CHAPTER 1

Kinds of Failure in Structural Components

1. Susceptibility to Failure
o Just as humans are prone to diseases like hypertension and diabetes, structural
components are vulnerable to various failure mechanisms.
o Example: A roller bearing is likely to fail due to fatigue of its rollers after a
certain number of rotations.
2. Common Causes of Failure
o Yielding – Permanent deformation occurs when stress exceeds the yield strength.
 Example: A steel beam in a building may bend permanently if overloaded.
o Deflection Beyond Limit – Excessive deformation can affect performance.
 Example: Polymer wings on an aircraft may droop so much that their tips
touch the ground.
o Buckling – Sudden collapse of thin structures under compressive loads.
 Example: A thin-walled aluminum column may buckle when subjected to
a high axial load.
o Fatigue – Failure due to fluctuating loads, responsible for over 80% of failures.
 Example: Aircraft wings experience cyclic loading and can develop
fatigue cracks over time.
o Fracture – Growth of cracks leading to sudden failure.
 Example: A cracked turbine blade in a jet engine can fracture
catastrophically.
o Creep – Slow deformation over time under constant load.
 Example: High-temperature components in steam turbines can elongate
due to creep.
o Environmental Degradation – Corrosion, oxidation, or material deterioration.
 Example: Bridges made of steel corrode over time due to exposure to
moisture and air.
o Resonance – Excessive vibration leading to failure.
 Example: The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed due to wind-induced
resonance.
o Impact – Sudden force causing damage.
 Example: A car chassis deforms upon collision due to impact loading.
o Wear – Material loss due to friction.
 Example: Brake pads in a vehicle wear out due to continuous rubbing
against the disc.
3. Stress and Yielding Considerations
o Safety against yielding is a basic requirement in design.
o Stress tensor analysis (Mises or Tresca criteria) helps determine yield limits.
o Finite Element Analysis (FEA) helps identify high-stress regions.
 Example: In FEA, red areas indicate maximum stress, while green areas
indicate low stress.
 o Yielding alone does not always cause failure—crack growth must also be
considered.
4. Deflection and Stiffness Considerations
o Components must maintain stiffness to avoid excessive deflection.
 Example: If a plastic beam replaces a steel beam, it may deflect too much
despite its strength.
o Even if stress is below yield strength, excessive deflection can make a structure
unusable.
 Example: A long aluminum ladder may bend significantly under load,
making it unsafe.
5. Fatigue Failure
o Caused by cyclic loading, leading to crack nucleation and growth.
o Fatigue cracks often start from notches, holes, or welded joints.
o Example: Railway tracks develop fatigue cracks due to repeated train loads.
o Non-destructive testing (NDT) methods help detect fatigue cracks:
 Ultrasonic testing – Detects internal cracks.
 X-ray inspection – Used in aerospace for detecting hidden defects.
 Dye-penetration method – Highlights surface cracks in metal parts.
6. Fracture Mechanics
o Studies crack initiation and growth under loading conditions.
o A crack may exist due to manufacturing defects (slag inclusion, welding cracks).
o Crack growth under fatigue loading progresses in three stages:

1. Nucleation – Tiny cracks form at stress points.

2. Slow Growth – The crack propagates gradually.
3. Rapid Growth & Fracture – The crack reaches a critical length and
causes catastrophic failure.

o Example: A pressure vessel with a small crack can rupture explosively if crack
growth is unchecked.
7. Other Failure Mechanisms
o Creep: Deformation over time under sustained load.
 Example: Turbine blades in jet engines elongate due to prolonged
exposure to high temperatures.
o Environmental Degradation: Corrosion, chemical reactions, or oxidation.
 Example: Reinforced concrete structures deteriorate due to moisture-
induced rusting of steel reinforcements.
o Wear: Gradual loss of material due to friction and abrasion.
 Example: Gears in a gearbox wear down over time due to continuous
contact.
8. Design Considerations
o A component typically fails due to only two or three failure mechanisms.
o Engineers must anticipate the most likely failure modes and design accordingly.
o Example: Aircraft fuselage panels are designed to resist fatigue, impact, and
environmental degradation.
By understanding these failure modes and their real-world examples, engineers can design safer
and more reliable structures.

