Final Exam Exercise 2

Fracture & Fatigue

Master’s Degree in Numerical Simulation in Engineering with ANSYS

1 Master’s Degree in Numerical Simulation in Engineering with ANSYS EIGHTH EDITION
Universidad Politécnica
© 2018 ANSYS, Inc. de Madrid - ANSYS
 E2
In one structural panel of a refrigeration plant a 20cm long crack has been detected, as shown in the
figure. Due to the structural design, it can be assumed that no displacement occurs at the panel ends,
regardless of the thermal stresses due to temperature changes.
Obtain:
a) The maximum decrease of temperature without crack propagation.
b) If the temperature drops below this point, crack propagation would be stable or unstable?
c) Which should be the minimum allowable crack length in order to ensure stable crack propagation?

Data:
• Young modulus, E=200GPa
• Specific fracture energy, R=10000 J/m2
• Thermal expansion coefficient, a=10e-5
• For the sake of mathematical simplicity, assume that crack dimensions are negligible when compared to the
panel dimensions.

1m

0.2m

1m

2 Master’s Degree in Numerical Simulation in Engineering with ANSYS

© 2018 ANSYS, Inc.