SEDL / STP / STP833-EB / STP32581S

A Tearing Instability Analysis for Strain-Hardening Materials

Popelar, CH
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Pan, J
Stress Analysis and Fracture Section, Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio

Kanninen, MF
Engineering and Materials Sciences Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Tex.

Pages: 22    Published: Jan 1984

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Abstract

The usefulness of the tearing instability analysis procedure depends upon the availability of J and dJ/da estimates for load/structure conditions of practical interest. Most of the J-estimation solutions obtained so far have assumed that a limit load condition exists. To broaden the applicability of these approaches, the role of material hardening in stable crack growth and fracture instability is addressed in this paper. The approach employs Turner's η-factor which links J to the strain energy and the remaining ligament in a cracked component. The resulting analysis is quite general and includes all the presently known J-estimation analyses as special cases.