ASE324L: Aerospace Materials Laboratory

Lecture 19-20: Fracture Energy and Charpy Impact Test

Rui Huang
Dept of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
The University of Texas at Austin
Fall 2012
Fracture toughness test

Quantitative measurements of fracture toughness

Quasi-static loading (displacement control)

Room temperature

Uniaxial tensile stress (mode I)

How about failure under dynamic loading, low temperatures,

and triaxial stresses?
Charpy impact test

Qualitative measurement of
fracture energy

Different temperatures

High strain rate

Triaxial stress at the notch

Anvil

Starts at h
1

Stops at h
2

Loss in potential energy goes to:

Surface energy

Plastic dissipation

Kinetic energy
h
2
h
1
Ductile-to-brittle transition

The measured impact

energy decreases with
decreasing temperature.

For steels, the impact

energy drops remarkably
over a narrow temperature
range, indicating a ductile-
to-brittle transition
phenomenon.
brittle
ductile
Fracture surface character

Shear character (fibrous and dull) for ductile fracture.

Cleavage character (shiny granular texture) for brittle fracture.

The decreasing area percentage of shear character indicates the

ductile-to-brittle transition.
Transition temperature

Temperature at specific
impact energy (e.g., 15 ft-lb
or 20 J).

Temperature corresponding
to some given fracture
surface character (e.g., 50%
shear fracture).

No unified criterion!

Used to qualitatively rank

the materials (simple but
dirty test)
Design philosophy: the service temperature should be greater
than the transition temperature.
Energy dissipation
Energy loss of the pendulum goes to:

Surface energy (cleavage)

Plastic deformation (shear)

Kinetic energy
Embrittlement: plastic deformation is
suppressed at low temperature, high
strain rate, and triaxial stress state at the
notch.
Specimen thickness effects

The transition temperature increases with increasing specimen thickness.

Plane-stress/plane-strain transition.

Laboratory results may not be directly used for design components!

To overcome this difficulty, use dynamic tear (DT) test and drop-weight tear
test (DWTT).
Sample thickness
Transition
temperature
Energy approach in fracture mechanics

Elastic deformation: strain energy (recoverable)

Plastic deformation: energy dissipation

Crack opening: surface energy

Energy release rate vs fracture resistance:

fracture releases elastic strain energy but
dissipates energy by cleavage (bond breaking)
and plastic deformation
Linear elastic strain energy

The bar acts like an elastic spring, storing and releasing

energy upon loading and unloading.
P
L
EA
EA
L P
P W U
2 2 2
1
2 2

Strain energy density:

2 2
2 2
E
E AL
U
u

Static load, no dynamic or inertia effects.

Work done by the load equals the strain

energy stored in the bar (energy
conservation).
Plastic energy dissipation

Plastic deformation dissipates energy, i.e., the energy that

is not recovered due to permanent deformation.
P

P
P E
U U Pd W U +

0
P
U
E
U
Energy Release Rate

Reference state:
V
E
U
2
2
0

Opening a crack:
t a
E
U
E
2
2
2
~

Fixed grips during crack opening: no work done to the specimen.

Crack relaxes elastic energy, but increases surface energy and

plastic energy dissipation.
Energy release rate: reduction of elastic
energy per unit area of crack growth
E
a
g
A
U
G
E
2

,
`

.
|

Fracture condition
For the crack to grow: G
2
g
E
a a
c

>
or
ga
E
c
2

>
Driving force: reduction of elastic energy (Energy release rate G)
Resistance: energy dissipation per unit area of crack growth
(including surface energy and plastic energy): .
is considered to be a material property, also called toughness, or
critical energy release rate.
E
a
g G
2

Effect of plastic deformation

For brittle materials (such as glass or ceramics), plastic

deformation is negligible, thus 2.

For ductile materials (e.g., steels), plastic energy

dissipation dominates.

