In this paper, the contribution of surface effect to the anti-plane deformation of a magnetoelectroelastic medium weakened by a crack is investigated. The surface magnetoelectroelasticity is incorporated by using the extended surface/interface model of Gurtin and Murdoch. The mixed boundary value problem of the mode-III crack is formulated by using a continuous distribution of screw dislocations and the dislocations of electric potential and magnetic potential on the crack, and the problem is finally reduced to solving a system of coupled Cauchy singular integro-differential equations, which can be numerically solved by the decoupling and collocation methods. The results show that the stresses, eldctric displacements and magnetic induction near the crack tips exhibit the logarithmic singularity when the surface effect is considered. When there is no surface effect on the crack face, the classical square-root singularity of the near crack-tip fields can be observed.
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Accurate stress intensity factor (SIF) solutions for cylindrical specimens with different wire aspect ratios and crack aspect ratios are required to determine the fracture toughness of rods and wires. The mode I geometric factor solutions of various crack configurations in a cylindrical fracture specimen in tension have been determined using liner elastic fracture mechanics. Finite element analysis (FEA) is applied to compute this as a function of wire aspect ratio (𝐻/𝐷), crack aspect ratio (𝑎/𝑏), and relative crack depth (𝑎/𝐷). It is found that the geometric factor is independent of wire aspect ratio for shallow cracks but has a major influence for deeper cracks. Also, the geometric factor is higher for concave cracks which facilitates the crack propagation. The mechanistic causes of the same are explained. Fracture toughness measurements on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) were carried out for the experimental validation of the solutions. The application of these solutions to fracture toughness measurements at the micro- and nanoscale, particularly in ceramic fibers and high strength metallic wires, is discussed.
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In this study a thorough evaluation of the toughening mechanism in cement-based nanocomposites reinforced with hybrid networks of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and polypropylene microfibers (PPs) took place. The critical values of fracture toughness/stress intensity factor, KIC, were experimentally determined on prismatic notched specimens of nano and micro scale fiber reinforced cementitious composites using the two parameter fracture model (TPFM). The post-crack energy absorption capacity of the hybrid-composites was assessed by evaluating the dimensionless toughness index, I20, calculated through linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) tests. The addition of CNF/PP networks at low volume fractions of about 0.1 vol% in cementitious matrix results in a significant improvement in the KIC (85-240%) and 1.6 – 10x higher I20 compared to the CNF or PP reinforced materials. Relative to the single-scale fiber reinforcement, the synergy between the nano- and micro- scale fibers results in a multi-scale crack arresting distinctively increasing the toughening effect in the hybrid fiber-cementitious mortar nanocomposites.
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The localized stress field helps in predicting the crack initiation and its growth in fracture mechanics. At an atomistic scale, a localized stress field has been calculated by virial theorem for anisotropic materials. However, there is still confusion regarding its validation and comparison, as its origin differs from continuum stress. Moreover, finding the localized stress field at the atomic site for amorphous materials are complicated and tedious by the virial approach due to the presence of different elements at disordered positions. Therefore, there is a need to develop a method which does not have there drawbacks. The present work has developed an analytical approach to calculate localized stress fields at an atomistic scale. First, the stress field calculated with this method has been validated in crystalline materials like silicon with virial and finite element (FEM) results. As this method validates linear elasticity near the crack tip. The same localized approach has been used in silica to validate stress field with FEM result. The proposed method in the present work can be used under mixed-mode conditions to study crack initiation and its growth in amorphous solids.
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Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations have been carried out to understand the mechanics of crack
interaction with Grain Boundary (GB) under different scenarios. Specifically, different stages of a growing
crack, like crack growth initiation and arrest at GB have been studied. The study was done by evaluating
the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) using near-tip stress field at each of these stages i.e. crack growth initiation
and arrest at GB. To perform this simulation, an understanding of rotation transformation has been applied
to form an aluminum bi-crystal.
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Concrete screws are a type of anchor used in structural and non-structural applications in uncracked and cracked concrete. The load transfer is based on mechanical interlock between the threads and concrete. Like all anchor products, they undergo rigorous testing during product assessment which at the moment does not cover the sustained load behavior. This investigation aims at studying the sustained-load behaviour of concrete screws by performing a series of tensile tests. Short-term tests were first performed from which the ultimate load capacity of the screws was determined. Long-term tests were then performed at different load levels, selected as a function of the short-term capacity. The time to failure and displacements were recorded throughout each test. The resulting experimental data was used to generate time-to-failure curves and fit the regression models that are currently used for the long-term assessment of chemically bonded anchors. Finally, the predicted long-term capacity for a 50-year lifetime is presented and compared to adhesive anchors.
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