Analysis of stable crack growth in brittle materials Part I: A process zone model

✍ Scribed by David K. M. Shum

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 954 KB
• Volume: 75
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-2673
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00034071

✦ Synopsis

The phenomenon of stable crack growth in brittle materials is considered where stable crack growth is modeled as the formation of an elongated process zone of microcracks and isolated intact ligaments ahead of a stationary main crack. The role of residual stress in protecting the intact ligaments is explored via the hypothesis that compressive zones surrounding isolated ligaments under residual tension protect these ligaments and result in stable crack growth and toughening of the microcracked material. The dependence of process zone behavior on either a plane strain or an axisymmetric representation of microcrack distribution is considered. Numerical results based on the above hypothesis indicate that interaction between residual stress and microcracking can lead to stable crack growth with attendant toughness enhancement.