Engineeting Fracture Merhnnics

Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 65948.

1982

001F7944/82/0506S9-10.~/0

Printed in Great Britam.

@ 1982PergamonPrers Ltd.

EFFECT OF SIDE GROOVES ON THE ELASTIC-PLASTIC STRESS STATE OF FRACTURE TOUGHNESS SPECIMENSTHREE-DIMENSIONAL FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

YASUFUMI IMAI and TOMOKAZU MATAKE department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852 Japan Abstract-Elastic-plastic stress states on double-edge-notched tensile specimens are analyzed by the three-dimensional finite element method. Effect of side grooves on the stress state around the crack tip are discussed on specimens about 30% side-grooved in U, V and slit types comparing with a regular flat specimen. On the flat specimen, the plastic zone develops extensively near the free surface but the dilatant stress there does not increase so much as at middie region. Accordingly, differences of the plastic zone size and the stress through the thickness increase with increasing the load. Although the side groove promotes the severe plastic deformation over limited region near the root of the groove, practically even distributions of the plastic zone and the dilatant stress can be resulted on V-grooved and slitted specimens.

1. INTRODUCTION
SPECIMENS used in the plane strain fracture toughness testing or the & testing have been usually analyzed two-dimensionally being assumed that specimens deform under the plane strain mode. This may be acceptable so long as plane stress regions near free surfaces remain comparably smal1 on a whole thickness. However, as stable cracks progress, shear lip regions extend widely and the two-dimensional assumption breaks out. It was also reported that even fairly thick specimens show appreciable shear lips on their fractured surfaces[l]. Then, experimentally obtained values such as load, loading point displacement, J-integral, etc. become only the averaged ones over the thickness. To characterize the static crack extension behavior from the experiment, therefore, precise three dimensional analyses in~iuding the effect of piane stress deformation mode must be carried out. Besides using regular flat specimens, side-grooved specimens were preferably employed in order not only to avoid the three-dimensional treatment of the fracture process[l] but also sometimes to simplify the JI, testing procedure[2]. Side grooves restrict or eliminate the plane stress deformation mode near the surface and, hence, achieve the plane strain state ~roughout the specimen thickness. Authors have also tested several kinds of side-grooved three-point bend specimens in order to restrict shear lips and to get straight crack fronts in the course of studying the effectiveness of temperature measuring to detect the initiation of stable crack growth[3]. Figure 1 shows obtained stable cracks growing ahead of the pre-fatigue cracks. Geometries of the grooves are also iIlustrated in the figure. On the regular flat specimen (a) and the specimen with U-grooves (b), cracks grew faster at the mid-thickness; Near the free surfaces of specimens, plane stress type deformation developed extensively. On specimens with V-grooves (c) and with machine slits (d), cracks grew almost uniformIy throughout the thickness. In the light of this, it is expected that the crack growth must be influenced by the kind of side grooves, the root radius, and the depth. The aim of this paper is to clarify the effect of side grooves on the elastic-plastic stress state by the finite element analysis and also to understand how the grooves restricted the plane stress deformation mode near the surfaces and cracks came to extend uniformly through the thickness.

2. THEE-DIMENSIONAL ELASTIC-PLASTIC FINITE ELEMENT METHOD The material behavior was assumed to be governed by the von Mises yield criterion and the Henckys relation[4] in the hardening state. That is, the stress and strain tensors, rij, 4 are related as,
~;j = KcSij+ 2ge, eij = eij -

ESjj

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Y. IMAI and T. MATAKE

where K is the di~atational modulus and g is the modulus of plasticity, which is related to ilie tangential modulus H of the uniaxial tensile stress-strain curve as g = 3HK/(9K - H). In the elastic state, g is to be replaced by the modulus of rigidity G. Deformed 20 node isoparametric brick elements[5] were used to approximate curved boundaries of side grooves and also to achieve fine sectioning around the crack tips. A stiffness matrix of each element was evaluated at 27 points using Gaussian quadratic rule. Stresses were estimated at each nodal point as an average of the values calculated at all the elements that involve the respective node. In elastic-plastic state, the modulus of plasticity g varies even inside the element corresponding to the stress state. The variation of the modulus was represented, in this paper, using the nodal values (g), which were known from the nodal stress state, and the element shape functions, A$(&q, Q, as

