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Fracture
of Materials
AND DESIGN
1

Fracture Mechanics
 Fracture mechanics - The study of a material’s ability to
withstand stress in the presence of a flaw.
 Fracture toughness - The resistance of a material to
failure in the presence of a flaw.

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Flaws, Stress Concentrators

• Fracture strength of a brittle solid is related to the cohesive forces between
atoms, bond strength. It can be estimated that the theoretical cohesive
strength of a brittle material should be around ~ E/10. But experimental
fracture strength is normally E/100 - E/10,000.

• Much lower fracture strength is explained by the effect of stress

concentration at microscopic flaws. The applied stress is amplified at the
tips of microcracks, voids, notches, surface scratches, corners, etc. that are
called stress concentrators raisers.

• The magnitude of this amplification depends on microcrack orientations,

geometry and dimensions.

Micronotch (Design)

r = Radius of curvature

During design, radius of curvature should be high.

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Micronotch (Design)

Low radius of
curvature

High radius of
curvature

Engineering Fracture Design

• Avoid sharp corners!
s
max
Stress Conc. Factor, K t = s
so o
2.5
w
smax
2.0 increasing w/h
r, h
fillet
radius 1.5

1.0 r/h
0 0.5 1.0
sharper fillet radius
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Stress Concentration Factor

Micronotch (Notch Effect)

• Because of a micronotch, stresses at the notch tip increase

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Flaws are Stress Concentrators!

Results from crack propagation:
• Griffith crack:

1/ 2
a 
s m  2s o    K t so
 t 
t where
t = radius of curvature
so = applied stress
sm = stress at crack tip

Flaws are Stress Concentrators!

a
s max  2s
R

a   smax 
R   smax 

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Flaws are Stress Concentrators!

s max
Kt 
sn
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FLAWS ARE STRESS CONCENTRATORS!

• Elliptical hole in • Stress distrib. in front of a hole:
a plate: so smax  s 2 a
o 
s t

2a

t

• Stress concentration factor: Kt  s max / so

Sharper cracks amplify stress!
• Large Kt promotes failure: More important for brittle
materials than ductile materials
NOT (Plastic deformation takes place
SO Kt=2 BAD! Kt>>3 and stress is distributed more
uniformly around a crack)!
BAD
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Notch Effect
• According to the following eq. if r = 0, stresses must be infinite.
• In fact, this does not happen.

a
s max  2s
R

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Fracture: In Detail
• Two steps involved in fracture:
– Crack formation
– Crack growth

• Two fracture modes can be defined:

– Ductile (preferred, most metals and some polymers)
• Extensive plastic deformation in the vicinity of a crack.
• Extension of crack length requires an increase in the applied
load, hence crack is stable unless stress is increased. Crack
propagation is therefore slow.
– Brittle (undesired, ceramics, metals at low temperatures)
• Takes place without appreciable plastic deformation.
• Crack is unstable, will propagate with high speed once formed
and without increase in applied stress.

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GEOMETRY, LOAD & MATERIAL

• Condition for crack propagation:
Stress Intensity Factor: K ≥ Kc Fracture Toughness:
Depends on the material,
Depends on applied stress,
crack length & component temperature, environment, & rate of
geometry. loading.

• Values of K for some standard loads & geometries:

s s
units of K :
MPa m
2a
2a a
or ksi in
Adapted from Fig. 8.8,
Callister 6e.

K  s a K  1.1s a 16

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Crack Propagation in a Ductile Material

Cracks propagate due to sharpness of crack tip.
• A plastic material deforms at the tip, “blunting” the crack.

Plastic
region
brittle ductile

• For ductile => replace gs by gs + gp

where gp is plastic deformation energy

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When Does a Crack Propagate in a

Brittle Material?
Crack propagates if above critical stress
Energy balance on the crack:
• Elastic strain energy-
• energy stored in material as it is elastically deformed
• this energy is released when the crack propagates
• creation of new surfaces requires energy
1/ 2
i.e., sm > sc  2Eg s 
sc   
or Kt > Kc  a 
where
– E = modulus of elasticity
– gs = specific surface energy
– a = one half length of internal crack
– Kc = sc/s0 21

Stress Intensity Factor (K)

Stress intensity factor Stress value

K  Y s   a
Correction factor Crack length

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Fracture Toughness
• Fracture toughness is a material constant.
• It shows the resistance of a material against sudden brittle fracture.
• The lower the Fracture Toughness value is, the more brittle
fracture does the material exhibit.

