212 Journal of the American Ceramic Society-Rose
References
IL. R. F, Rose and M. V. Swain, “Two K Curves for Partially Stabilized Zirconia”;
this issue, preceding article.
*M. V. Swain, “R-Curve Behaviour of Magnesia Partially Stabilized Zirconia and
Its Significance to Thermal Shock”; in Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics, Vol. 6 .
Edited by R. C. Bradt e r a / . Plenum Press, New York, 1983.
’D. B. Marshall, “Strength Characteristics of Transformation-Toughened Zir-
conia”: this issue, pp. 173-80.
4M. V. Swain and L. R. F. Rose, “Strength-Toughness Relationships for Trans-
formation Toughened Ceramics”; to he published in J. Am. Ceram. SOC.
5N.I. Muskhelishvili, Some Basic Problems of the Mathematical Theory of Elas-
ticity. Noordhoff, Groningen, 1953.
bA. E. H. Love, A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elasticity, 4th ed.,
Section 152. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1927 (Dover Publications,
New York, 1944).
7L. R. F. Rose, “Theoretical Aspects of Reinforcement and Toughening”;
pp. 109-117 in Fundamentals of Deformation and Fracture. Edited by B. A. Bilby,
K. J. Miller, and J. R. Willis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985.
8J.D. Eshelby, “The Force on an Elastic Singularity,” Philos. Trans. K . Soc.,
London, 244, 87-112 (1951).
9J. D. Eshelby, “The Continuum Theory of Lattice Defects”; pp. 79-144 in Solid
State Physics, Vol. 3. Edited by F. Seitz and D. Turnbull. Academic Press, New
J. Am. Cerurn. SOC., 69 [3] 212-14 (1986)
Effective Fracture Toughness of Microcracked Materials
L.R.F. ROSE
Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Melbourne 3001, Australia
Explicit analytical formulas are derived for the stress intensity
factors at the tips of a main crack and of a microcrack for the
two-dimensional case of a collinear microcrack. This config-
uration is used to derive an estimate of the toughness de-
gradation due to microcracks linking up with an advancing
main crack. The implications of this estimate for theoretical
predictions of the toughening due to stress-induced micro-
cracking are discussed.
I. Introduction
T HE occurrence of stress-induced microcracking around a
main-crack tip has been recognized as an important tough-
ening mechanism in zirconia-toughened ceramics. The aim of
this note is to present an exact stress analysis for a two-dimensional
configuration involving a single microcrack ahead of a main crack,
and to discuss its relevance to theoretical estimates of microcrack
toughening.
11. Stress Analysis
The configuration being considered is shown in Fig. I . It is
assumed that (i) the main crack can be regarded as a semi-infinite
crack in an infinite body; (ii) the nominal stress field which would
prevail in the absence of the microcrack is given by the singular
term in the near-tip asymptotic expansion for an elastic crack-tip
stress field; i.e., relative to polar coordinates (Y, 0) with the main-
crack tip as origin, the components of the nominal stress tensor are
Received July 1, 1985; revised copy received November 13, 1985: approved
November 13, 1985.
*After submission of the present work, it was found that a solution of this prbblem
has recently been presented by R ~ b i n s t e i n ,using
~ a different approach from that
adopted here. but obtaining, of course, the same final result. The use which is made
of the result in Ref. 5 is also different from that discussed here in Sections 111 and IV
Vol. 69, No.
York, I9Sh
‘“J.R. Rice, “A Path Independent Integral and the Approximate Analysis of Strain
Concentration by Notches and Cracks,” J . Appl. Mech., 35, 379-86 (1968).
“B. Budiansky and J. R. Rice, “Conservation Laws and Energy-Release Rates,” J .
A@. Mech., 40, 201-203 (1973).
W.E. Eshelby, “Elastic Inclusions and Inhomogeneities”; pp. 87-140 in Progress
in Solid Mechanics, Vol. 2. Edited by R. Hill and 1.N. Sneddon, North-Holland,
Amsterdam, 1961.
”B. R. Lawn and T. R . Wilshaw, “Fracture of Brittle Solids,” Section 3.3. Cam-
bridge University Press, Cambridge, 1975.
I4G. C. Sih, P. C . Paris, and F. Erdogan, “Crack Tip Stress Intensity Factors for
Plane Extension and Plate Bending Problem,” J . Appl. Mech., 329, 306-12 (1962).
I5R. M. McMeeking and A. G . Evans, “Mechanics of Transformation Toughening
in Brittle Materials,” J . Am. Ceram. SOC., 65 [5l 242-46 (1982).
I‘D. B. Marshall, A. G. Evans, and M. Drory, “Transformation Toughening in
Ceramics”; pp. 289-307 in Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics, Vol. 6. Edited by
R. C. Bradt er a/. Plenum Press, New York, 1983.
I7B. Budiansky, J. W. Hutchinson, and 1. Lambropoulos, “Continuum Theory of
Dilatant Transformation Toughening in Ceramics,” Int. J . Solids Struct., 19, 337-55
(1983).
I8L. R. F. Rose, “The Mechanics of Transformation Toughening”; unpublished
work.
