Abstract
The primary objective of this work is to discuss the origins, background and development of the elastic crack tip stress intensity factor, K, as they occurred. The further development of the three modes and the compilations of related formulas in the literature are discussed. The origins of applications to static crack growth stability, and sub-critical growth due to fatigue and environmental effects are included. Significant events such as the formation of the ASTM committee on Fracture Mechanics, the adoption of Damage Tolerance Analysis by the aircraft industry using Fracture Mechanics as a basis, and the further extension of the methods to large-scale plasticity conditions are presented. Finally a discussion of early predictions of crack paths is discussed.
Highlights
The view of fracture from the point of view of mechanics was stated by Love [1] in his authoritative work on Theory of Elasticity in the 1890s by “The conditions of rupture are but vaguely understood,...”
Most often structural failures were analyzed by metallurgists who knew little about the mechanics of the effects of flaws
The beginnings of background studies leading to modern “Fracture Mechanics” approaches for analyzing the growth of cracks were close
Summary
The view of fracture from the point of view of mechanics was stated by Love [1] in his authoritative work on Theory of Elasticity in the 1890s by “The conditions of rupture are but vaguely understood,...” At that time Coulomb and Mohr’s theories were followed by many without considering the effects of flaws or cracks in materials. In 1920 (and 1924) Griffith [3] used the full stress solution of Inglis to calculate G, the elastic potential energy made available in extending the crack per unit new crack area. Irwin [7] used this to obtain the significant singularity term in the elastic crack tip stress field series expansion.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
