Abstract

uslng llnear elasLlc plasLlc fracLure mechanlcs (LLlM) values of k

lC
were calculaLed for polysLyrene
and hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene (PlS) 1he samples had dlfferenL depLh noLches cuL lnLo Lhem and
were Lhen LesLed uslng a 3 polnL bend lL was calculaLed LhaL polysLyrene had a hlgher value Lhan
hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene Lhls was unexpecLed and ls belleved Lo be due Lo lncorrecL appllcaLlon of
LLlM
Introduction
1hls experlmenL was Lo deLermlne Lhe value of crlLlcal plane sLraln uslng llnear elasLlc mechanlcs
1he LesL speclmens used were of a sLandard Lype of geomeLry called Slngle Ldge noLched 8end
uurlng Lhe 30s and 60s when fracLure Loughness LesLlng was developed lL was found LhaL Lhe value
of plane sLraln aL fallure ls very conslsLenL under plane sLraln condlLlons 1hus lL appeared Lo be a
maLerlal properLy
1

lL was found LhaL Lhe polysLyrene samples had a hlgher value for fracLure Loughness Lhan Lhe PlS
samples Lhls was unexpecLed 1hls ls due Lo Lhe meLhod used Lo analyse Lhe fracLure Loughness 1he
llnear elasLlc fracLure meLhod ls only so long as nonllnear maLerlal deformaLlon ls conflned Lo a
small reglon surroundlng Lhe crack Llp
2
Powever upon lnspecLlon lL was clear LhaL Lhe fracLured
PlS samples had undergone a slgnlflcanL amounL of plasLlc deformaLlon before fallure Lherefore
Lhe LLlM meLhods should noL be consldered valld
Procedure
1he experlmenL used recLangular samples of polysLyrene and hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene of 60mm
lengLh and nomlnal dlmenslons of 123 x 6 mm lnLo Lhese noLches where cuL uslng a hacksaw
1hese noLches were roughly 23 373 30 and 623mm deep ln Lhe mlddle of each sample 1wo
samples of each depLh were creaLed 1he boLLom of Lhe noLches was scored uslng a razor blade Lo
ensure Lhe edge of Lhe crack was sharp
1he slze of Lhe crack was Lhen measured uslng a callbraLed pro[ecLor 1he sample was Lhen loaded
lnLo a [lg wlLh a supporLs 30mm aparL wlLh Lhe crack faclng down and Lhe load applled opposlLe Lo
Lhe crack

1
P L Ldwalds ltoctote Mecboolcs 8uLLerworLhPelnemann LLd 1989 p97
2
1 L Anderson ltoctote ooJ lollote looJomeotols ooJ Appllcotloos C8C ress 1991 p131

1he load was applled aL a raLe of 30mm/mln (as opposed Lo Lhe 10 mm/mln speclfled on Lhe
procedure sheeL) unLll fracLure and Lhe maxlmum load recorded
Cnce all 16 samples have been fracLured Lhe fracLure Loughness ls calculaLed uslng Lhe followlng
equaLlon
K
IC
=

`
V

Where

ii
= coponc cobroon ocor

`
= oo o rocr
= cnss
=
lracLure Loughness was also calculaLed by ploLLlng Lhe load Lo fracLure agalnsL
1
ii
llLLlng a sLralghL
llne forced Lo Lhe orlgln allows k
lC
Lo be calculaLed uslng Lhe followlng equaLlon
ron = K
IC
V

esults - Analysis and Discussion
lor Lhe polysLyrene Lhe average fracLure Loughness measured by calculaLlng Lhe k
lC
for each
fracLure was 2434x10
6
a Lhe average calculaLed flgure uslng Lhe gradlenL of Lhe graph was
24294x10
6
a
lor Lhe hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene Lhe average fracLure Loughness measured by calculaLlng Lhe k
lC

value for each fracLure was 2097x10
6
a Lhe average calculaLed flgure uslng Lhe graph was
20678x10
6
a
lor LabulaLed values of fracLure Loughness for each sample see appendlx
1hls resulL ls somewhaL surprlslng as one would expecL a maLerlal named hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene Lo
have a hlgher value for fracLure Loughness Lhan sLandard polysLyrene 1herefore Lhe LesL daLa
needs examlnlng Lo check wheLher or noL Lhe resulLs are rellable
1here are a number of errors ln Lhe experlmenLal meLhod 1here ls a degree of uncerLalnLy ln Lhe
depLh of Lhe noLches whllsL Lhe depLh was measured before fracLure posL fracLure lnspecLlon
revealed many of Lhe noLches had noL been cuL aL 90 Lo Lhe sample and so Lhe crack depLh varled
LhroughouL Lhe sample
AnoLher flaw ln Lhe experlmenLal meLhod was ln Lhe locaLlon of Lhe flaw 1he calculaLlons are based
on Lhe load belng applled cenLrally dlrecLly above Lhe crack however lf Lhe crack ls noL locaLed
cenLrally on Lhe LesL plece Lhen Lhe load wlll noL be applled dlrecLly above Lhe crack and Lhe bendlng
momenLs ln Lhe crack locaLlon wlll be lower
A furLher lssue wlLh Lhe LesLlng of Lhe hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene was LhaL 6 ouL of Lhe 8 LesLs suffered
an lssue whereby Lhe load sLopped belng applled before Lhe sample had falled 1he samples Lhen
had Lo be reseL before applylng Lhe load agaln 1he cause of Lhe error ls unknown buL wlll almosL
cerLalnly have had an effecL on Lhe maxlmum load Lhe sample was able Lo wlLhsLand before fallure
1he flnal LesL error comes ln Lhe analysls of Lhe resulLs values for Lhe compllance callbraLlon facLor
are only glven for exacL quanLlLles of crack/lengLh and span/wldLh raLlos unforLunaLely Lhe samples
were noL of Lhe wldLh speclfled ln Lhe meLhod nor were Lhe cracks cuL Lo Lhe exacL lengLhs
speclfled 1herefore lL would be deslrable Lo flnd a funcLlon for ?'' Lo allow more preclse values Lo
be calculaLed for each sample lracLure Mechanlcs lundamenLals and AppllcaLlons glves Lhe
followlng equaLlon for ?''

