The influence of plastic zone size in stable tearing

Predictive models for stable tearing crack growth due to overloading in fatigue

“…E-mail: chun.wang@rmit.edu.au monly visible post-failure at the central cross-section of the component while the crack front near the surface lags behind. 7 Stable tearing increases crack front line length as illustrated in Fig. 2a, but due to the curved nature of the crack front, as shown in Fig.…”

“…1a, can produce significant increase in crack length, which may offset its retardation effect on subsequent fatigue crack growth. Such tearing is commonly visible post‐failure at the central cross‐section of the component while the crack front near the surface lags behind 7 . Stable tearing increases crack front line length as illustrated in Fig.…”

“…Stable tearing is usually observed in structures of intermediate thickness, which exhibit regions of plane strain and plane stress, but has also been observed in thick material, whereby fully developed plane strain condition is expected 7 . The tearing can start very early during the initial fatigue phase and may even make up the majority of the fatigue fracture surface.…”

“…In aluminium alloys, these models assumed that the first onset of stable tearing under either constant–amplitude or variable–amplitude fatigue loading occurs when the stress intensity factor K of the fatigue crack front exceeds a critical K ‐value that is comparable to the material's plane strain fracture toughness K Ic 11,12 . Here it is worth noting that the occurrence of stable tearing stems from a ductile material's intrinsic crack growth resistance, or the R‐curve, phenomenon 7 . Stable tearing will not occur in brittle materials that exhibit no R‐curve behaviour.…”

“…Stable tearing is usually observed in structures of intermediate thickness, which exhibit regions of plane strain and plane stress, but has also been observed in thick material, whereby fully developed plane strain condition is expected. 7 The tearing can start very early during the initial fatigue phase and may even make up the majority of the fatigue fracture surface. The ability to predict the tear behaviour, however, is presently limited to estimating the conditions for the first onset of stable tearing 8 and, more importantly, does not provide prediction of the jump in crack length.…”