Stress Intensity Factor

5/16/2020 Stress intensity factor - Wikipedia
Stress intensity factor

The stress intensity factor, , is used in fracture mechanics to predict the stress state ("stress
intensity") near the tip of a crack or notch caused by a remote load or residual stresses.[1] It is a
theoretical construct usually applied to a homogeneous, linear elastic material and is useful for
providing a failure criterion for brittle materials, and is a critical technique in the discipline of
damage tolerance. The concept can also be applied to materials that exhibit small-scale yielding at a
crack tip.
The magnitude of depends on sample geometry, the size and location of the crack or notch, and
the magnitude and the distribution of loads on the material.
Linear elastic theory predicts that the stress distribution ( ) near the crack tip, in polar coordinates
( ) with origin at the crack tip, has the form [2]
Polar coordinates at the crack tip.

where is the stress intensity factor (with units of stress length1/2) and is a dimensionless
quantity that varies with the load and geometry. Theoretically, as goes to 0, the stress goes to
resulting in a stress singularity.[3] Practically however, this relation breaks down very close to the tip (small ) because plasticity typically occurs
at stresses exceeding the material's yield strength and the linear elastic solution is no longer applicable. Nonetheless, if the crack-tip plastic zone is
small in comparison to the crack length, the asymptotic stress distribution near the crack tip is still applicable.
Contents
Stress intensity factors for various modes
Relationship to energy release rate and J-integral
Critical stress intensity factor
G–criterion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_intensity_factor 1/14
Examples
Infinite plate: Uniform uniaxial stress
Penny-shaped crack in an infinite domain
Finite plate: Uniform uniaxial stress
Edge crack in a plate under uniaxial stress
Infinite plate: Slanted crack in a biaxial stress field
Crack in a plate under point in-plane force
Loaded crack in a plate
Stress intensity factors for fracture toughness tests
Compact tension specimen
Single edge notch bending specimen
See also
References
External links
Stress intensity factors for various modes

In 1957, G. Irwin found that the stresses around a crack could be expressed in terms of a scaling
factor called the stress intensity factor. He found that a crack subjected to any arbitrary loading
could be resolved into three types of linearly independent cracking modes.[4] These load types
are categorized as Mode I, II, or III as shown in the figure. Mode I is an opening (tensile) mode
where the crack surfaces move directly apart. Mode II is a sliding (in-plane shear) mode where
the crack surfaces slide over one another in a direction perpendicular to the leading edge of the
crack. Mode III is a tearing (antiplane shear) mode where the crack surfaces move relative to
one another and parallel to the leading edge of the crack. Mode I is the most common load type
encountered in engineering design.
Mode I, Mode II, and Mode III crack loading.
Different subscripts are used to designate the stress intensity factor for the three different
modes. The stress intensity factor for mode I is designated and applied to the crack opening
mode. The mode II stress intensity factor, , applies to the crack sliding mode and the mode III stress intensity factor, , applies to the tearing
mode. These factors are formally defined as:[5]
Relationship to energy release rate and J-integral

In plane stress conditions, the strain energy release rate ( ) for a crack under pure mode I, or pure mode II loading is related to the stress intensity
factor by:
where is the Young's modulus and is the Poisson's ratio of the material. The material is assumed to be an isotropic, homogeneous, and linear
elastic. The crack has been assumed to extend along the direction of the initial crack
For plane strain conditions, the equivalent relation is a little more complicated:
For pure mode III loading,
where is the shear modulus. For general loading in plane strain, the linear combination holds:
A similar relation is obtained for plane stress by adding the contributions for the three modes.
The above relations can also be used to connect the J-integral to the stress intensity factor because
Critical stress intensity factor

