SEDL / STP / STP803V1-EB / STP37313S

Stable Crack Extension Rates in Ductile Materials: Characterization by a Local Stress-Intensity Factor

Hart, EW
Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

Pages: 11    Published: Jan 1983

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Abstract

A theory is presented for the steady-state propagation of a Mode III crack in a ductile material. The inelastic deformation of the matrix material and the cracking mechanism are both described by real-time rate constitutive laws. The theory leads to realistic nonsingular stresses and relates the crack-tip velocity v to the apparent stress-intensity factor KA that characterizes the remote loading. It is shown that the crack-tip behavior is characterized by a local stress-intensity factor K and that the inelastic deformation is described by a plastic stress-intensity factor KP such that K = KA + KP. These stress-intensity factors are all well defined even though the stress is nonsingular.