A COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH TO DUCTILE CRACK-GROWTH UNDER LARGE-SCALE YIELDING CONDITIONS

Mode I crack initiation and growth under plane strain conditions in tough metals is computed using an elastic-plastic continuum model which accounts for void growth and coalescence ahead of the crack tip. The material parameters are the Young's modulus, yield stress and strain hardening exponent of the metal, along with the parameters characterizing the spacing and volume fraction of Voids in material elements lying in the plane of the crack. For a given set of these parameters and a specific specimen, or component, subject to a specific loading, relationships among load, load-line displacement and crack advance can be computed with no restrictions on the extent of plastic deformation. Similarly, there is no limit on crack advance, except that it must take place on the symmetry plane ahead of the initial crack. Suitably defined measures of crack tip loading intensity, such as those based an the J-integral, can also be computed, thereby directly generating crack growth resistance curves. In this paper, the model is applied to five specimen geometries which are known to give rise to significantly different crack tip constraints and crack growth resistance behaviors. Computed results are compared with sets of experimental data for two tough steels for four of the specimen types. Details of the load, displacement and crack growth histories are accurately reproduced, even when extensive crack growth takes place under conditions of fully plastic yielding.