Historical Aspects of Fracture Mechanics

1. Early Understanding of Cracks and Notches

o Humans have long understood the role of cracks and notches in failure.
o Examples:
 Cutting a tree by making a notch with an axe before pulling it down.
 Breaking a stick by first making a small notch with a knife.
o Swords in pre-industrial societies were made by folding thin metal sheets
multiple times.
 This layering prevented cracks from spreading, making the sword tougher.
2. Leonardo da Vinci's Contribution (1452-1519)
o Conducted early strength tests on wires.
o Discovered that a wire’s strength depended on its length due to the presence of
cracks.
o However, fracture mechanics did not develop as a separate discipline at that time.
3. Industrial Revolution and Increased Failures
o The development of bridges, boilers, buildings, and ships led to many structural
failures.
o In the 19th century, locomotives frequently suffered wheel and axle failures due
to fatigue.
o Wöhler (1860) studied fatigue in locomotive axles under controlled cyclic loads.
 Led to the development of S-N diagrams and the concept of endurance
limit in steel.
4. Late 19th & Early 20th Century: Focus on Production
o Industrial growth prioritized mass production over safety and failure analysis.
o Development of failure theories:
 Tresca (1864) and Mises (1913) introduced yield criteria for material
failure.
5. World War II and Advancements in Engineering
o Aircraft production improved dramatically within six years.
o Transition from riveted to welded ship structures, leading to unexpected failures.
o Liberty ships built in the U.S. suffered catastrophic failures in the cold North
Atlantic due to brittle fracture.
 Riveted ships resisted crack growth since cracks were contained within a
single plate.
 Welded ships were a continuous structure, allowing cracks to propagate
through the entire hull.
6. Early Jet Planes and Pressurization Issues
o Early jet fighters were small and flew at high altitudes.
o When scaled to passenger jetliners, failures occurred.
 Example: Comet Jetliner (1950s) experienced mid-air explosions due to
fatigue cracks.
  Cracks initiated near fuselage openings and propagated at high altitudes
due to pressurization cycles.
 Jetliners act like pressurized balloons, with fuselage walls under high
tensile stress.
7. Development of Fracture Mechanics
o New problems with large ships and jet planes led to questions about failure
mechanisms.
o Griffith (1920s) studied crack growth using energy-based models.
 Estimated that material strength should be close to its elastic modulus.
 However, real engineering materials had much lower strength due to
cracks.
 His work was overlooked due to the focus on production and economic
challenges (e.g., Great Depression).
 Lacked a practical parameter to predict crack propagation under load.
8. Birth of Modern Fracture Mechanics (1948)
o George Irwin introduced practical concepts:
 Stress Intensity Factor (K)
 Energy Release Rate (G)
o These allowed engineers to predict crack growth and failure conditions.
o Fracture mechanics became a separate engineering discipline with specialized
journals and textbooks.
9. Further Developments in Fracture Mechanics
o Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) – Wells (1961)
o J-Integral for Ductile Materials – Rice (1968)
o These accounted for plasticity effects in materials that do not fail in a purely
brittle manner.
10. Modern Applications of Fracture Mechanics
o Extensively used in:
 Nuclear engineering (to prevent catastrophic reactor failures).
 Piping systems (ensuring safe operation under pressure).
 Spacecraft and rockets (minimizing failure risks in extreme
environments).
 Offshore structures (resisting crack growth due to harsh sea conditions).
o Even with tough materials, critical components still fail occasionally in extreme
conditions.

Brittle and Ductile Fracture

Materials exhibit different fracture behaviors based on their ability to undergo plastic
deformation before failure.
1. Brittle Fracture

 Definition: Occurs when a crack propagates easily with little or no plastic deformation.
 Characteristics:
o The material is affected only near the crack tip.
o The rest of the structure remains largely unaffected.
 Types of Brittle Fracture in Crystalline Metals:
o Intergranular Fracture:
 Crack propagates along grain boundaries.
 Occurs when grain boundaries are weakened (e.g., due to impurities,
segregation).
o Transgranular Fracture:
 Crack moves through grains rather than along boundaries.
 Cleavage failure occurs along weak crystallographic planes.
 Cleavage fracture is the most brittle form, producing clean, flat fractured
surfaces.

2. Ductile Fracture

 Definition: Involves significant plastic deformation before failure.

 Mechanism:
o Microvoid formation occurs at second-phase particles.
o Dislocation motion helps these voids grow.
o Crack propagation happens when voids coalesce.
 Fractured Surface Characteristics:
o Tiny dimples are observed.
o Second-phase particles are often found at the center of dimples.
o The surface appears rough due to plastic deformation.
 Energy Absorption:
o Ductile materials absorb a large amount of energy before failure.
o As a result, cracks do not propagate easily.
3. Factors Affecting Fracture Behavior

1. Temperature Effects:
o Some materials that are ductile at room temperature can become brittle at low
temperatures.
o Example: Steel becomes brittle in cold environments.
o This phenomenon explains the failure of Liberty ships in the North Atlantic
during World War II.
2. Strain Rate Sensitivity:
o The rate of loading affects material toughness.
o At high strain rates, even ductile materials may behave brittle.
3. Plate Thickness Effects:
o Thick plates behave more brittle than thin plates.
o Reason:
 Deep inside a thick plate, the material is constrained in all directions.
 Plastic deformation is restricted, leading to brittle crack growth.
o Thin plates are more resistant to crack growth because they can deform
plastically.

Modes of Fracture Failure

Fracture failure in structural components occurs due to crack propagation under different stress
conditions. The state of stress near a crack front varies along its length, leading to different
fracture modes.

1. Three Basic Modes of Fracture (Fig. 1.2)

Mode I – Opening Mode

 Description: The crack opens due to tensile stress acting perpendicular to the crack
surface.
 Displacement: Normal to the crack plane (pulling apart).
 Significance:
o Most common and dangerous in engineering applications.
o Studied extensively with well-established experimental methods.
o Used to determine fracture toughness in materials.

Mode II – Sliding Mode (In-Plane Shear)

 Description: Crack surfaces slide relative to each other in the plane of the material.
 Displacement: Parallel to the crack plane but perpendicular to the crack front.
 Significance:
 o Occurs in components subjected to shear loading.
o Found in applications like geological faults, gears, and composite materials.

Mode III – Tearing Mode (Out-of-Plane Shear)

 Description: Crack surfaces slide parallel to the crack front, causing tearing motion.
 Displacement: Parallel to both the crack plane and the crack front.
 Significance:
o Observed in twisting of shafts and thick plates.
o Less common but still important in certain applications.

2. Superposition of Fracture Modes

 Real cracks do not always follow a single mode.

 A complex crack can be broken down into a combination of all three modes.
 This helps in analyzing individual effects of each mode separately.

3. Importance in Engineering Applications

  Mode I is the most critical and widely studied because it is responsible for brittle
failures.
 Mode II and Mode III are significant in specific applications like welding, machining,
composite materials, and seismic studies.
 Internationally accepted codes and standards exist for testing Mode I fracture
toughness.
 Research continues for Mode II and III toughness characterization to improve
material reliability.

How Potent is a Crack?

Engineers and designers need to determine whether a crack will grow under given conditions
such as geometry, loading, and boundary conditions. To measure the potency of a crack,
fracture mechanics provides several parameters, each suited for different materials and
applications.

1. Key Parameters in Fracture Mechanics

(a) Energy Release Rate (G) – Energy-Based Approach

 Measures the rate at which energy is released as a crack propagates.

 Best suited for brittle and less ductile materials.
 Useful in applications where energy considerations are important, such as composites
and ceramics.

(b) Stress Intensity Factor (K) – Stress-Based Approach

 Defines the intensity of stress near the crack tip.

 Also developed for brittle and less ductile materials.
 Most commonly used in engineering applications, particularly in aircraft, bridges, and
pressure vessels.

(c) J-Integral (J) – Generalized Approach for Ductile and Brittle Materials

 Developed to handle ductile materials but can also be applied to brittle materials.
 More general than G and K, providing a robust way to analyze crack growth under
plastic deformation.
 Widely used in applications involving nuclear reactors, pipelines, and high-strength
steels.

(d) Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) – Displacement-Based Approach

  Measures the opening at the crack tip, indicating how much a crack deforms before
failure.
 Most useful for ductile materials where plastic deformation plays a significant role.
 Common in welding, structural steel, and offshore structures.

2. Choosing the Right Parameter

 Brittle materials → Use G or K.

 Ductile materials → Use J or CTOD.
 High-precision applications (e.g., nuclear reactors, aerospace, submarines) → Use a
detailed fracture mechanics analysis with multiple parameters for accuracy.

Point of View in Fracture Mechanics

Fracture mechanics problems can be analyzed from two distinct perspectives:

1. Material Science Approach

 Focuses on microscopic mechanisms near the crack front.

 Examines factors like:
o Dislocation generation and motion
o Role of grain boundaries
o Formation of twins
o Influence of second-phase particles
o Nucleation, growth, and coalescence of voids
 Also studies the texture and morphology of fractured surfaces to understand material
behavior at a micro-level.
 Used in research areas like nanomaterials, metallurgy, and composite materials.

2. Applied Mechanics Approach

 Treats the material as continuum (ignoring atomic-scale defects).

 Uses mathematical models and experimental data to predict crack behavior.
 Employs stress, strain, and energy-based parameters like:
o Stress Intensity Factor (K)
o Energy Release Rate (G)
o J-Integral (J)
 o Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD)
 Widely used in engineering applications, such as:
o Structural integrity analysis
o Aerospace and automotive industries
o Pipeline and nuclear reactor safety

Perspective of This Book

 Primarily follows the Applied Mechanics Approach, assuming the material is

continuous ahead of the crack tip.
 However, some discussions on micromechanisms from Material Science are included
where necessary.

This balance ensures practical applicability while maintaining an understanding of

fundamental crack behavior.

Damage Tolerance in Fracture Mechanics

Fracture mechanics problems can be solved using two key approaches:

1. Load-Based Approach

 The geometry of the component (crack length, location, and orientation) and boundary
conditions are known.
 The goal is to determine the maximum load the component can withstand without
catastrophic failure.
 Used in design and material selection to ensure safe operational limits.

2. Damage Tolerance Approach

 The maximum applied load is known.

 The objective is to find the longest crack length that remains dormant (does not
propagate to failure).
 Used for structural health monitoring and maintenance.

Why is Damage Tolerance Important?

  Real-world components experience fatigue due to fluctuating loads, leading to crack
initiation and growth.
 In critical components, regular non-destructive testing (NDT) is necessary to detect
and monitor cracks.
 If a critical crack is detected, the component is either repaired or replaced before
failure.
 However, small cracks below the critical length do not immediately necessitate action.

Practical Applications of Damage Tolerance

 Aerospace Industry: Aircraft undergo routine inspections to detect fatigue cracks

before they become critical.
 Chemical Plants:
o Example: A urea manufacturing company in Kanpur regularly checks pipe
joints using NDT.
o This prevents catastrophic failures, reduces costs, and increases safety.
 Power Plants & Pipelines:
o Regular ultrasonic and radiographic inspections prevent unexpected failures.
o Reduces downtime, repair costs, and risk to human life.
CHAPTER 2

Introduction to Fracture Mechanics and Energy Approach

Understanding whether a crack in a component will grow under a given load is fundamental to
fracture mechanics. This is analyzed using different approaches:

1. Approaches to Crack Growth Analysis

Several methods exist to study crack behavior, each defining a unique parameter to measure
fracture toughness:

(a) Stress-Based Approach

 Uses Stress Intensity Factor (K) to measure crack severity.

 Requires detailed stress analysis near the crack-tip.

