Question Set 2: 924679

EG-187 Engineering Analysis for Materials

The problem at hand aims to calculate the design stress for a set of predetermined properties.
The method undertaken involves solving two equations simultaneously to determine the
design stress. Note that the critical crack size does not need to be calculated.
1 𝐾𝑐 2
𝑎𝑐 = ( ) Equation 1
𝜋 𝜎
𝑛 𝑛
2 (𝑎𝑖 1− 2 − 𝑎𝑐 1− 2 )
𝑁𝑓 = 𝑛 Equation 2
𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋 2 (𝑛 − 2)
The second equation is manipulated to equation 2A:
𝑛 𝑛
2 (𝑎𝑖 1− 2 − 𝑎𝑐 1− 2 )
𝑁𝑓 = 𝑛
𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋 2 (𝑛 − 2)

1−𝑛/2
𝑛
√𝑎 1−𝑛2 𝑁𝑓 𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋 2 (𝑛 − 2) Equation 2A
𝑎𝑐 = 𝑖 −
2
Equating the two equations:

1−𝑛/2
𝑛
√𝑎 1−𝑛2 𝑁𝑓 𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋 2 (𝑛 − 2) 1 𝐾𝑐 2
𝑖 − = ( )
2 𝜋 𝜎
Simplifying:
1−𝑛/2
1−𝑛/2
𝑛
√𝑎 1−𝑛2 − 𝑁𝑓 𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋 2 (𝑛 − 2) 1 𝐾𝑐 2 1−𝑛/2
( 𝑖 ) =( ( ) )
2 𝜋 𝜎

𝑛
1−
𝑛 𝑁𝑓 𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋 2 (𝑛 − 2) 𝑛
𝑎𝑖 2 − = 𝜋 2 −1 𝐾𝑐 2−𝑛 𝜎 𝑛−2
2
𝑛
𝑎𝑖 1− 2 𝑁𝑓 𝐶𝜎 𝑛 𝜋(𝑛 − 2)
𝑛 − 2−𝑛 = 𝜎 𝑛−2
𝜋 2 −1 𝐾𝑐 2−𝑛 2 𝐾𝑐

Subtracting the left hand side:

𝑛
𝑁 𝐶𝜋(𝑛 − 2)
𝑛 𝑓
𝑎𝑖 1− 2
0 = 𝜎 𝑛−2 + 𝜎 − 𝑛
2 𝐾𝑐 2−𝑛 𝜋 2 −1 𝐾𝑐 2−𝑛
Consider:
 𝑛
𝑁𝑓 𝐶𝜋(𝑛 − 2) 𝑎𝑖 1− 2
𝑎= ; 𝑏=− 𝑛
2 𝐾𝑐 2−𝑛 𝜋 2 −1 𝐾𝑐 2−𝑛

Which simplifies the expression to:

𝜎 𝑛−2 + 𝑎𝜎 𝑛 + 𝑏 = 0
Here, it is quite difficult to find the solution algebraically. An engineer is not a mathematician,
and highly sophisticated answers are not encouraged. The best approach to this problem is to
plot this expression as a function and find the zeroes geometrically.
𝑓(𝑥) = 𝜎 𝑛−2 + 𝑎𝜎 𝑛 + 𝑏
The following script was run through MATLAB, plotting the outputs of 𝑓(𝑥), with an
increment of 104 between the x values.

ai=10^-6;
n=2.7;
Kc=1.7*10^6;
Nf=10^7;
C=9.7*10^-25;
a=(Nf*C*pi*(n-2))/(Kc^(2-n));
b=-(ai^(1-n/2))/(Kc^(2-n)*pi^(n/2-1));
x=[0:10^4:10^7];
y=x.^(n-2)+a*x.^n+b;
plot(x, y);

From the graph, it is shown that f(x) passes by 0 between x=7*10^6 and x=8*10^6.
Using the MATLAB command below returns x0 (the value at which f(x)=0 and the
solution to the equation):
x0=fzero(@(x)x^(n-2)+a*x^n+b,10^7);

x0=7.6247*10^6
The problem does not specify whether the stress units in the equation are in Pa or MPa.
I suppose it is MPa, otherwise TPa is definitely unachievable by a plastic pipe.