Engineering Failure Analysis-MEE3003

Assignment
Due Date: 29/09/2020

1) A glass sheet measuring 1.9 m by 180 mm by 2 mm contains a central slit parallel to the
180 mm side. The sheet is restrained at one end and loaded in tension with a mass of
400 kg. What is the maximum allowable length of slit before fracture occurs?
Assume the following material property values: E = 70 GPa, surface energy is 0.6 J/m2,
Poissons ratio = 0.25 and the fracture stress of sound glass is 175 MPa.
2) If the fracture stress of a large sheet of steel, which contains a central crack of length 45
mm, is 470 MPa, calculate the fracture stress of a similar sheet containing a crack of
length 90 mm.
3) A thin sheet of maraging steel has a tensile strength of 1900 MPa. Calculate the
percentage reduction in strength due to the presence of a crack in the sheet, which is 3.5
mm long and orientated perpendicular to the stressed direction.
For this steel, E can be taken as 210 GPa, the energy of fracture surface as 2 J/m2, and
the work of plastic deformation of each crack tip is 2x104 J/m2.
4) A Class 20 grey cast iron has an average graphite flake size about nine times as long as
Class 60 type. The fracture strength of the latter is about 150 MPa. Using arguments
that follow the Griffith analysis, what would you predict to be the fracture strength of
the Class 20 iron?
5) A thin plate of steel contains a central through-thickness flaw of length 16 mm, which
is subjected to a stress of 350 MPa applied perpendicularly to the flaw plane. The 0.2%
flow stress of the material is 1400 MPa.
Calculate the plastic zone size and the effective stress intensity level at the crack tip,
making reasonable assumptions about the state of stress. If, after heat treatment, the flow
stress of the steel dropped to 385 MPa, what would the plastic zone size be under the
applied stress of 350 MPa, and what conclusions would you draw about the use of
LEFM?
6) A particular pressure vessel steel has the following mechanical properties:
Yield Stress – 350 MPa; UTS -- 450 MPa; Modulus -- 210 GPa;
Poisson’s ratio – 0.3; KIC -- 200 MPa m1/2
Estimate the specimen size required for a valid KIC measurement on this steel. The
critical dimension in J testing should be ≥ 25 JIC/σy. What would the specimen size
requirement be for a valid JIC measurement?
7) A wide steel plate contains a central through crack of length, 2a (a<<W, where W is the
width of the plate). The steel has a modulus of 210 GPa, a yield stress of 260 MPa and
Poisson’s ratio is 0.3. The steel also shows a rising crack resistance with crack length,
which can be described by
R = 89.1 (a-ao)1/2 where a0 is the initial crack length [R is in units of kJ/m2].
The plate fractures at a stress of 135 MPa. a) What is the half crack size at fracture, ac?
b) How much stable crack growth occurs at each end of the crack before fracture (ac-
ao)?