ◽  
Ted Smith ◽  
Dennis M. Kawa

Delayed Hydride Cracking (DHC) in Zr-2.5 Nb alloy material is of interest to the CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) industry in the context of the potential to initiate DHC at a blunt flaw in a CANDU reactor pressure tube. The material is susceptible to DHC when there is diffusion of hydrogen atoms to the flaw, precipitation of hydride platelets, and development of a hydrided region at the flaw tip. The hydrided region can then fracture to the extent that a crack forms, and is able to grow by the DHC crack growth mechanism. An engineering process-zone model for evaluation of DHC initiation at a blunt flaw that takes into account flaw geometry has been developed. The model is based on representing the stress relaxation due to hydride formation, and crack initiation, by an infinitesimally thin process zone. Application of the engineering process-zone model requires calculation of the stress intensity factor, and the crack-mouth opening displacement, for a fictitious crack at the tip of a blunt flaw. In the current model, calculation of these quantities is based on a cubic polynomial fit to represent the stress distribution ahead of the blunt flaw tip, where the stress distribution is generally calculated by finite element analysis. However, the cubic polynomial is not always an optimum fit to the stress distribution for very small root radius flaws, due to the large stress gradients near the flaw tip. Application of the weight function method will enable a more accurate representation of the flaw-tip stress distribution for the calculation of the stress intensity factor and the crack-mouth opening displacement. Weight functions for a crack at the tip of a blunt flaw in a thin wall cylinder have been developed for implementation into the engineering process-zone model. These weight functions are applicable to a wide range of blunt flaw depths and root radii, as well as a wide range of flaw-tip crack depths. The development and verification of the weight functions is described in this paper. The verification calculations are in reasonable agreement with alternate solutions, and have confirmed that the weight functions have reasonable accuracy for engineering applications of the process-zone methodology.


Author(s):  
Guoqing Jing ◽  
Du yunchang ◽  
Ruilin You ◽  
Mohammad Siahkouhi

Rubber concrete (RC) has been confirmed to be suitable for concrete sleeper production. This paper studies the cracking behaviour of conventional and rubber-reinforced concrete sleepers based on the results of an experimental program. The cracking behaviour in the pure bending zone was analysed up to a load of 140 kN. The crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) was accordingly measured using a digital image correlation (DIC) method. The DIC results show that the rubber prestressed concrete sleeper (RPCS) has a resistance against crack initiation that is 20% greater than that of the conventional prestressed concrete sleeper (CPCS) under the same loading condition; however, due to the higher crack growth rate of the RPCS, the first crack detected by the operator forms at 60 kN, which corresponds to a strength approximately 9% lower compared with the 65 kN load at which the first crack is detected in the CPCS. Before the first crack (60 kN), the RPCS has a deflection 35% lower than that of the CPCS, but after cracking, at loads of 80 kN, 100 kN and 140 kN, the RPCS has a deflection 15%, 4% and 24% higher than that of the CPCS, respectively.


Author(s):  
Gustavo H. B. Donato ◽  
Claudio Ruggieri

This work presents an exploratory development of J and CTOD estimation procedures for welded fracture specimens under bending based upon plastic eta factors and plastic rotation factors. The techniques considered include: i) estimating J and CTOD from plastic work and ii) estimating CTOD from the plastic rotational factor. The primary objective is to gain additional understanding on the effect of weld strength mismatch on estimation techniques to determine J and CTOD fracture parameters for a wide range of a/W-ratios and mismatch levels. Very detailed non-linear finite element analyses for plane-strain models of SE(B) fracture specimens with center cracked, square groove welds provide the evolution of load with increased load-line displacement and crack mouth opening displacement which are required for the estimation procedure. The results show that levels of weld strength mismatch within the range ±20% mismatch do not affect significantly J and CTOD estimation expressions applicable to homogeneous materials, particularly for deeply cracked fracture specimens. The present analyses, when taken together with previous studies, provide a fairly extensive body of results which serve to determine parameters J and CTOD for different materials using bend specimens with varying geometries and mismatch levels.


Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Ding ◽  
Yu-Lei Bai

Adding short steel fibers into slag-based geopolymer mortar and concrete is an effective method to enhance their mechanical properties. The fracture properties of steel fiber-reinforced slag-based geopolymer concrete/mortar (SGC/SGM) and unreinforced control samples were compared through three-point bending (TPB) tests. The influences of steel fiber volume contents (1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0%) on the fracture properties of SGC and SGM were studied. Load-midspan deflection (P-δ) curves and load-crack mouth opening displacement (P-CMOD) curves of the tested beams were recorded. The compressive and splitting tensile strengths were also tested. The fracture energy, flexural strength parameters, and fracture toughness of steel fiber-reinforced SGC and SGM were calculated and analyzed. The softening curves of steel fiber-reinforced SGC and SGM were determined using inverse analysis. The experimental results show that the splitting tensile strength, fracture energy, and fracture toughness are significantly enhanced with fiber incorporation. A strong correlation between the equivalent and residual flexural strengths is also observed. In addition, the trilinear strain-softening curves obtained by inverse analysis predict well of the load-displacement curves recorded from TPB tests.


Author(s):  
Claudio Ruggieri ◽  
Rodolfo F. de Souza

This work addresses the development of wide range compliance solutions for tensile-loaded and bend specimens based on CMOD. The study covers selected standard and non-standard fracture test specimens, including the compact tension C(T) configuration, the single edge notch tension SE(T) specimen with fixed-grip loading (clamped ends) and the single edge notch bend SE(B) geometry with varying specimen spam over width ratio and loaded under 3-point and 4-point flexural configuration. Very detailed elastic finite element analysis in 2-D setting are conducted on fracture models with varying crack sizes to generate the evolution of load with displacement for those configurations from which the dependence of specimen compliance on crack length, specimen geometry and loading mode is determined. The extensive numerical analyses conducted here provide a larger set of solutions upon which more accurate experimental evaluations of crack size changes in fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth testing can be made.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document