• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.19-19
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• 1991

Fracture of Al2O3 tubes for different loading path under combined tension/torsion was investigated. Macroscopic directions of crack propagation agreed well with the maximum principal stress criterion, independent of the loading path. However, fracture strength from the proportional loading test(τ/σ= constant) showed either strengthening or weakening compared to that from uniaxial tension, depending on the ratio τ/σ. The Weibull theory was capable to predict the strengthening of fracture strength in pure torsion, but not the weakening in the proportional loading condition. The strengthening or weakening of fracture strength in the proportional loading condition was explained by the effect of shear stresses in the plane of randomly oriented microdefects. Finally, a new empirical fracture criterion was proposed. This criterion is based on a mixed mode fracture criterion and experimental data for fracture of Al2O3 tubes under combined tension/torsion. The proposed fracture criterion agreed well with experimental data for both macroscopic directions of crack propagation and fracture strengths.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.93-109
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• 2015

Finite element analysis (FEA) combined with the concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) provides a practical and convenient means to study the fracture and crack growth of materials. In this paper, a numerical modeling of crack propagation in the cement mantle of the reconstructed acetabulum is presented. This work is based on the implementation of the displacement extrapolation method (DEM) and the strain energy density (SED) theory in a finite element code. At each crack increment length, the kinking angle is evaluated as a function of stress intensity factors (SIFs). In this paper, we analyzed the mechanical behavior of cracks initiated in the cement mantle by evaluating the SIFs. The effect of the defect on the crack propagation path was highlighted.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.605-623
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• 2015

A coupled experimental and numerical study of shear fracture in the edge-notched beam specimens of quasi-brittle materials (concrete-like materials) are carried out using four point bending flexural tests. The crack initiation, propagation and breaking process of beam specimens are experimentally studied by producing the double inclined edge notches with different ligament angles in beams under four point bending. The effects of ligament angles on the shear fracturing path in the bridge areas of the double edge-notched beam specimens are studied. Moreover, the influence of the inclined edge notches on the shear-fracture behavior of double edge-notched beam specimens which represents a practical crack orientation is investigated. The same specimens are numerically simulated by an indirect boundary element method known as displacement discontinuity method. These numerical results are compared with the performed experimental results proving the accuracy and validity of the proposed study.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.447-456
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• 1996

Fracture surfaces of materials contain useful information ranging from crack path to the mechanism of fracture. Since limitation of electron transparency requires a sample in the form of thin foil for TEM observations, it is impossible to extract such information directly from the fracture surfaces. In this study, the method of surface replication from the ceramic fracture surface is employed to characterize the process of crack propagation in ceramic matrix composites using TEM analysis. The surface replica from the fracture surface in ceramic materials provides detailed surface morphology and more importantly, loosened particles on the fracture surface are collected. Electron diffraction and chemical composition analyses of these particles reveal crack path in the specimen. Furthermore, one can determine the mode of fracture by observing the fracture surface morphology from the image of replica. Two examples are given to illustrate the potential of the surface replication technique. In the first example, apparent toughness increase in $B_{4}C-Al$ composites at high strain rate is investigated by surface replication to elucidate the mechanism of fracture at different strain rates. The polytypes of SiC formed during the sintering of SiC-AlN composite and their effect on the fracture behavior of SiC-AlN composite are analyzed in the second example.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2019

The discontinuous Galerkin method (DGM) has become widely used as it possesses several qualities, such as a natural ability to dealing with discontinuities. DGM has its major success related to fluid mechanics. Its major importance is the ability to deal with discontinuities and still provide high order of approximation. That is an important advantage when simulating cracking propagation. No remeshing is necessary during the propagation, since the crack path follows the interface of elements. However, DGM comes with the drawback of an increased number of degrees of freedom when compared to the classical continuous finite element method. Thus, it seems a natural approach to combine them in the same simulation obtaining the advantages of both methods. This paper proposes the application of the combined continuous-discontinuous Galerkin method (CDGM) to crack propagation. An important engineering problem is the simulation of crack propagation in concrete structures. The problem is characterized by discontinuities that evolve throughout the domain. Crack propagation is simulated using CDGM. Discontinuous elements are placed in regions with discontinuities and continuous elements elsewhere. The cohesive zone model describes the fracture process zone where softening effects are expressed by cohesive zones in the interface of elements. Two numerical examples demonstrate the capacities of CDGM. In the first example, a plain concrete beam is submitted to a three-point bending test. Numerical results are compared to experimental data from the literature. The second example deals with a full-scale ground slab, comparing the CDGM results to numerical and experimental data from the literature.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2010

