Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T14:54:55.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fracture analysis of complex shaped structures by numerical and experimental methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

M. Marchetti
Affiliation:
Aerospace Department, University of Rome, Italy
A. La Barbera
Affiliation:
Aerospace Department, University of Rome, Italy
F. Morganti
Affiliation:
Soc. Selenia Spazio of Rome, Italy

Summary

The problem of fracture characterisation of geometrically complex structures is considered. Numerical and experimental strategies are used to evaluate stress intensity factors and elastic fields for cracked thin shell and plate structures. Theoretical analyses, using different order theories, are also performed in order to evaluate stress and energy distributions in the neighbourhood of the crack tip. A geometrically complex strut component is analysed by using a ‘p-convergent’ finite element code based on hierarchic elements and on the high degree of approximating functions. Actual fracture modes, for different crack locations, have been singled out and the elastic fields are compared to those referring to cracked plate and shell structures. An experimental investigation, using the optical method of caustics, has been also performed and stress intensity factors for several crack configurations have been calculated. The numerical investigations have shown the ability of the p-version finite element method to provide accurate computation of local stress values and to quote the convergence of the numerical calculations. The caustics method has confirmed its accuracy for evaluating stress intensity factors, even for complex structures.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1989 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. ESA Fracture Control Guidelines — ESA PSS-03-1203, Draft Issue 1, October 1986.Google Scholar
2. Felloni, L., Fratesi, R., La Barbera, A. and Marchetti, M. Experimental and numerical analysis on fatigue crack propagation on three medium strength steels. Aerotec Missil Spaz, 1985, 64, (4), 215220.Google Scholar
3. Lehman, R. S. Development at an analytical corner of solutions of elliptic partial differential equations. J Math Mech, 1959, 8, 727760.Google Scholar
4. Williams, M. L. On the stress distribution at the base of a stationary crack. J Appl Mech, 24, and Trans ASME, 1957, 79, 109114.Google Scholar
5. Williams, M. L. The bending stress distribution at the base of a stationary crack. J Appl Mech, 1961, 7882.Google Scholar
6. Knowles, J. K. and Wang, N. M. On the bending of an elastic plate containing a crack. J Math Phys, 1960, 30, 223236.Google Scholar
7. Hartranft, R. J and Sih, G. C. Effect of plate thickness on the bending stress distribution around through cracks, J Math Phys, 1968, 47, 276281.Google Scholar
8. Folias, E. S. The Stress in a Spherical Shell Containing a Crack. ARL 64-23, Aerospace Research Laboratory, US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio, January 1964.Google Scholar
9. Folias, E. S. On the effect of initial curvature on cracked flat sheets. Int J Fract Mech December 1969, 5, (4), 327346.Google Scholar
10. Erdogan, F. and Kibler, J. J. Cylindrical and spherical shells with cracks. Int J Fract Mech 1967, 3, (1), 111.Google Scholar
11. Copley, L. G. and Sanders, J. L. A longitudinal crack in a cylindrical shell under internal pressure. Int J Fract Mech, June 1969, 5, (2) 117131.Google Scholar
12. Duncan, M. F. and Sanders, J. L. A circumferential crack in a cylindrical shell under tension. Int J Fract Mech, June 1969, 5, (2), 148167.Google Scholar
13. Broek, D. Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1986.Google Scholar
14. Prescott, J. Applied Elasticity, Dover Publications, Inc. New York, 1961.Google Scholar
15. Muskhelishvili, N. I. Some Basic Problems of the Mathematical Theory of Elasticity. R. Noordhoff, Groningen, The Netherlands, 1963.Google Scholar
16. Cruse, T. A. Int J. Fract Mech. 1970, 6, (2), 326328.Google Scholar
17. Reissner, E. On bending of elastic plates. J Appl Mech, 1947, 5, (1), 5568.Google Scholar
18. Green, A. E. and Zerna, W. Theoretical Elasticity, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1954, Chapter XI.Google Scholar
19. Kardestuncer, H. Finite Element Handbook, McGraw-Hill 1987.Google Scholar
20. Atluri, S. N. (ed.) Computational Methods in the Mechanics of Fracture, North-Holland, 1986.Google Scholar
21. Oden, J. T. and Reddy, J. N. Mathematical Theory of Finite Elements, Wiley Interscience, New York, 1976.Google Scholar
22. Oden, J. T. Finite Elements of Nonlinear Continua, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1972.Google Scholar
23. Babuska, I. and Szabo, B. On the rate of convergence of finite element method. Int. J Numer Methods Eng., 1982, 18, 323341.Google Scholar
24. Peano, A. G., Szabo, B. A. and Mehta, A. K. Self-adaptive finite elements in fracture mechanics. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, 1978, 16, (51), 6980.Google Scholar
25. Theocaris, P. S. Elastic stress intensity factors evaluated by caustic. In: Sih, G. C. (ed). Mechanics of Fracture, Vol. 7, 1981, Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
26. Rosakis, A. J. and Zehnder, A. T. On the method of caustics: an exact analysis based on geometrical optics. J Elast, 1985, 15, 347367.Google Scholar
27. Marchetti, M., Andretta, G., La Barbera, A. and Smorto, V. A caustic stress intensity factor evaluation by a digital image processing procedure. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference, Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements, 1986, Vol. 2, 639651.Google Scholar
28. Theocaris, P. S. Stress intensity factors in cracked cylindrical shells under tension. Int J Fract Mech, October 1976, 12, (5), 189252.Google Scholar