13ME423 Fracture Mechanics

COURSE OBJECTIVES
 to enable students to understand the important terminologies and concepts related to
mechanics of fracture in metals
 to enable students understand the analytical treatment of stress and strain fields near a crack
tip and
 to enable students to solve problems in Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics and Elastic
Plastic Fracture Mechanics
 to enable students to apply the concepts of Fracture Mechanics in fatigue loading situations

COURSE OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the student will be able to

 explain stable and unstable crack growth in materials with different plastic deformation
capabilities
 analyze the problem of crack growth behaviour in the elastic regime and the elastic – plastic
regime
 estimate fatigue life of critical components
 carry out safety assessment of engineering components

SYLLABUS

UNIT – I 12 Hours
Introduction to Fracture Mechanics
Concept of stress state, Plane Stress and Plane strain deformation, Modes of fracture, Design
philosophies, Historical failures, Griffith criterion, Energy release rate, Crack growth resistance,
Stable & unstable crack growth, R-curve for brittle and ductile materials, Critical energy release
rate.
Problems in Griffith theory and Energy release rate

UNIT – II 10 Hours
Stress and displacement fields around a crack, Stress Intensity Factor, Stress Intensity factor for
wedge loads, Application of method of superposition for wedge loads, Stress Intensity Factor for
edge and embedded cracks, Relation between Energy release rate and Stress Intensity Factor,
Critical stress intensity factor, Test methods to determine KIC (Plane strain Fracture toughness),
Problems in Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics, Leak before break design
UNIT – III 10 Hours
Anelastic plastic deformation at the crack, Plastic zone shape and size for Plane stress and plane
strain deformation, Effective crack length – approximate approach, Irwin’s approach, Dugdale
approach.
Problems in Fracture Mechanics with plasticity correction

UNIT – IV 10 Hours
Elastic-Plastic analysis through J integral and Crack Tip opening displacement, Definition of J
Integral, Path independence, Stress-strain relation, Concept of Crack Tip opening displacement
(CTOD), equivalence between CTOD and J, Test methods to determine JIC (Critical J integral) and
CCTOD (Critical Crack Tip Opening Displacement).
Problems in Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics

UNIT – V 10 Hours
Fatigue crack initiation and propagation, Fatigue crack propagation laws, effect of overload, crack
closure, Fatigue life estimation – constant amplitude and variable fatigue loading cases,
Problems in fatigue Life estimation

Text
1. Elements of Fracture Mechanics by Prashant Kumar, ata McGraw-Hill Education, 2009

Reference books:
1. Fracture Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications by T. L. Anderson, Third Ed. (2005)