Quantitative Characterization of Mechanical Stress Field and Fracture Strength in Isotropic Brittle Materials During Crack Tip Propagation

A generalized method for characterizing mechanical stresses in brittle materials during crack tip propagation is presented. This approach was derived from classical fracture mechanics and is therefore mechanism independent and applies to any isotropic brittle material, including glasses, fine grained ceramics or metals, and high stiffness polymers. A practical implementation demonstrates the merits of this technique: the fracture strength can be determined by characterizing the angle between the free surface of a flexural overload fracture and stress intensity factor loci. The accuracy of this method was phenomenologically validated using flexural strength tests on glass as a model material system. In addition, such fractographic measurements can also be used to characterize an inhomogeneous internal stress field, and thereby, for example, help discriminate whether the sample failed due to pure bending loads alone, or whether membrane stresses were also present.