SEDL / STP / STP486-EB / STP26672S

The Influence of Curvature on Stress Intensity at the Tip of a Circumferential Crack in a Cylindrical Shell

Adams, NJI
Resident research associate, National Academy of Sciences, NASA Langley Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, Va.

Pages: 11    Published: Jan 1971

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Abstract

The validity of a nondimensional curvature parameter, relating discontinuity size to shell radius and thickness, used to express the effect of curvature on stress intensification at a discontinuity in a cylindrical shell, has been substantiated within a limited range. Fatigue crack growth tests were conducted on flat and curved axially loaded specimens to examine the influence of curvature on stress intensity in cylindrical shells. Using crack growth rates, a curvature correction is obtained which can be used to apply a stress intensity analysis in flat sheets to cylinders. The influence of curvature on stress intensity is found to be similar to that of sheet buckling in flat sheets containing cracks.