Abstract
Sometimes structures that were properly designed to avoid both excessive elastic deflection and plastic yielding fail in a catastrophic way by fast fracture. Common to these failures—of things such as welded ships, welded bridges, gas pipelines, and pressure vessels—is the presence of cracks, which is often the result of imperfect welding. Fast fracture is caused by the growth—at the speed of sound in the material—of existing cracks that suddenly became unstable. This chapter discusses the energy criterion for fast fracture by the use of the example of a balloon. If a balloon is blown up, energy is stored in it. There is the energy of the compressed gas in the balloon, and there is the elastic energy stored in the rubber membrane itself. As the pressure is increased, the total amount of elastic energy in the system increases. If then a flaw is introduced into the system, by poking a pin into the inflated balloon, the balloon will explode and all the energy will be released. The chapter presents the data for Gc —toughness (sometimes, critical strain energy release rate)—and Kc —stress intensity factor.
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