The plasticity was solved by the tangential modulus method with incremental loading. For the ~ansition state from elastic to plastic, weighted moduli were used according to Marcal and Kings method [6]. But, no iterative calculations at each load increment were performed. Successive over relaxation method was employed to solve the linear equation systems. 3. FINITE ELEMENT MODEL AND THE MATERIAL Anatyzed specimens were double-edge-cracked tension panels. A Eat specimen is 40 mm wide and 10 mm thick. Side-grooved specimens are 40 mm wide and 14 mm thick but are side-grooved in 2 mm deep on both sides. Groove geometries are the same as shown in Fig. 1. All specimens have cracks 12mm long from both edges. Figure 2 shows the side-grooved specimen geometry. Because of the symmetry of geometry and loading, only one eighth of this specimen is to be modelled. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the finite element models consist of 5, 6 and 4 layers in thickness (x), width (y), and length (z) directions, respectively. The numbers of total nodes and elements are 733 and 120. On z = 0 plane of the model in Fig. 3(a), two layers from the left along y direction correspond to the crack surface; remaining four layers correspond to the ligament. The layer ahead of the crack tip is 0.6 mm thick in a ligament direction. Two layers from the right along x direction correspond to the side groove and are deformed to approximate each groove geometry as shown in Fig. 3(b)-(d).

Fig. 2. Geometry of the analyzed double-edge-cracked tension specimen.

The elastic-plastic stress state of fracture toughness specimens

661

Fig. 1. Stable crack fronts on three-point bend specimens and geometries of side grooves in mm unit: (a) without side-grooves; (b) with U-grooves; (c) with V-grooves; (d) with machine slits.

The elastic-plastic stress state of fracture toughness specimens

663

Fig. 3. Finite element mesh of the specimen (a) and approximation of side groove geometries: (b) U-shaped; (c) V-shaped: (d) machine slit. The &row indicates the crack front.

IOCK

F-;---
I H
GPo

9
Gf% 81.t 20.4 2.19 I.35 0.85

I
II /II IV V

211
58.9 6.54 4.06 2.56

123456
Logarithmic

!
strain

.i._-L%

Fig. 4, True stress YS~ogarithmi~strain curve used in the calculation.

664

Y. IMAI and T. MATAKE

Mechanical properties of the material on which the result in Fig. 1 was obtained were used in the calculation. Although the loading condition is different, considerable information will be obtained about the crack tip deformation. Figure 4 shows the uniaxial true stress vs logarithmic strain diagram of this material. Besides the elastic region up to the yield strength 765 MPa, the curve is approximated for each 59 MPa interval by straight lines, each of which gives tangential modulus H and hence g. Values of H and g are also listed in the diagram. 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Elastic state Smooth stress distributions were obtained in spite of the coarse element partitions. Figure 5 shows examples of the calculated elastic stress distribution of a, along the ligament at various thickness positions. As elastic stresses, rY and cr, have the same singularity of Kjd(27rr) ahead of the tip, these stress distributions can be utilized for the estimation of the stress intensity factor Kp More accurate K, estimation would be possible from the extrapolation of displacements calculated employing Henshell and Shaws singular elements[7]. In Fig. 6, K, variations obtained from above two methods are compared for the flat specimen after KI was normalized by K,(2-D) calculated from the relation(81.

Distance

from the tip mm

Fig. 5. Elastic axial-stress distributions along the ligament at various thickness positions

Distance

from the center

mm

Fig. 6. Variations of the estimated stress intensity factors across the thickness on flat and side-grooved specimens.