The stress intensity factor, , is a parameter that amplifies the magnitude of the applied stress that includes the geometrical parameter (load
type). Stress intensity in any mode situation is directly proportional to the applied load on the material. If a very sharp crack, or a V-notch can be
made in a material, the minimum value of can be empirically determined, which is the critical value of stress intensity required to propagate the
crack. This critical value determined for mode I loading in plane strain is referred to as the critical fracture toughness ( ) of the material. has
3/2
units of stress times the root of a distance (e.g. MN/m ). The units of imply that the fracture stress of the material must be reached over some
critical distance in order for to be reached and crack propagation to occur. The Mode I critical stress intensity factor, , is the most often used
engineering design parameter in fracture mechanics and hence must be understood if we are to design fracture tolerant materials used in bridges,
buildings, aircraft, or even bells.
Polishing cannot detect a crack. Typically, if a crack can be seen it is very close to the critical stress state predicted by the stress intensity factor.
G–criterion
The G-criterion is a fracture criterion that relates the critical stress intensity factor (or fracture toughness) to the stress intensity factors for the
three modes. This failure criterion is written as[6]
where is the fracture toughness, for plane strain and for plane stress. The critical stress intensity factor for plane
stress is often written as .
Examples
Infinite plate: Uniform uniaxial stress
The stress intensity factor for an assumed straight crack of length perpendicular to the loading direction, in an infinite
plane, having a uniform stress field is [3][5]
Crack in an infinite plate

under mode I loading.
Penny-shaped crack in an infinite domain
The stress intensity factor at the tip of a penny-shaped crack of radius in an infinite domain under uniaxial
tension is [1]
Penny-shaped crack in an
infinite domain under uniaxial
tension.
Finite plate: Uniform uniaxial stress
If the crack is located centrally in a finite plate of width and height , an approximate relation for the stress
intensity factor is [5]
If the crack is not located centrally along the width, i.e., , the stress intensity factor at location A can be
approximated by the series expansion[5][7]
where the factors can be found from fits to stress intensity curves[5]:6 for various values of . A similar (but not
identical) expression can be found for tip B of the crack. Alternative expressions for the stress intensity factors at A
and B are [8]:175
where
Crack in a finite plate under

mode I loading.
with
In the above expressions is the distance from the center of the crack to the boundary closest to point A. Note that
when the above expressions do not simplify into the approximate expression for a centered crack.
Edge crack in a plate under uniaxial stress
For a plate having dimensions containing an unconstrained edge crack of length , if the dimensions of the
plate are such that and , the stress intensity factor at the crack tip under an uniaxial stress is
[3]
For the situation where and , the stress intensity factor can be approximated by
Specimens of this configuration are commonly used in fracture toughness testing.[9]
Edge crack in a finite plate

under uniaxial stress.
Infinite plate: Slanted crack in a biaxial stress field
For a slanted crack of length in a biaxial stress field with stress in the -direction and in the -
direction, the stress intensity factors are [5][10]
where is the angle made by the crack with the -axis.
A slanted crack in a thin plate under biaxial

load.
Crack in a plate under point in-plane force
Consider a plate with dimensions containing a crack of length . A point force with components and
is applied at the point ( ) of the plate.
For the situation where the plate is large compared to the size of the crack and the location of the force is
relatively close to the crack, i.e., , , , , the plate can be considered infinite. In that case,
for the stress intensity factors for at crack tip B ( ) are [10][11]
A crack in a plate under the

action of a localized force with
components and .
where
with , , for plane strain, for plane stress, and is the

Poisson's ratio. The stress intensity factors for at tip B are
The stress intensity factors at the tip A ( ) can be determined from the above relations. For the load at
location ,
Similarly for the load ,
Loaded crack in a plate
If the crack is loaded by a point force located at and , the stress intensity factors at point B
are[5]
If the force is distributed uniformly between , then the stress intensity factor at tip B is
A loaded crack in a plate.
Stress intensity factors for fracture toughness tests
Compact tension specimen
The stress intensity factor at the crack tip of a compact tension specimen is[12]
where is the applied load, is the thickness of the specimen, is the crack length, and is the width of the
specimen.
Compact tension specimen for

fracture toughness testing.
Single edge notch bending specimen
The stress intensity factor at the crack tip of a single edge notch bending specimen is[12]
where is the applied load, is the thickness of the specimen, is the crack length, and is
the width of the specimen.
Single edge notch bending specimen (also called

