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Stress Intensity Factor

 

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Stress Intensity Factor



 
 
Stress Intensity Factor, K, is used in fracture mechanics
Fracture mechanics

Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the formation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics to characterize the material's resistance to fracture....
 to more accurately predict the stress
Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal forces acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body forces....
 state ("stress intensity") near the tip of a crack caused by a remote load
Structural load

Structural loads are forces applied to a component of a structure or to the structure as a unit.In structural design, assumed loads are specified in national and local design codes for types of structures, geographic locations, and usage....
 or residual stresses. It is a theoretical construct applicable to a homogeneous elastic material, It is useful for providing a failure criterion for brittle
Brittle

A material is brittle if it is liable to fracture when subjected to stress . That is, it has little tendency to deform before fracture. This fracture absorbs relatively little energy, even in materials of high Strength of materials, and usually makes a snapping sound....
 materials.

The magnitude of K depends on sample geometry, the size and location of the crack, and the magnitude and the modal distribution of loads on the material.

Linear elastic theory predicts a variation, for mode I, near the crack tip of the form

This breaks down very close to the tip (small r), where plastic distortion typically occurs

ss Intensity, K, is a parameter that amplifies the magnitude of the applied stress that includes the geometrical parameter Y (load type).






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Stress Intensity Factor, K, is used in fracture mechanics
Fracture mechanics

Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the formation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics to characterize the material's resistance to fracture....
 to more accurately predict the stress
Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal forces acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body forces....
 state ("stress intensity") near the tip of a crack caused by a remote load
Structural load

Structural loads are forces applied to a component of a structure or to the structure as a unit.In structural design, assumed loads are specified in national and local design codes for types of structures, geographic locations, and usage....
 or residual stresses. It is a theoretical construct applicable to a homogeneous elastic material, It is useful for providing a failure criterion for brittle
Brittle

A material is brittle if it is liable to fracture when subjected to stress . That is, it has little tendency to deform before fracture. This fracture absorbs relatively little energy, even in materials of high Strength of materials, and usually makes a snapping sound....
 materials.

The magnitude of K depends on sample geometry, the size and location of the crack, and the magnitude and the modal distribution of loads on the material.

Linear elastic theory predicts a variation, for mode I, near the crack tip of the form

This breaks down very close to the tip (small r), where plastic distortion typically occurs

Critical Stress Intensity

Stress Intensity, K, is a parameter that amplifies the magnitude of the applied stress that includes the geometrical parameter Y (load type). These load types are categorized as Mode-I, -II, or -III. Stress intensity (K) in any mode situation is directly proportional to the applied load on the material. If a very sharp crack can be made in a material, the minimum value of K_I can be empirically determined, which is the critical value of stress intensity required to propagate the crack. This critical value determined for mode I loading in plane-strain is referred to as the critical fracture toughness (KIc) of the material. KIc has units of stress times the root of a distance. The units of KIc infer that the fracture stress of the material must be reached over some critical distance in order for KIc to be reached and crack propagation to occur. The Mode-I critical stress intensity factor, KIc is the most often used engineering design parameter in fracture mechanics and hence must be understood if we are to design fracture tolerant materials used in bridges, buildings, aircraft, or even bells. Polishing just won't do if we detect a crack. Typically for most materials if a crack can be seen it is very close to the critical stress state predicted by the "Stress Intensity Factor".

Mode I is opening or tensile mode where the crack surfaces move directly apart. Mode II is sliding or in-plane shear
Shear

Shear as a noun may refer to:*Bias , in clothing design, fabric may be cut on the shear*Cosmic shear, an effect of distortion of image of distant galaxies due to deflection of light by matter, as predicted by general relativity ...
 mode where the crack surfaces slide over one another in a direction perpendicular to the leading edge of the crack. Mode III is tearing and antiplane shear mode where the crack surfaces move relative to one another and parallel to the leading edge of the crack. Mode I is the most common load type encountered in engineering design.

Three different basic modes are shown in the figure.

Simple case

The stress intensity factor for a through crack of length 2a, at right angles, in an infinite plane, to a uniform stress field s is