The elastic-plastic

stress state of fracture toughness specimens

665

W-D) =

& J(j$

(1.122-0.5615-0.01552+0.09153)
[=2alW

where a, B, W are the crack length, thickness, and width, respectively. A stress method with using regular elements (large open circles) gives about 10% smaller values of K, than the displacement method with using singular elements (small open circles) but still maintain the similar variation of K, over the thickness. Hence, only the former method was employed for side-grooved specimens simply to get the KI variation. On the flat specimen, stress intensity factor near the free surface decreases about 30% from the mid-thickness value. This decrease is comparable with 20% for a three-point-bend specimen[9] and 30% for a compact tension specimen[9]. For side-grooved specimens, the KI seems to reduce about 80% of K,(2-D) at the mid-thickness. But, this reduction is not substantial arising from the overestimation of K,(2-D): Side grooves concentrate the stress at their roots and consequently the axial stress at the middle region should be smaller than the average stress in the net section; K,(2-D) used for the normalization was, however, simply calculated assuming that a flat specimen having the same net section was pulled at the same load. Contrasting to the variation on the flat specimen, stress intensity factors for specimens with V-grooves and machine slits increase with approaching to the notch root although the high intensity regions are limited quite near the surface to be about a few percent of the whole thickness. 4.2 Plastic zone growth For every specimen, crack tip nodes on free surfaces yielded at first. With increasing the load plastic zones extended along crack tips and then developed around tips. Figure 7 shows the contours of von Mises equivalent stress a,, at the middle plane (x = 0 section) of the flat specimen loaded up to 140kN, which was attained after 16 load increments. The region inside the 765 MPa contour corresponds to a plastic zone, which is similar to the well known shape of the plane strain type. The shape and size of the plastic zone vary along the crack tip. Three-dimensional whole boundaries were finally constructed after combining similar drawings as in Fig. 7 on every element surfaces. Figure 8 shows how the plastic zone develops with loading on different side-grooved specimens. For the flat specimen (a), the plastic zone develops extensively near the surface with increasing the load. This corresponds to the plane stress type deformation. The plastic zone has a considerable variation along the tip. Contrasting to the flat specimen, plastic zones on grooved specimens are formed first near the roots of the grooves then extend along the tips. On specimens with V-grooves (c) and machine slits (d), the size and shape of plastic zones become almost unvaried along the tips at high loading levels except near the roots of the grooves. 4.3 Dilatant stress distribution along the crack tip Stable cracks grow through the process of void formation ahead of tips and coalescence of these voids. Hence, the growth of stable cracks is governed by the facility of void formation. A dilatant stress

Fig. 7. Contolirs of the von Mises equivalent stress on the mid-thickness plane of the flat specimen. The
arrow indicates the crack tip.

Y. IMAI and T. MATAKE

lmm
(a)

fb)

(cl

Cd)

Fig. 8. Three-dimensional representations of the plastic zones around the crack tips at various loading levels: (a) without side grooves; (b) with U-grooves; Cc)with V-grooves; d) with machine slits.

LT(= I/~cT~) at a tip must be responsibfe for the void formation and hence crack growth. The variation of

this dilatant stress along the crack tip on the flat specimen are shown in Fig. 9(a). In the elastic state, the variation is quite similar to the one of the stress intensity factor. With the development of the plastic

The elastic-plastic stress state of fracture toughness specimens

667

I
t

without side grooves 2 3 4 from the center (a) 5

01

0 I Distance

I
0

I
2 from 6)

mm

Distance

I 3 4 the center

5 mm

Fig. 9. Growth of the dilatant stress along the crack tip with load. (a) For the Rat specimen; (b) for the V-grooved specimen.

zone, the diiatant stress of the dominant part of the thickness increases, but the stress near the surface does a little. Accordingly, the difference along the tip becomes more and more conspicuous with increasing the load and the mid-thickness region becomes preferable sites for voids to form than the near-surface region. This may cause the thumbnail crack growth. It should be pointed out that the difference of the plastic zone and the stress state in the thickness direction is smail as long as loading levels are low as reported by Redmer and Dahl~IO~but becomes conspicuous with increasing the load. Two-dimensional analyses are not adequate any more even for flat specimens after large scale plastic deformations occur. Side grooves change the dilatant stress distribution along the tip remarkably. Figure 9(b) shows the same kind diagram as in (a) for the V-grooved specimen. Contrasting to the flat specimen, the stress is almost unvaried through the thickness except near the surface and also increases uniformly with increasing the Ioad. Figure 10 shows the difference of the dilatant stress dist~butions on variously side-grooved specimens loaded about 140kN. The variations remind us the difference of the stable crack fronts as shown in Fig. 1.