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(σc)

𝑲𝑰𝒄 = 𝒀𝝈𝒄 𝝅𝒂

σc

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Correction Factor
(Y or f)

Schematic drawing of fracture toughness specimens with (a) edge

and (b) internal flaws

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Fracture Toughness
K metals
c
increasing

Graphite/
Metals/ Composites/
Ceramics/ Polymers comp
Alloys
Semicond
fibers
Kc
100
C-C(|| fibers) 1
poly
70
60
Steels
Ti alloys
K cer
c  Kc
50
40
Al alloys
30 Mg alloys
K Ic (MPa · m0.5 )

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Al/Al oxide(sf) 2
Fracture toughness is the
Y2O3/ZrO 2(p) 4
C/C( fibers)1 resistance of a material to
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Al oxid/SiC(w) 3 brittle fracture when a crack
Diamond Si nitr/SiC(w) 5
7 Al oxid/ZrO 2(p) 4 is present!
6 Si carbide Glass/SiC(w) 6
5 Al oxide PET
4 Si nitride
PP
3 PVC

2 PC

1 <100>
Si crystal PS Glass 6
<111>
0.7 Glass-soda
0.6 Polyester
Concrete 26
0.5

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(c)2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.

EFFECT of MATERIAL
THICKNESS on Kc

The fracture toughness

Kc of a 300 000 psi
yield strength steel
decreases with
increasing thickness,
eventually leveling off
at the plane strain
fracture toughness Klc

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Stress Intensity Factor

• Stress intensity factor is in 3 modes:
– KI: Tensile (most dangerous)
– KII: Shear
– KIII: Torsion

K1  f  s  a 31

Fracture Criteria in Design

 Material Constant (Property) Operation Conditions

Yield (Tensile) Strength > Stress value during operation

Fracture Toughness (KIc)

> Stress Intensity Factor (KI)

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Brittle – Ductile Fracture

K I  K IC
Brittle Fracture (crack suddenly propagates and
sudden failure occurs).

K I  K IC
Ductile Fracture

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Ductile
Fracture
Brittle Fracture

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Design Against Crack Growth

• Crack growth condition:

K ≥ Kc = Ys a
• Largest, most stressed cracks grow first!
--Result 1: Max. flaw size --Result 2: Design stress
dictates design stress. dictates max. flaw size.
2
Kc 1  Kc 
sdesign  amax   
Y amax   Ysdesign 

amax
s

fracture fracture
no no
fracture amax fracture s
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Design of a Nondestructive Test

A large steel plate used in a nuclear reactor has a plane strain
fracture toughness of 80,000 psi in. and is exposed to a stress of
45,000 psi during service. Design a testing or inspection procedure
capable of detecting a crack at the edge of the plate before the
crack is likely to grow at a catastrophic rate.

Example 6.8 SOLUTION

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Design of a Ceramic Support

Design a supporting 3-in.-wide plate made of Sialon, which has a

fracture toughness of 9,000 psi in. , that will withstand a tensile
load of 40,000 lb. The part is to be nondestructively tested to
assure that no flaws are present that might cause failure.
SOLUTION

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Design Example: Aircraft Wing

• Material has Kc = 26 MPa-m0.5

• Two designs to consider...
Design A Design B
--largest flaw is 9 mm --use same material
--failure stress = 112 MPa --largest flaw is 4 mm
Kc --failure stress = ?
• Use... sc 
Y amax
• Key point: Y and Kc are the same in both designs.
--Result:
112 MPa 9 mm 4 mm

s c amax   s
A
c amax 
B
Answer: ( sc )B  168 MPa
• Reducing flaw size pays off!
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Design of a Fatigue-Resistant Plate

A high-strength steel plate (Figure 6.52), which has a plane

strain fracture toughness of 80 MPa m is alternately loaded in
tension to 500 MPa and in compression to 60 MPa. The plate is
to survive for 10 years, with the stress being applied at a
frequency of once every 5 minutes. Design a manufacturing and
testing procedure that assures that the component will serve as
intended.

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SOLUTION

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FATIGUE + FRACTURE MECHANICS

PARIS – ERDOĞAN EQUATIONS

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Fatigue Behavior of Cracked Component

Paris-Erdoğan Eq.

Crack growth rate versus

stress-intensity factor range for
a high-strength steel. For this
steel, C = 1.62 x 10 –12 and n =
3.2 for the units shown

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FATIGUE MECHANISM

• Crack grows incrementally

typ. 1 to 6
da
 
 K
m
Paris-Erdoğan Eq.
dN ~ s  a
increase in crack length per loading cycle
crack origin
• Failed rotating shaft
--crack grew even though
Kmax < Kc
--crack grows faster if
• s increases
• crack gets longer
• loading freq. increases.

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𝑑𝑎
= 𝐶(∆𝐾)
𝑑𝑁

2 n 2n
2[a 2
a 2
]
N c i
n
(2  n)Cf s  n n 2

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X
f = 1.2

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