The propagation of cracks was quantitatively analyzed in $Al_2O_3$ ceramic using the mechanoluminescence (ML) of $SrAl_2O_4$:Eu,Dy. The bridging zones behind the crack tip were clearly detected in the crack path of $Al_2O_3$ within a realistic time frame. The magnitudes and shapes of the bridging stress distributions changed with the advancing cracks. They continued to change with the change in the applied load even after the cessation of crack propagation. Effective toughening then commenced, and the applied stress intensity factors dramatically increased up to ~50 MPa $\sqrt{m}$. The expected $K_{Tip}$ values based on the instantaneous bridging stress distributions obtained from the ML observations deviated greatly from those obtained from the measurement using the conventional crack tip lengths; rather, they support the results obtained when bridging tips were used in the quasidynamic crack propagations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.529-540
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• 2020

Water inrush is a major hazard for mining and excavation in deep coal seams or rock masses. It can be attributed to the coalescence of rock fractures in rock mass due to the interaction of fractures, hydraulic flow and stress field. One of the key technical challenges is to understand the course and mechanism of fluid flows in rock joint networks and fracture propagation and hence to take measures to prevent the formation of water inrush channels caused by possible rock fracturing. Several case observations of fluid flowing in rock joint networks and coupled fracture propagation in underground coal roadways are shown in this paper. A number of numerical simulations were done using the recently developed flow coupling function in FRACOD which simulates explicitly the fracture initiation and propagation process. The study has demonstrated that the shortest path between the inlet and outlet in joint networks will become a larger fluid flow channel and those fractures nearest to the water source and the working faces become the main channel of water inrush. The fractures deeper into the rib are mostly caused by shearing, and slipping fractures coalesce with the joint, which connects the water source and eventually forming a water inrush channel.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2009

While the classical theory of Griffith is the foundation of modern understanding of brittle fracture, it has a number of significant shortcomings: Griffith theory does not predict crack initiation and path and it suffers from the presence of unphysical stress singularities. In 1998, Francfort and Marigo presented an energy functional minimization method, where the crack (or its absence) as well as its path are part of the problem's solution. The energy functionals act on spaces of functions of bounded variations, where the cracks are related to the discontinuity sets of such functions. The new model presented here uses modified energy functionals to account for molecular interactions in the vicinity of crack tips, resulting in Barenblatt cohesive forces, such that the model becomes free of stress singularities. This is done in a physically consistent way using recently published concepts of Sinclair. Here, for the consistency of the model, it becomes necessary to allow for crack reversibility and to consider local minimizers of the energy functionals. The latter is achieved by introducing different time scales. The model is solved in its global as well as in its local version for a simple one-dimensional example, showing that local minimization is necessary to yield a physically reasonable result.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.283-299
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• 2010

This paper addresses the numerical simulation of fatigue crack growth in arbitrary 2D geometries under constant amplitude loading by the using a new finite element software. The purpose of this software is on the determination of 2D crack paths and surfaces as well as on the evaluation of components Lifetimes as a part of the damage tolerant assessment. Throughout the simulation of fatigue crack propagation an automatic adaptive mesh is carried out in the vicinity of the crack front nodes and in the elements which represent the higher stresses distribution. The fatigue crack direction and the corresponding stress-intensity factors are estimated at each small crack increment by employing the displacement extrapolation technique under facilitation of singular crack tip elements. The propagation is modeled by successive linear extensions, which are determined by the stress intensity factors under linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) assumption. The stress intensity factors range history must be recorded along the small crack increments. Upon completion of the stress intensity factors range history recording, fatigue crack propagation life of the examined specimen is predicted. A consistent transfer algorithm and a crack relaxation method are proposed and implemented for this purpose. Verification of the predicted fatigue life is validated with relevant experimental data and numerical results obtained by other researchers. The comparisons show that the program is capable of demonstrating the fatigue life prediction results as well as the fatigue crack path satisfactorily.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.261-283
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• 2013

This paper aims to contribute to the three-dimensional generalization of numerical prediction of crack propagation through the formulation of finite elements with embedded discontinuities. The analysis of crack propagation in two-dimensional problems yields lines of discontinuity that can be tracked in a relatively simple way through the sequential construction of straight line segments oriented according to the direction of failure within each finite element in the solid. In three-dimensional analysis, the construction of the discontinuity path is more complex because it requires the creation of plane surfaces within each element, which must be continuous between the elements. In the method proposed by Chaves (2003) the crack is determined by solving a problem analogous to the heat conduction problem, established from local failure orientations, based on the stress state of the mechanical problem. To minimize the computational effort, in this paper a new strategy is proposed whereby the analysis for tracking the discontinuity path is restricted to the domain formed by some elements near the crack surface that develops along the loading process. The proposed methodology is validated by performing three-dimensional analyses of basic problems of experimental fractures and comparing their results with those reported in the literature.