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• Obreimoff: stable
equilibrium
– No failure
• Griffith: unstable
equilibrium
– Failure only for
uniform tension
Irwin’s generalization of the Griffith
concept: Fracture mechanics
• Polar or
cartesian
coordinates
Stress intensity factor, K
• The stress surrounding a crack is proportional
to one over the square root of the distance, r
from the crack, hence
σ ∝r −1 / 2
σ = Kr −1 / 2
Stress intensity factor, K
• Depends on fracture displacement mode
(I, II or III) and crack geometry
σyy
σyz
σyx
K I = ψσ yy πc
K II = ψσ yx πc
2c
K III = ψσ yz πc y z
x
K I = ψσ yy πc
Geometry term, ψ
K II = ψσ yx πc
K III = ψσ yz πc
2c 2c
dU m
G= G can be related to specific surface energy γ
dC
Problems with the fracture
mechanics approach
• Easy to prepare
• Crack growth initially stable
• Critical crack length is constant – no crack
length measurements needed
Measuring KIc