I9Y. W. Mai and A. G. Atkins, “Crack Stability in Fracture Toughness Testing,” J.
Strain Anal.. 15, 63-74 (1980). 0
where K N denotes the nominal (mode I) stress intensity factor. The
angular dependence for each stress component is given in Ref. 4.
The problem is to determine the resulting stress field when a
collinear microcrack is introduced ahead of the main crack. * This
microcrack is represented mathematically by a cut between x = a
and x = b, as in Fig. 1. The relevant boundary conditions are
u
, = Uq = 0 (2)
for y + O? along
a,&, 0) + d&,0)
--M < x < 0, and a < x < b;
(3)
for r * b.
The problem just stated belongs to a restricted class for which
the solution can be expressed in terms of a single (Westergaard)
complex potential,6 instead of the usual two Muskhelishvili poten-
tials.’ The same Westergaard potential Z(z)can be used for all three
cracking modes, with appropriate changes to the stress components
specified in Eq. (2),but only mode I will be considered here. The
problem can be solved by using a conformal transplantation,8
specified by z += 5 = 6 .The transplanted boundary conditions
in the 5-plane correspond to those for two collinear cracks of equal
length perturbing a uniform stress field. Using the known solution
for the latter problem,’ and reverting to the z-plane, we obtain
Z(Z) = K N ( z - ~ C ) / [ ~ ~-T aZ) ((Z Z- b)]”’ (4)
C =E(k’)/K(k’) (5)
k 2 = a/b k’ = (1 - k‘)I’* (6)
where, following standard notation,” we use E , K to denote the
complete elliptic integrals of the second kind and the first kind,
respectively, and k , k’ to denote their modulus and complementary
March 1986 Effective Fracture Toughness of Microcracked Materials
Y I
Fig. 1. Two-dimensional configuration of collinear
microcrack ahead of main crack, showing coordinate
axes used in text.
modulus. (Note that K is used to denote an elliptic integral only in
Eq. (5); elsewhere K is used to denote the stress intensity factor,
again following standard notation.)
The complete elastic field can be determined from the potential
in Eq. (4), but the main interest is in the stress intensity factors at
the three crack tips, which are given by
K(x = O ) / K N = C/k (7)
K(x = a ) / K N = (C - k2)/kk'
(8)
K(x = b ) / K N = (1 - C ) / k '
(9)
These expressions can be readily evaluated using tabulated values
for the elliptic integrals,'" and the results are shown in Fig. 2. For
the crack tip at x = b , K / K N 4 1 , as a / b + 0, whereas for the
crack tips at x = 0 and x = a, K diverges as a / b = k 2 -+ 0, the
asymptotic behavior at both of these crack tips being given by
K / K N = I/[k log (4/k)] (k + 0) (10)
111. Toughness Degradation Due to Microcrack Linkup
The preceding analysis can be used to derive an estimate for the
effective fracture toughness of a microcracked material, as fol-
lows. Consider an isotropic elastic material which is permeated
by a homogeneous, isotropic, distribution of microcracks. Let N
denote the average number of microcracks per unit volume, so that
= N-113
(11)
gives a measure of the average distance between neighboring mi-
crocracks. Suppose that a planar "main crack," of characteristic
linear dimension much larger than I , is introduced into this micro-
cracked material and is made to grow quasi-statically. Let A denote
the area fraction of the fracture plane corresponding to pre-
existing microcracks, which are assumed not to grow themselves
during the process of main-crack growth, but to link up with the
main crack if they lie on, or close to, the fracture plane. Then
A = N2'3(c2) (12)
where (c2) denotes the average of the projected area of the micro-
cracks onto the fracture plane, if it is assumed, as a reasonable
approximation, that the main crack links up with all the micro-
cracks lying within a layer adjacent to the fracture plane, of thick-
ness I (measured normal to the fracture plane). To estimate the
effective fracture toughness KO, we proceed to a two-dimensional
configuration in which the main crack is regarded as a semi-infinite
crack, and the closest microcracks which are about to link up with
the main crack are represented by a single (two-dimensional) col-
linear microcrack, as in Fig. 1. With this representation, we
may set
a/b = 1-A (13)
213
1 I I
1 I I I
l
a/ b
Fig. 2. Stress intensity factors for crack tips at ( i ) x = 0,
(ii) x = n , and (iii) x = b in Fig. 1, normalized relative to nomi-
nal stress intensity factor, KN.
If we now regard the linking up of the main crack with this
collinear microcrack as an idealized repeat unit in the crack growth
process, the effect of all the other microcracks being accounted for
by a uniform reduction in the effective modulus, we can derive an
estimate for KO from the results given in Eqs. (7) to (9).
An important feature of these results is that
K(x = 0) > K(x = a) > K ( x = b) (14)
i.e., of the three crack tips, the main-crack tip has the largest K .
