LENGTHWISE FRACTURE ANALYSES OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADED BEAMS BY THE RAMBERG-OSGOOD EQUATION

The basic purpose of the present paper is to develop lengthwise fracture analyses of the functionally graded Symmetric Split Beam (SSB) configurations which exhibit non-linear mechanical behavior of the material. The SSB is loaded in pure bending. A lengthwise crack is located symmetrically with respect to the beam's mid-span. The crack is located arbitrary along the width of the beam's cross-section. Thus, the crack arms have different widths. The material is linearly and functionally graded along the height of the beam's cross-section. The material non-linearity is treated by the Ramberg-Osgood equation (this is one of the basic novelties introduced in this paper). The fracture is analyzed in terms of the strain energy release rate by applying three approaches. First, the strain energy release rate is derived by considering the balance of the energy. The strain energy release rate is obtained also by using the complementary strain energy. The fracture is analyzed also by the J-integral. The results obtained by the three approaches are identical which proves the correctness of the lengthwise fracture analyses developed in the present paper. A parametric study is carried-out in order to examine the influences of the material gradient, the lengthwise crack location along the beam's width, and the non-linear mechanical behavior of the functionally graded material on the fracture in the SSB configuration.