Distance from thecenter

mm

Fig. IO. comparison of the dilatant stress distributions on variously side-grooved specimens loaded about 140kN.

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Y. IMAI and T. MATAKE 5.

CONCLUSIONS

In elastic-plastic fracture of specimens, large scale plastic deformations in plane stress mode occur near free surfaces. Hence, two-dimensional analyses of specimens are not sufficient for precise understanding of the fracture process and three-dimensional analyses must be performed. In this paper, three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element analysis was reported on double-edge-cracked specimens. As long as the stresses remain almost in the elastic state, the variations of the plastic zone size and the dilatant stress along the crack tip of the flat specimen are not appreciable. Then, the dilatant stress at the mid-thickness region increases so much with the extension of the plastic zone whereas, at near-surface regions, the increase of the dilatant stress is little. The plastic zone near the surface develops more extensively than at the middle region. Side grooves constrain the plane stress deformation mode near surface regions and create the same stress state almost throughout the thickness except at narrow region near the root of the groove where severe plastic deformation occurs. At high loading levels, the size and shape of the plastic zone become practically unvaried through the thickness. The dilatant stress along the tip inrcreases uniformly with increasing the load. This variation of the dilatant stress for each side-grooved specimen corresponds to the respective stable crack growth better than the stress intensity variation does. This suggests that a dilatant stress at a crack tip plays an important role for a stable crack growth.
Acknowledgemenrs-The authors wish to thank Prof. S. Kusumoto for his valuable discussion. Numerical calculations were carried out at Information Processing Center, Nagasaki University and Computer Center, Kyushu University.

REFERENCES
[l] W. R. Andrews and C. F. Shih, Thickness and side-groove effects on J- and &resistance curves for A533-B steel at 93C. Elastic-Plastic Fracture, ASTM STP 663,426-450 (1979). [2] W. L. Server, R. A. Wullaert and R. 0. Ritchie, On the use of side-grooves in estimating .& fracture toughness with Charpy-size specimens. Trans. ASME, J. Engng Mat. Tech. 102, 192-199 (1980). [3] Y. Imai and T. Matake, Temperature variation associated with stable crack growth and the fracture toughness value. Bull. .&ME 24, 1333-1340 (1981). [4] L. M. Kachanov, Foundations of the Theory of Plasticity, p. 54. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1971). IS1 0. C. Zienkiwicz, The Finite Element Method in Enaineerina Science. u. 129. McGraw-Hill. New York (1971). 16] P. V. Marcal and I. P. King, Elastic-plastic analysisof two-dimensional stress systems by the finite element method. Int. 1. Mech. Sci. 9, 143-155(1967). [7] R. D. Henshell and K. G. Shaw, Crack tip finite elements are unnecessary. ht. J. Num. Meth. Engng 9,495-507 (1975). [S] J. P. Benthem and W. T. Koiter, Asymptotic approximations to crack problems. Methods of Analysis and Solutions of Crack Problems (Edited by G. C. Sib), pp. 131-178.Noordhoff, The Netherlands (1973). [9] A. A. Tseng, A three-dimensional finite element analysis of the three-point bend specimen. Engng Fracture Mech. 13, 939-943 (1980). [lo] J. Redmer and W. Dahl, Three-dimensional elasto-plastic FEM calculations of CT-specimens with special view of investigating the influence of specimen thickness on plastic zone size. Fracture and Fatigue (Edited by J. C. Radon), pp. 31-38. Pergamon Press, Oxford (1980).

(Received 15 July 1981;received forpublication

25 August 1981)