21a Fracture and Fatigue Revision

Examples
EG2101 / EG2401
March 2015
Dr Rob Thornton
Lecturer in Mechanics of Materials
www.le.ac.uk

Semester 1 example problems

The following examples are similar to those covered
in lectures last semester

Parameters (material properties, geometries etc.)

have been changed and only incomplete solutions
and numerical answers provided:
Shows good structure for answers
Gives you target values to aim for
Always show your working
Model answers of questions of the same type can
be found in the previous lectures identified
2

Example L11a AA7074-T8

=
A 50mm wide sample plate of 7074-T8 aluminium
alloy contains a central through-crack of length
2a

For 7074-T8:
Kc = 22.2 MN m-3/2; y = 520MPa

2a

= cos

1
2

1.

Under an applied stress of 200 MPa, determine

if the plate will fail by fracture with a crack halflength a of:
1 mm; 5 mm; 10 mm

2.

Determine the critical crack size ac below which

the plate will not fracture under the applied
stress, using an appropriate value of Y

3.

Determine the limiting crack size ay below which

the plate will fail by yielding (assume Y = 1)
3

Solution L11a AA7074-T8

1. Is Y significant? a = 10 mm; Y = ?

Kc = 22.2 MN m-3/2 Is = < ?

a = 1 mm
a = 5 mm
a = 10 mm

K = 11.2 MN m-3/2
K = ? MN m-3/2
K = ? MN m-3/2

Safe as K ? Kc
Safe?
Safe?

2. Setting K = ?; = ? MPa; Y = ?
ac = ?

[ans = 3.73 mm]

3. Setting K = ?; = ? MPa; Y = 1
ay = ?

[ans = 0.58 mm]

4

Example L11b High-strength steel

A high-strength steel has the following material properties:
E = 206 GPa; y = 1400 MPa; Gc = 15.5 kJ m-2

On inspection of an industrial storage tank, a thin plate made

of this steel, with a width of 85mm, is found to contain an
edge-crack, with length a
1. Plot a graph of stress intensities against crack lengths,
assuming an applied stress of 150MPa and crack lengths of
0.5, 10, 20, 25 mm
2. Estimate the critical crack size for fracture under the applied
stress
[ans = 20.8 mm]
3. For a = 20mm, calculate the radius of plasticity around the
crack tip under the applied stress
[ans = 0.24 mm]
4. Estimate the critical crack size below which yielding will
always occur before fracture
[ans = 0.41 mm]
5

Example L11b Tips

1. Values for Y can be found in Ashby and Jones,
Engineering Materials 1, Ch13 p198-203 (accessible
online through the Library)
Try plotting Y against a/W to understand how the
correction factor changes
2. Estimate critical crack size for fracture using your graph
3. Try plotting these for each stress intensity as well
4. Estimate the critical crack size for yielding by plotting
stress intensities against small crack sizes (<1 mm)
when the applied stress is equal to the yield stress

Example L11b - Graphs

Note non-linear trend

between Y and a/W
Often we approximate Y by
linear interpolation:
What effect does this
have on ac or Kc
calculations?
7

Paris Law integration (1)

Paris Law describes the steady-state crack growth
typically seen under cyclic loading

Definition:

d
d

We can therefore calculate fatigue life by rearranging

and integrating this relationship:

d
0

d
0

Ignoring the fact that = (as it is often an

empirical relationship):
=

d
0

2 d
0

1

Paris Law integration (2)

Carry out the Paris Law integration:
=

2 d
0

1

(1)

Show that you can obtain:

=
=

2+1

2+1

1

2+1

2 +1

2 +1

(2)

This can be rearranged into a more convenient form:

=

21

1
0 2

1
2

(3)
9

Paris Law integration (3)

Did you get it?
If you didnt, try again.
If you did, turn over the page and do it again.

Carry out the Paris Law integration:

=

2 d
0

1

(1)

10

Paris Law integration (4)

How about this time?
They say that practice makes perfect
and seeing as good Engineers listen to wise words
turn over the page / cover your notes and

you guessed it, try again.

Carry out the Paris Law integration:
=

2 d
0

1

(1)
11

Paris Law integration (5)

You might be getting the idea by now that being able
to do this integration is important.

