Abstract
Conventional design based on tensile strength alone is inadequate to guard against structural failure since all structures contain defects. Catastrophic fracture can occur if the material does not have sufficient toughness or if the subcritical defects in time grow to a critical size under cyclic loading. The assessment of the behavior of cracks under load is within the framework of FRACTURE MECHANICS. The development and acceptance of this new scientific knowledge has proven to be a valuable aid to design and selection of materials in many high technology areas against fracture. In these introductory notes the fundamental concepts of both linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and post-yield fracture mechanics (PYFM) are given. The origin of high frequency low amplitude stresses occurring in power plant rotating machinery is mainly due to rotation and thermal gradients during start-stop operations. A presentation is given of fundamentals of linear elastic fracture mechanics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 43-54 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. Mechanical engineering |
| Volume | ME7 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 1982 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering