• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.73-81
• /
• 2004

Failure mechanisms of welded joints under fatigue loads are interpreted that multiple collinear surface cracks initiating randomly along the weld toes propagate under the mutual interaction and coalescence of adjacent two cracks. To estimate fatigue crack propagation life for three types of the representative welded joints, i.e. non-load carrying cruciform, cover plate and longitudinal stiffener joint, the stress intensity factors at the front of the surface cracks have to be calculated, which are influenced strongly by the geometry of attachments, weld toes and the crack shapes. For the effective calculation of the stress intensity factors the Mk-factor was introduced which can be derived by a parametric study performed by FEM considering influence of the geometrical effects. The fatigue life of the cruciform joint was estimated by using the Mk-factors and the method considering the propagation mechanisms of the multiple surface cracks. Analysis results for the fatigue life had a good agreement with that of experiment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2002.03a
• /
• pp.173-180
• /
• 2002

The specimens with three discontinuities have been tested in uniaxial compression. The geometry of discontinuities is changed by three different parameters: flaw inclination angle, continuity, and spacing. From the tips of the discontinuities wing and secondary cracks are observed. Wing cracks initially propagate curvilinear direction and follow loading direction after some distance from the tip of the discontinuities. Two different types of secondary cracks have been observed from the study: quasi-coplanar secondary cracks and oblique secondary cracks. From the test nine different types of coalescence are observed and they show a correlation with flaw angle and ligament angle. It is attempted to simulate the observed results by using FROCK(Fractured ROCK). FROCK is a code based on the hybridized DDM(Displacement Discontinuities Method) . It is shown that FROCK has quite potential of modeling of rock fracture processes.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.373-381
• /
• 2018

Hollow center cracked disc (HCCD) in Brazilian test was modelled numerically to study the crack propagation in the pre-cracked disc. The pre-existing edge cracks in the disc models were considered to investigate the crack propagation and coalescence paths within the modelled samples. The effect of particle size on the hollow center cracked disc (HCCD) in Brazilian test were considered too. The results shows that Failure pattern is constant by increasing the ball diameter. Tensile cracks are dominant mode of failure. These crack initiates from notch tip, propagate parallel to loading axis and coalescence with upper model boundary. Number of cracks increase by decreasing the ball diameter. Also, tensile fracture toughness was decreased with increasing the particle size. In this research, it is tried to improve the understanding of the crack propagation and crack coalescence phenomena in brittle materials which is of paramount importance in the stability analyses of rock and concrete structures, such as the underground openings, rock slopes and tunnel construction.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.120-125
• /
• 2004

Fatigue life of welded joints are governed by the propagation of multiple collinear surface cracks distributed randomly along weld bead. These cracks propagate in mutual interaction and coalescence of them. To estimate the fatigue life, the influences of above two mechanisms on the fatigue life should be taken into account. These two mechanisms appear through the stress intensity factors disturbed mutually. However, it is difficult to calculate the stress intensity factors of multiple surface cracks located in vicinity of weld toe. The stress intensity factors are calculated normally by using the Mk-factors, but such Mk-factors are very rare in literature. In this study, the Mk-factors were obtained from a parametric study on crack length and depth, in which a finite element method is used. A fatigue test for a cruciform welded joint was conducted. The fatigue life of the tested specimen was estimated through present method with the informations obtained from the test, e.g. the number, size and locations of the cracks. The estimated and measured fatigue life showed a good agreement.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.316-326
• /
• 2004

The $40\%$ of wall criterion, which is generally used for the plugging of steam generator tubes, is applied only to a single crack. In a previous study, a total number of 9 failure models were proposed to estimate the local failure of the ligament between cracks, and the optimum coalescence model of multiple collinear cracks was determined among these models. It is, however known that parallel axial cracks are more frequently detected than collinear axial cracks during an in-service inspection. The objective of this study is to determine the plastic collapse model that can be applied to steam generator tubes containing two parallel axial through-wall cracks. Three previously proposed local failure models were selected as the candidates. Subsequently, the interaction effects between two adjacent cracks were evaluated to screen them. Plastic collapse tests for the plate with two parallel through-wall cracks and finite element analyses were performed to determine the optimum plastic collapse model. By comparing the test results with the prediction results obtained from the candidate models, a COD base model was selected as an optimum model.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.307-319
• /
• 2011