Plane strain vs plane stress

Typical values of :

Glass: ~ 1-10 J/m

2

Epoxy: ~ 30 J/m
2

Aluminum: ~ 8-30 kJ/m

2

Steels: ~ 100 kJ/m

2
p
u + 2
Griffiths experiment: a revisit
a
K
c
f

2a
c
K K
a K
E
a
G
2

G
a
E
f

Both fracture criteria give the same dependence of the critical stress
on the crack length.
E
K
G
2

E
K
c
2

Irwins relation:
Example: double cantilever beam (DCB)
P
P
c
2H
Deflection of a cantilever beam of length c:
EI
Pc
3
3

Elastic strain energy in DCB:
EI
c P
P U
3 2
1
2
3 2

Energy release rate:
2 3
2 2
4
2 3
12
4
3
B EH
c P
c
EH
A
U
G

,
`

.
|

DCB: stability of crack growth

P
P
c
2H
2 3
2 2
4
2 3
12
4
3
B EH
c P
c
EH
G

G
c
0

c
1
c
2

2
>
1

Displacement control:
stable growth
G
c
0
P
1
P
2
> P
1

c
1
Load
control:
unstable
growth
Measure compliance to determine G
P
A C

) (
Determine compliance from load-displacement curve
Elastic strain energy:
) ( 2 2
1
2
A C
P U


a
C
b
P
A
C
C A
U
G

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|

2 2
2
2
2
Energy release rate:
P

a
1
a
3
a
2
C
a
a
P, W
Environmentally assisted crack growth

Corrosion pit

Pre existing
cracks, damage

Solvent
penetration

Grain
boundaries

Intergranular
fracture
a
W
Solvent
Stress corrosion mechanism

Stress: open cracks to allow environmental molecules

(e.g., H
2
O) to attack the atomic bonds at the crack tip.

Corrosion: chemical reaction to reduce the bond

strength

With the help of the environment, crack grows

slowly under static loading even though K < K
c
(subcritical cracking).
Characterizing environmentally assisted
crack growth
) (K f
dt
da

dt
da
log
K log
f(K) is determined experimentally for a
specific material in a specific environment.
a
P W
a
t
a
0
7075-T6 aluminum in 3.5% NaCl

Artificial sea water

environment

Effect of
temperature

Diffusion
Crack growth regions

Region I: diffusion controls;

very sensitive to K, moderately
sensitive to environment.

Region II: chemical reaction

controls; insensitive to K, but
sensitive to environment.

Region III: fast fracture;

insensitive to environment.
dt
da
log
K log
I
II
III
Threshold K
th
Toughness K
c

Infinite life

Region 1

Region II

Region III
Idealized response & properties
p th
K K K < <
,
p p C
da
a K K K
dt
< <
&
,
C
da
K K
dt
>
dt
da
log
K log
I
II
III
K
th
K
c
p
a

n
1
p
K
th
K K <
n
AK
dt
da

(n ~ 10)
Prediction and design

For infinite life

Region I

Region II
c p
II
p
a a
t
a

&
dt
da
log
K log
I
II
III
K
th
K
c
p
a

n
1
p
K
th
K K <
( ) [ ]

p
th
a
a
n
I
a K A
da
t
Example: lifetime prediction

2a
a K
Assume W >> a
c
>> a
0
>a
th
0
/ 2 / 2 1 / 2 1
0
2 1 1
( 2)
p
a
I
n n n n n
a
p
da
t
AK A n a a

]

]

]
]

n
AK
dt
da

p C
K K K < <
c p
II
p
a a
t
a

&
f I II
t t t +
p
da
a
dt
&
2
1

,
`

.
|

th
th
K
a
2
1

,
`

.
|

p
p
K
a
2
1

,
`

.
|

c
c
K
a
p th
K K K < <
Example 2: crack arrest
1/ 2
2 2
2 sin 2
sin
P
K
b a


+
]

]
Crack length
K
K
c
K
p
K
th
n
AK
dt
da

p
da
a
dt
&
a
1
a
2
a
3

K decreases as the crack grows.

Will the crack arrest?

How long does it take for the

crack to arrest?
Summary

Charpy impact test

Ductile-brittle transition

Energy approach energy release rate

Environmentally assisted fracture