Most of the existing concrete dams are subjected to cracking. These cracks are caused by various factors such as construction practices, curing, loads and volume change of mass concrete which reduce the efficiency, failure or instability of concrete dams. Using fracture mechanics as a new method to estimate stability and durability of concrete dams is recommended in scientific publications in w...

We investigate the feasibility of cohesive theories of fracture, in conjunction with the direct simulations of shear-load dominated fracture, to numerically reproduce the inter-sonic crack propagation in unidirectional graphite-epoxy composite plates [1]. The particular configuration contemplated in this study refers to the experiments performed by Coker and Rosakis [2, 3]. The numerical simula...

It is considered that the process of fatigue fracture could be arranged the three classes, i.e., crack initiation, crack propagation and fracture. Of these the second process is important from the following point of view. (1) As has so far been reported in many publications, the importance of crack propagation process in total fatigue life increases in proportion to the increase in the stress c...

Modeling of crack propagation by a finite element method under mixed mode conditions is of prime importance in the fracture mechanics. This article describes an application of finite element method to the analysis of mixed mode crack growth in linear elastic fracture mechanics. Crack - growth process is simulated by an incremental crack-extension analysis based on the maximum principal stress c...

We have developed an experiment to study the propagation of laboratory synthesized fatigue cracks under various controlled conditions during Sonic IR inspection. The experiment provides for good repeatability in testing. The parameters of interest include the initial crack length, load history (stress intensity and load ratio) during crack generation, geometry of the crack, material and also th...

Continuum mechanics predicts that the propagation speed of non-equilibrium information in solids is limited by the longitudinal wave speed, so is crack propagation. However, solids are essentially discrete systems. In this paper, via theoretical analysis and numerical simulations, it is demonstrated in a straightforward way that nonequilibrium disturbance (e.g. force, displacement, energy, and ...

New generation jet engines are subject to severe reduced fuel consumption requirements. This usually leads to thin components in which damage issues such as thermomechanical fatigue, creep and crack propagation can be quite important. The combination of stresses due to centrifugal loads and thermal stresses usually leads to mixed-mode loading. Consequently, a suitable crack propagation tool mus...

The effects of cryogenic temperature on the toughness of a Zr-based metallic glass are investigated. Based on three-dimensional fracture morphologies at different temperatures, the crack formation and propagation are analyzed. Through the calculation of the shear transformation zone volume, the shear modulus and bulk modulus of the metallic glass at different temperatures and the crack formatio...

Fretting nucleation models and three-dimensional finite element analyses are used to compute the fretting fatigue life for metallic components. The models predict crack nucleation cycles and location(s). Discrete crack growth simulations provide stress intensity factor histories, with multiple, non-planar, three-dimensional cracks possible. The histories are input into crack growth rate model(s...

Cantilever beam is a simplified sample of a lot of mechanical components used in a wide range of applications, including many industries such as gas turbine blade. Due to the nature of the operating conditions, beams are subject to variety of damages especially crack propagates. Crack propagation may lead to catastrophic failure during operation. Therefore, online detection of crack presence an...