‘Curving’ could occur in Mode I brittle fracture and it can be attributed to the constraint. The variation of the apparent fracture toughness with constraint with or without crack curving is investigated. Using a critical opening or hoop stress as the fracture criterion, it is demonstrated that a fracture event can be quantified by two mechanics parameters, i.e. K and A3 for fracture without cu...

Delamination is a predominant failure mechanism in composite structures. In the present study, double cantilever beam tests were performed to investigate the effects of temperature and fiber orientation on the Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness, G I , of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composites, T800H/#3631. The values of G I for three kinds of laminates, [0 12 //0 12 ], [22.5/-22.5/0 8 /-2...

Mode I steady crack growth was analyzed to determine the toughening due to domain switching in ferroelectric ceramics. A multi-axial, electromechanically coupled, incremental constitutive theory is applied to model the material behavior of the ferroelectric ceramic. The constitutive law is then implemented within the finite element method to study steady crack growth. The effects of mechanical ...

The primary objective of this work was to analyse the adequacy of the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) test in determining fracture toughness under pure mode I loading of cortical bone tissue. A new data reduction scheme based on specimen compliance and the crack equivalent concept was used to overcome the difficulties inherent in crack monitoring during its growth. It provides a complete resistanc...

The effects of acid treatment, vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) interlayer and the angle, i.e., 0° and 90°, between the rolling stripes of an aluminum (Al) plate and the fiber direction of glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) on the mode II interlaminar mechanical properties of GFRP/Al laminates were investigated. The experimental results of an end notched flexure test demonstrate that the aci...

Recent studies document linear elastic response of muddy marine sediments to load and deformation on temporal and spatial scales relevant to animal movement, with burrowers making openings for movement in such sediments by fracture. Cracks propagate through linear elastic solids in mode I (opening-mode crack growth) when the stress intensity factor (KI) at the crack tip exceeds the material’s f...

The structural reliability of many brittle materials such as structural ceramics relies on the occurrence of intergranular, as opposed to transgranular, fracture in order to induce toughening by grain bridging. For a constant grain boundary strength and grain boundary toughness, the current work examines the role of grain strength, grain toughness, and grain angle in promoting intergranular fra...

The mode II initiation fracture toughness of wood was measured by the three-point bend endnotched flexure (3ENF) test for various crack lengths, and the dependence of toughness on the crack length was analyzed by the four conventional methods of data reduction : elementary beam theory, Williams end correction method, and two compliance calibration methods. In addition to these methods, the comp...

The demands by the semiconductors industry for high levels of integration, lower costs and a growing need for complete system solutions has led to the emergence of ”System In Package” (SIP) solutions in which ”the package is the system”. Since SIP-microsystems have multiple thin and stacked layers manufactured using different processes and materials, internal (intrinsic and/or thermal) mismatch...

Micromechanical methods to predict the fracture behavior and estimate the fracture toughness of cellular solids and foams are presented in this paper. The microstructure of the foam is modeled using finite elements. The struts of foam are modeled using either structural elements such as beams or three-dimensional solid elements. A portion of the foam containing an edge crack is modeled. Displac...