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INTRODUCTION
• Residual strength of structure will reduce progressively with increasing size of the
crack
• After a certain time the residual
strength will become so low that it
cannot withstand accidental high
load. At this point in can be said that
the strength of the structure has
reduced to extent that it can be
declared as a failure
• In such cases where accidental high
load doesn’t occur the crack will
continue to grow until residual
strength so low that the fracture
occurs under normal service load.
Many structures are designed to carry service load that are high enough to initiate the
crack particularly when the pre exiting flaws or stress concentration is present. Since the
designer has little control over the flaws during production, anticipation has to be made
regarding possibility where cracking will occur and where structure will be left with weak
residual strength. In this regard designer has to take some risks in anticipation of a point
where the structure will fail and therefore he has to design the structure where the probability
of its failure during the entire life span is at an acceptable low level. In order to ensure safety
the designer has to predict t\how fast the crack will grow, and how fast the residual strength
will decrease. Making this prediction and developing a prediction method is what could be
the ultimate aim of this experiment.