_
o

+
o

-
o

2
3
_.99 -
o

-
o

_. -.9
o

+ .
o

2
__

uslng Lhe values for ?'' calculaLed for Lhe lndlvldual crack/wldLh raLlos and span/wlLh raLlos
alLernaLlve values for Lhe fracLure Loughness have been calculaLed and alLernaLlve graphs (see flgs
4 and 6) 1hese updaLed values for fracLure Loughness are as follows
olysLyrene av
calculaLed
olysLyrene from
graph
PlS av calculaLed PlS from graph
2330 x 10
6
a 2346 x 10
6
a 20193 x 10
6
a 1961 x 10
6
a
Agaln Lhe polysLyrene records a hlgher value for fracLure Loughness Lhan Lhe PlS
WlLh Lhe excepLlon of Lhe LesL problems wlLh Lhe PlS boLh maLerlal baLches are sub[ecL Lo slmllar
errors lL ls unllkely LhaL one baLch would have suffered from errors whlch conslsLenLly boosLed lLs
value of k
lC
hlgher Lhan lL should be or LhaL Lhe oLher baLch suffered errors whlch conslsLenLly
falsely lowered lLs k
lC
value 1herefore lL ls llkely LhaL Lhe resulLs from Lhe experlmenL are
reasonably rellable and Lhe resulLs of Lhe LesL whlch show polysLyrene as havlng a hlgher value of
fracLure Loughness Lhan PlS are accuraLe

3
1 L Anderson ltoctote ooJ lollote looJomeotols ooJ Appllcotloos C8C ress 1991 p77
1herefore Lhe Lheory should be examlned Lo check lLs valldlLy ln Lhe clrcumsLances Lxamlnlng
flgure 1 lL can be noLed LhaL Lhe polysLyrene fallures exhlblL a very small amounL of nonllnear
behavlour before fallure Powever examlnlng flgure 2 lL ls apparenL LhaL Lhe PlS samples exhlblLed
slgnlflcanL amounLs of nonllnear behavlour prlor Lo fallure and when examlnlng Lhe samples afLer
fallure lL was clear LhaL Lhey had undergone slgnlflcanL amounLs of plasLlc deformaLlon around
crack 1hls behavlour means LhaL Lhe llnear elasLlc facLure mechanlcs used Lo characLerlse k
c
become
unhelpful
onclusions
uslng Lhe Lhree polnL bendlng LesL and llnear elasLlc fracLure mechanlcs Lhe calculaLed fracLure
Loughness for polysLyrene ls hlgher Lhan for hlgh lmpacL polysLyrene
1he experlmenLal meLhod suffered from a number of errors
O 1he LesLlng speed was flve Llmes hlgher Lhan speclfled (repeaLable error)
O 1he noLches cuL lnLo Lhe maLerlal where posslbly noL parallel (random error)
O 1he noLches cuL lnLo Lhe maLerlal where noL of Lhe requlred depLh (repeaLable error)
O A number of Lhe LesLs on Lhe PlS falled Lo break Lhe maLerlal resulLlng ln repeaLed LesLs on
Lhe same sample or ln Lwo cases a lack of daLa (random error)
O 1he flaws were noL well llned up wlLh Lhe load ln some cases (repeaLable error)
lurLhermore for a rellable LesL one would wanL Lo Lake more Lhan [usL Lwo samples aL each noLch
depLh

Appendix
ueflecLlon vs Load dlagrams for all LesLs ploLLed on same axes for easy comparlson

I|gure 1 Def|ect|on vs Load o|ystyrene

I|gure 2 Def|ect|on vs Load nIS
noLe Lhe LesLs on samples 2l and 2C Lhe LesL sLopped wlLhouL fracLure of Lhe LesL plece

I|gure 3 Iracture Load vs 1] o|ystyrene g|ven va|ues

I|gure 4 Iracture Load vs 1] o|ystyrene ca|c va|ues


I|gure S Iracture Load vs 1] nIS g|ven '' va|ues

I|gure 6 Iracture Load vs 1] nIS ca|cu|ated va|ues