(b) Displacement-Based Approach

 Uses Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) to assess ductile fracture behavior.
 Measures plastic deformation at the crack-tip.

(c) Energy-Based Approach (Energy Release Rate, G)

 Uses energy conservation principles to determine crack growth.

 Avoids complex stress calculations near the crack-tip, making it convenient for
analysis.

2. Energy Approach: A Simplified Method

 Instead of analyzing local stress distributions, this approach evaluates energy changes
in the system.
  Inspired by classical mechanics:
o Similar to a body sliding down a frictionless slope, where velocity is determined
using energy conservation rather than analyzing forces at every point.
o In fracture mechanics, crack growth is determined by evaluating energy balance
rather than complex stress fields.

3. Fracture Toughness & Crack Growth Criteria

 Each approach defines a parameter (K, CTOD, G) with a threshold limit.

 If the calculated value exceeds this critical limit, the crack may propagate, leading to
failure.

4. Why Use the Energy Approach?

✔ Simplifies analysis by avoiding the need to calculate extreme stress levels near the crack-tip.
✔ Useful for brittle materials, where energy-based criteria work well.
✔ Lays the foundation for modern fracture mechanics theories, including Griffith’s energy
balance concept.

Griffith’s Dilemma: The Paradox of Crack Growth

In the 1920s, A.A. Griffith laid the foundation for modern fracture mechanics by addressing an
apparent contradiction in material failure predictions.

1. Inglis' Stress Analysis of an Elliptical Hole

 Inglis (1913) developed a mathematical solution for the stress distribution around an
elliptical hole in a large plate subjected to tensile stress (σ₀).
 The maximum stress at the tip of the ellipse (point A) is given by:

where:

o a = major axis of the ellipse (half-length of the crack)

 o b = minor axis of the ellipse

2. The Paradox: Infinite Stress at a Sharp Crack

 If the hole is circular (a = b), the maximum stress is three times the applied stress (σ₀).
 But if the hole is very sharp (b → 0), σ_max becomes extremely large, theoretically
infinite at the crack tip.
 This suggests that even a small crack under low applied stress should cause
immediate failure.
 However, real materials do not fail this easily, even when small cracks are present.

3. Griffith’s Conclusion: Energy Considerations Matter

 Since Inglis’ equation implied that even small cracks should break materials easily,
Griffith suspected something was missing.
 He proposed that crack propagation depends not only on stress but also on energy
considerations.
 This led to his famous energy balance concept, which introduced the Griffith Criterion
for Fracture.

4. Key Takeaway

 Stress concentration alone does not determine fracture.

 Crack growth must satisfy an energy balance, where the energy released by crack
extension must be sufficient to create new surfaces.
 This idea forms the basis of the Griffith Energy Criterion, which is discussed further in
fracture mechanics.
Surface Energy

 Definition: Surface energy (or free energy) is similar to surface tension in liquids and
relates to the behavior of atoms at the surface of a solid.
 Behavior of Atoms:
o Interior atoms are uniformly attracted or repulsed by neighboring atoms from all
directions.
o Surface atoms lack neighboring atoms on the outside, leading to a different state
of balance (equilibrium).
 Adjustments: Surface and nearby atoms need to readjust to achieve this new
equilibrium, creating strain in the material.
 Energy Requirement: The deformation of the surface due to these adjustments requires
energy, which is referred to as surface energy.

Griffith's Realization

 Energy Requirement for Crack Growth: Griffith discovered that a crack in a material
won't grow unless enough energy is released to create two new surfaces (one above and
one below the crack).
 Surface Energy:
o The surface energy is a property of the material and is relatively small, typically
around 1 J/m².
o For context, 1 J of energy can raise the temperature of a teaspoon of water by
0.05°C.
 Impact on Brittle Materials: In brittle materials like silica, glass, and diamond, cracks
require only small amounts of energy (similar to the surface energy) to advance. This
means once a crack starts, it can easily grow and lead to catastrophic failure.
 Additional Mechanisms: Most materials have other mechanisms that prevent crack
growth at low energy levels, which will be discussed later in the chapter.