Consequently, if we assume that crack extension could occur at
either of these crack tips when the relevant K reaches a definite
critical value K c , then, under increasing K N ,crack extension would
in fact begin from the main-crack tip, and if K N is kept constant,
the linkup of the main crack with the microcrack would proceed
unstably, rather than quasi-statically. Denoting by KO the value
of K N at which this linking up is initiated, we derive from Eq. ( 7 )
the relation
Ko/K, = k/C
which is shown graphically by curve (i) of Fig. 3. This KOcan be
used as an estimate of the effective fracture toughness of a micro-
cracked body, with K , denoting the intrinsic fracture toughness of
the material without microcracks.
It is of interest to compare this estimate with simpler estimates
based on a rule of mixtures for the work of fracture,"." which
leads to
Ko/K, = (1 - A)'" = (a/b)'/' = k ( 16)
or based on a rule of mixtures for K,I3.I4which gives
Ko/K, = 1 - A = a / b = k2 (17)
These estimates are shown as curves ( i i ) and (iii), respectively, in
Fig. 3. It is clear that there is a substantial difference between
these three estimates, except at the limits a / b -+ 0 and a / b -+ 1 .
In particular, for a / b = 0.5, Eq. (15) predicts a reduction in
toughness of only 3%, instead of 29% according to Eq. (16), or
50% according to Eq. (17).
214 Journal of the American Ceramic Society-Rose
alb
Fig. 3. Estimates for effective fracture toughness of mi-
crGcracked material basedon (i) Eq. (15), (ii)-Eq. (16), and
(iii) Eq. (17).
Two aspects of these results may appear puzzling. First, one
might have expected, intuitively, that the rule of mixtures should
underestimate the interaction between main crack and microcrack,
and consequently should overestimate the effective toughness.
On closer inspection, however, it becomes evident that Eq. (16)
would give the correct value for KO if the linking up occurred
quasi-statically, which would require that K N be continually de-
creased to maintain K at the main-crack tip just equal to K,. If
instead K N is kept constant, the linking up proceeds unstably and
more energy is dissipated than would be required in a quasi-static
process. This accounts for the higher estimate of KO given by
Eq. (15) relative to Eq. (16). (Note that the length scale of the
linking up process should be small compared with the crack length
or specimen dimensions, so that macroscopic crack growth can be
considered to be occurring quasi-statically even though the linking
up process is unstable.)
Secondly, the estimates of KO discussed above do not depend on
the elastic modulus, so that the microcracks which do not link up
with the main crack do not seem to affect KO.However, it can be
argued that if the intrinsic work of fracture is regarded as a material
constant, a reduction in effective modulus due to a homogeneous
distribution of microcracks should be compensated for by a reduc-
tion in the effective Kc. Thus, K, in Eqs. (15) to (17) should in fact
be taken to be Kc given by
Fc = @ / E ) “ Z K c (18)
for plane stress, where E denotes the intrinsic Young’s modulus for
the material without microcracks, and E the effective modulus for
the homogeneously microcracked material. l5 This would not affect
the relative values of KO given by these estimates.
IV. Application to the Theory of Microcrack Toughening
The theoretical analysis of the toughening due to stress-induced
m i c r ~ c r a c k i n g ” - ’follows
~ ~ ~ ~ a pattern similar to that used for
transformation toughening. I4,l7 In both cases the nominal stress
intensity factor during quasi-static steady-state cracking can be
written in the form
K:$ = KO f C-\/si (19)
Vol. 69, No. 3
where h denotes the height of the transformed zone or the micro-
cracked zone. The precise expression for C will depend on the
dynamical conditions which are specified for stress-induced trans-
formation or microcracking to occur, but the toughness increment
EV% should scale with KO. This KO can be interpreted as an
effective toughness which depends on the intrinsic fracture tough-
ness K , for the material, but with an allowance made for the
crack-plane interactions which occur as a side effect of either
transformation toughening or microcracking .
An important difference arises at this stage between these two
toughening mechanisms. With the former, the crack-plane inter-
actions generally increase KO relative to Kc.14s17 For example, in
PSZ, K, = 2 MPa.m”2 whereas KO 4 MPa-m”*. With micro-
cracking, on the other hand, the principal crack-plane interaction
is the linking up of the main crack with microcracks, which would
be expected to reduce KO.This reduction can be estimated by
regarding KO as the fracture toughness for a hypothetical material
permeated by a homogeneous distribution of pre-existing (as op-
posed to stress-induced) microcracks. An estimate was derived
for this KO in Section 111. This estimate, given by Eq. (15), was
shown to be substantially higher than previous estimates”-13 based
on a rule of mixtures, given by Eqs. (16) and (17).
Since the potential increase in toughness due to stress-induced
microcracking ( Z f i in Eq. (19)) should be approximately propor-
tional to KO,these differences deserve closer scrutiny. In this con-
nection, it should be recognized that, in practice, stress-induced
microcracking is usually associated with internal stresses, due, for
example, to thermal expansion anisotropy within the grains of a
polycrystal. ‘*.I9 The estimate for KOgiven by Eq. (15) ignores such
localized stresses, but an extension of the present calculations is
currently being attempted with the aim of accounting for internal
stresses. It should be noted that current estimates of KO based on
a rule of mixtures also fail to take into account explicitly the effect
of internal stresses.
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\.___
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