An extended nite element method (X-FEM) for three-dimensional crack modelling is described. A discontinuous function and the two-dimensional asymptotic crack-tip displacement elds are added to the nite element approximation to account for the crack using the notion of partition of unity. This enables the domain to be modelled by nite elements with no explicit meshing of the crack surfaces. Comp...

Fracture experiments of single silicon crystals reveal that after the critical fracture load is reached, the crack speed jumps from zero to approximately 2 km/sec, indicating that crack motion at lower speeds is forbidden. This contradicts classical continuum fracture theories predicting a continuously increasing crack speed with increasing load. Here we show that this threshold crack speed may...

Fatigue crack growth was investigated in Haynes 230, a nickel-based superalloy. Anisotropic stress intensity factors were calculated with a least squares algorithm using the displacements obtained from digital image correlation. Crack opening/sliding levels were measured by analysing the relative displacement of crack flanks. Reversed crack tip plastic zones were calculated adopting an anisotro...

The detection, location, and sizing of a fatigue crack emanating from a fastener hole in an aluminum plate is investigated. Two linear arrays of surface mounted piezoelectric disk transducers send and receive ultrasonic guided waves that are transmitted, reflected, and scattered by both the joint geometry and the fatigue crack. A tomography algorithm is used to detect and locate the crack. Ampl...

Lasers provide a non-contact and remote inspection method with high resolution and sensitivity. As a crack detection tool, laser ultrasonics can be used to image surface-breaking cracks with microscopic precision. By monitoring the local elastic scattering conditions and dynamic motion fields present in the immediate vicinity of a surface-breaking crack site, the local crack morphology can be m...

This paper summarizes progress in the development of finite element methods for three-dimensional elastic-plastic stress analysis in fracture mechanics. The work is directed toward the study of stress states near flaws such as a part-through crack in a pressure vessel wall, and emphasis is placed on the large scale plastic yielding range The development of a computer program with large computin...

The Interaction of a crack with rigid circular cylindrical inclusions is considered for the case of longitudinal shear deformation. General representations of the solutions for a radial crack near a single and midway between two inclusions are given. The particular case of uniform shearing stress applied at infinity is discussed in detail. Expressions for the crack tip stress intensity factor K...

Using molecular dynamics with an accurate many-body potential for metallic Tantalum, we studied crack propagation in a pre-notched nano-slab under uniaxial strain in a [100] direction. We study dislocation emission from the crack tip for various strain rate and temperatures and focus on the inuence of the local temperature at the crack tip on the nature of the crack propagation We nd a close co...

Finite element method (FEM) is one of the most famous methods which has many applications in varies studies such as the study of crack propagation in engineering structures. However, unless extremely fine meshes are employed, problem arises in accurately modelling the singular stress field in the singular element area around the crack tip. In the present study, the crack growth simulation has b...

Analysis has been performed on fracture initiation near a crack in a brittle material with strength described by Weibull statistics. This nonlocal fracture model allows for a direct correlation between near crack-tip stresses and failure. Predictions are made for both the toughness and average fracture initiation angle of a crack under mixed-mode loading. This is pertinent for composites and is...