It is.
In fact, you should aim to be able to do this in your
sleep.
Once you begin to have nightmares pleasant dreams
about integrating to calculate fatigue lives, youll
know youre ready.
Actually, while youve been reading this your
memory mightve started to fade a bit so
12

Paris Law integration (6)

try again.
Carry out the Paris Law integration:
=

2 d
0

1

(1)

Got it now?
Great.
Trying not to refer to your previous 10 pages of
integrations, have a go at the following example
13

Example L13 Engine crankshaft (1)

A large steel crankshaft (Kc = 45 MN m-3/2) undergoes
cyclic tensile (225 MPa) and compressive (60 MPa)
stresses during use
Prior to use, it was inspected using ultrasonic
techniques, from which the largest surface crack
found was 2.5 mm in length
For the steel in question, the Paris Law constants
are:
Units!!!
A = 1.5 x 10-12 m/(MN m-3/2)m per cycle
m = 2.5
Calculate the number of cycles to failure
14

Example L13 Engine crankshaft (2)

Kc = 45MN m-3/2
max = 225MPa (tensile), min = 60MPa (compressive)
a0 = 2.5mm
A = 1.5 x 10-12 m/(MN m-3/2)m per cycle, m = 2.5

1) Calculate critical crack length (ac = af):

= (assume Y = 1)
[ans = 12.7 mm]
2) Determine number of cycles to failure (Nf):
d
=
d

d
0

[ans = 1.26 x 106 cycles)

15

Example L14a Variable cyclic loading (1)

An aircraft panel made of a 0.4%C steel is subjected

to a fully reversed variable cyclic stress during
operation:
N2

Stress amplitudes:
1/2 = 360MPa
2/2 = 500MPa
3/2 = 440MPa

N3

N1

2
1

=1

Cycles:
N1 = 5.44 x 105
N2 = 5.35 x 103
N3 = 3.24 x 104
16

Example L14a Variable cyclic loading (2)

0.4%C
steel

2000 series
Al-Cu

17

Example L14a Variable cyclic loading (3)

i /MPa

Ni

Nfi

360

5.44 x 105

500

5.35 x 103

26.8

440

3.24 x 104

6 x 104

Complete the table:

1. Using the S-N diagram determine the fatigue life of the 0.4%C steel under
the three different stress regimes

2. Using Miners Rule, calculate the fractional damage caused by each stress
regime to the fatigue life of the component and thus determine under
which stress regime it is predicted to fail
3. How many cycles will the component sustain under the failure stress
regime and therefore how many cycles in total will the component have
sustained when it fails?
[ans = 27,600; 577,000 ]
18

Example L14b Fatigue + Fracture

= ;

d
d

d
0

A 65.4 mm wide aircraft inspection panel is made

of 7074-T651 aluminium alloy. The material
properties are:
Fracture toughness, Kc = 25.8 MN m-3/2
Yield stress, y = 505 MPa

Following inspection, an edge through-crack of

length 6.4 mm is found. During flight, this plate is
subjected to a cyclic stress of 90 30 MPa.

1.

Ignoring the effect of the mean stress, calculate

the number of cycles to failure (Nf) using Paris
Law and the material constants (in their
standard units):
A = 1.2 x 10-12 / m = 2.8
[ans = 4.33 x 106]

2.

Briefly describe what effect would the mean

stress have on the fatigue life of the
component?

a/W

1.12

0.0

1.37

0.2

2.11

0.4

2.83

0.5

19

Example L14b Tips

a/W

1.12

0.0

1.37

0.2

2.11

0.4

2.83

0.5

Q1: Calculate fatigue life

The process to get to the fatigue life is
much the same as Example L13
except that you must use linear
interpolation for the geometry factor
(Y) using the values in the table
provided
In this example you can assume a
constant value of Y as the crack grows,
but what effect would it have if you
accounted for its variation with crack
length (a)?
20

Example L14b Tips

+
0
-

Mean stress

+
0

Q2: Effect of positive

a
mean stress?
Refer back to your
lecture notes
Sketch some typical
curves for the different
mean stress values
indicated to the right

m3 > m2 > m1

Nf

21

Exam reminder
Two and a half hours:
6 questions in two sections; answer 4 in total
Part A Answer one question out of two
Part B Answer three questions out of four
Questions in Part A do not follow style of previous
years examples:
New lecturer, new content new example slides!

22

Good luck!

www.le.ac.uk