Cyclic loading due to traffic, excavation and blasting causes microcrack growth in rocks over long period of time, and this type of loading often causes rock to fail at a lower stress than its monotonically determined strength. Thus, the crack growth and coalescence under cyclic loading are important for the long-term stability problems. In this research, experiments using gypsum as a model material for rock are carried out to investigate crack propagation and coalescence under monotonic and cyclic loading. Both monotonic and cyclic tests have a similar wing crack initiation position, wing crack initiation angle, cracking sequence and coalescence type. Three types of crack coalescence were observed; Type I, II and III. Type I coalescence occurs due to a shear crack and Type II coalescence occurs through one wing or tension crack. For Type III, coalescence occurs through two wing or tension cracks. Fatigue cracks appear in cyclic tests. Two types of fatigue crack initiation directions, coplanar and horizontal directions, are observed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.217-224
• /
• 2001

Rock masses are usually discontinuous in nature due to various geological processes and contain rock joints and bridges. Crack propagation and coalescence processes in rock bridge mainly cause rock failures in slopes, foundations, and tunnels. In this study, we focused on the crack initiation, propagation and coalescence process of rock materials containing two pre-existing open cracks arranged in different geometries. Specimens of 120${\times}$60${\times}$25 mm in size, which were made of Yeoman Marble, were prepared. In the specimens, two artificial cracks were cut with pre-existing crack angle ${\alpha}$, bridge angle ${\beta}$, pre-existing crack length 2c and bridge length 2b. Wing crack initiation stress, wing crack propagation angle, and crack coalescence stress were measured and crack initiation, propagation and coalescence processes were observed during uniaxial compression. Crack coalescence types were classified and analytical study using Ashby and Hallam model (1986) was performed to be compared with the experimental results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.327-337
• /
• 2004

It is commonly required that tubes with defects exceeding $40\%$ of wall thickness in depth should be plugged; however, this criterion is too conservative for some locations and for some types of defects. Many studies have been done with the aim of developing an alternative plugging criteria, and these studies have shown that steam generator tubes with a certain range of axial through-wall cracks could remain in service without any safety or reliability problems. However, these studies have been limited, thus far, to consideration of single cracked tubes, necessitating a study on multiple cracks, which are commonly found. A crack coalescence model applicable to steam generator tubes with two collinear axial through-wall cracks was proposed in the previous study. In this paper, the investigation is extended to the parallel axial cracks spaced in a circumferential direction, because parallel axial cracks are more frequently detected during in-service inspections than collinear axial cracks. Interaction effects between two parallel cracks are evaluated by performing elastic and elastic-plastic finite element analyses.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.66 no.3
• /
• pp.343-351
• /
• 2018

Brazilian disc test is one of the most widely used experiments in the literature of geo-mechanics. In this work, the pre-holed concrete Brazilian disc specimens are numerically modelled by a two-dimensional discrete element approach. The cracks initiations, propagations and coalescences in the numerically simulated Brazilian discs (each containing a single cylindrical hole and or multiple holes) are studied. The pre-holed Brazilian discs are numerically tested under Brazilian test conditions. The single-holed Brazilian discs with different ratios of the diameter of the holes to that of the disc radius are modelled first. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an internal hole with varying diameters is measured and the crack propagation mechanism around the wall of the ring is investigated. The crack propagation and coalescence mechanisms are also studied for the case of multi-holes' concrete Brazilian discs. The numerical and experimental results show that the breaking mechanism of the pre-holed disc specimens is mainly due to the initiation of the radially induced tensile cracks which are growth from the surface of the central hole. Radially cracks propagated toward the direction of diametrical loading. It has been observed that for the case of disc specimens with multiple holes under diametrical compressive loading, the breaking process of the modelled specimens may occur due to the simultaneous cracks propagation and cracks coalescence phenomena. These results also show that as the hole diameter and the number of the holes increases both the failure stress and the crack initiation stress decreases. The experimental results already exist in the literature are quit agree with the proposed numerical simulation results which validates this simulation procedure.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.23-32
• /
• 2001

Rock masses are usually discontinuous in nature, as a result of various geological processes they have underdone and they contain rock joints and bridges. Crack propagation and coalescence processes mainly cause rock failures in tunnels. In this study, we focused on the crack initiation, propagation and coalescence process of rock materials containing two pre-existing open cracks arranged in different geometries. During uniaxial compression, wing crack initiation stress, wing crack propagation angle, and crack coalescence stress of Diastone gypsum and Yeosan Marble specimens were examined. And crack initiation, propagation, and coalescence processes were observed. Shear, tensile and mixed (shear+tensile) types of crack coalescence occurred. To compare the experimental results with Ashby & Hallam model, crack coalescence stress was normalized and it generally agreed with the experimental results.