three point bending specimen) for fracture
toughness testing.
See also
Fracture mechanics
Fracture toughness
Strain energy release rate
J-integral
Material failure theory
Paris' law
References
1. Anderson, T.L. (2005). Fracture mechanics: fundamentals and 2. Hiroshi Tada; P. C. Paris; George Rankine Irwin (February 2000).
applications. CRC Press. The Stress Analysis of Cracks Handbook (3rd ed.). American
Society of Mechanical Engineers.
3. Liu, M.; et al. (2015). "An improved semi-analytical solution for stress 8. Kathiresan, K., Brussat, T. R., & Hsu, T. M. (1984). "Advanced life
at round-tip notches" (http://drgan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/0 analysis methods. Crack Growth Analysis Methods for Attachment
32_EFM_2015.pdf) (PDF). Engineering Fracture Mechanics. 149: Lugs," Flight Dynamics Laboratory, Air Force Wright Aeronautical
134–143. Laboratories, AFSC W-P Air Forec Base, Ohio, Report No. AFWAL-
4. Suresh, S. (2004). Fatigue of Materials. Cambridge University Press. TR-84-3080.
ISBN 978-0-521-57046-6. 9. Gross, D. & Seelig, T. (2011). Fracture mechanics: with an
5. Rooke, D.P. & Cartwright, D.J. (1976). Compendium of stress introduction to micromechanics. Springer.
intensity factors. HMSO Ministry of Defence. Procurement 10. Sih, G. C.; Paris, P. C. & Erdogan, F. (1962), "Crack-tip stress
Executive. intensity factors for the plane extension and plate bending problem",
6. Sih, G. C. & Macdonald, B. (1974), "Fracture mechanics applied to Journal of Applied Mechanics, 29: 306–312,
engineering problems-strain energy density fracture criterion", Bibcode:1962JAM....29..306S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/19
Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 6 (2): 361–386, doi:10.1016/0013- 62JAM....29..306S), doi:10.1115/1.3640546 (https://doi.org/10.111
7944(74)90033-2 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0013-7944%2874%29 5%2F1.3640546)
90033-2) 11. Erdogan, F. (1962), "On the stress distribution in plates with collinear
7. Isida, M., 1966, Stress intensity factors for the tension of an cuts under arbitrary loads", Proceedings of the Fourth US National
eccentrically cracked strip, Transactions of the ASME Applied Congress of Applied Mechanics, 1: 547–574
Mechanics Section, v. 88, p.94. 12. Bower, A. F. (2009). Applied mechanics of solids. CRC Press.
External links
Kathiresan, K. ; Hsu, T. M. ; Brussat, T. R., 1984, Advanced Life Analysis Methods. Volume 2. Crack Growth Analysis Methods for Attachment
Lugs (http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA150420)
Stress Intensity Factor (http://www.fracturemechanics.org/fm/sif.html) on www.fracturemechanics.org (http://www.fracturemechanics.org/), by
Bob McGinty
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5/16/2020 Stress intensity factor - Wikipedia

Polar coordinates at the crack tip.

Stress intensity factors for various modes

Relationship to energy release rate and J-integral

For pure mode III loading,

Critical stress intensity factor

Infinite plate: Uniform uniaxial stress

Crack in an infinite plate

Penny-shaped crack in an infinite domain

Finite plate: Uniform uniaxial stress

Crack in a finite plate under

Edge crack in a plate under uniaxial stress

Specimens of this configuration are commonly used in fracture toughness testing.[9]

Edge crack in a finite plate

Infinite plate: Slanted crack in a biaxial stress field

where is the angle made by the crack with the -axis.

A slanted crack in a thin plate under biaxial

Crack in a plate under point in-plane force

A crack in a plate under the

with , , for plane strain, for plane stress, and is the

Similarly for the load ,

Loaded crack in a plate

A loaded crack in a plate.

Stress intensity factors for fracture toughness tests

Compact tension specimen

Compact tension specimen for

Single edge notch bending specimen

Single edge notch bending specimen (also called

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stress_intensity_factor&oldid=953655530"

This page was last edited on 28 April 2020, at 10:46 (UTC).

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