Crack Propagation In Single Crystals Research Articles

The influence of microstructure on short fatigue crack growth rates in Zircaloy-4: Crystal plasticity modelling and experiment

Rates of fatigue crack growth in Zircaloy-4 are highly microstructurally sensitive and dependent upon texture. Crystal plasticity finite element modelling with the eXtended Finite Element Method and a stored energy density fracture criterion are used to simulate crack propagation in single crystals and polycrystalline microstructures for comparison with experimental crack growth rate data. Results demonstrate that growth rate fluctuations at microstructural features are driven primarily by elastic anisotropy and yield stress mismatch. Additionally, reduced rate of growth in soft hexagonal close packed grains (relative to the remote loading direction) can be linked with crack path tortuosity, which is shown to be controlled by the cyclic development of an in-plane shear back stress. Most importantly, stored energy density is shown to accurately capture major microstructure-driven differences in crack growth rate. Comparison of simulated fatigue crack growth rates with experimental data enables estimation of the critical stored energy density for crack propagation in Zircaloy-4 to be 250 J/m2.

Validated simulations of dynamic crack propagation in single crystals using EFEM and XFEM

Brittle and quasibrittle materials such as ceramics and geomaterials fail through dynamic crack propagation during impact events. Simulations of such events are important in a number of applications. This paper compares the effectiveness of the embedded finite element method (EFEM) and the extended finite element method (XFEM) in modeling dynamic crack propagation by validating each approach against an impact experiment performed on single crystal quartz together with in-situ imaging of the dynamic fracture using X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI). The experiment is conducted in a Kolsky bar (generating a strain rate on the order of $$10^3\,\text {s}^{-1}$$ ) that is operated at the synchrotron facilities at the advanced photon source (APS). The in situ XPCI technique can record the dynamic crack propagation with micron-scale spatial resolution and sub-microsecond temporal resolution, and the corresponding images are used to extract the time-resolved crack propagation path and velocity. A unified framework is first presented for the dynamic discretization formulations of EFEM and XFEM. This framework clarifies the differences between the two methods in enrichment techniques and numerical solution schemes. In both cases, a cohesive law is used to describe the fracture process after crack initiation. The simulations of the dynamic fracture experiment using the two simulation approaches are compared with the in situ experimental observations and measurements. The performance of each method is discussed with respect to capturing the early crack propagation process.

Discontinuous Dynamics of Mode-I Crack Propagation in Single Crystals

Discontinuous Dynamics of Mode-I Crack Propagation in Single Crystals

A Consideration of Cleavage Crack Propagation in Fe<sub>2</sub>Si Steel

It is well established that within the lower-shelf temperature range of Fe2-3Si polycrystalline steels, the brittle fracture occurs predominately by transgranular cleavage, unless subject to embrittling heat-treatments. The cleavage fracture develops on the well established {001} planes of the bcc structure. In this paper we revisit the growth, of these cleavage cracks by considering crack propagation in single crystals of Fe2Si steel. Three point bend specimens manufactured from oriented crystals have been tested by impact loading at a temperature of -196°C. High spatial resolution focused ion beam imaging combined with ion milling is used to examine in detail the crack propagation path and has provided a new insight into the mechanisms involved. In particular it has been established that within the process zone of the propagating cracks local strain is accommodated by the formation of {112} twins. The results are discussed with respect to the overall crack propagation mechanism.

Aspects of rapid crack propagation in silicon

ABSTRACTFracture experiments with silicon specimens in recent years have shown the need for a new approach to the analysis of rapidly propagating cracks in single crystals. Behaviour and phenomena have been revealed that fracture in these materials is rather different from the fracture of both amorphous and polycrystalline materials. We show that continuum mechanics is insufficient for analyzing crack propagation in single crystals since it is unable to consider atomistic‐scale phenomena. Accordingly, we describe basic phenomena associated with rapid crack propagation in silicon: (i) anisotropic velocity‐dependent R‐curve behaviour, as a key phenomenon dictating atomistic scale behaviour, (ii) crack deflection from one cleavage plane to another as a mesoscopic scale phenomenon in single‐crystal fracture, (iii) the Rayleigh surface wave speed as the limiting crack tip velocity is re‐examined, (vi) the lowest crack velocity in brittle crystals is examined, and finally (v) the interaction between crack path and preferred cleavage planes in single crystals is depicted.

Simulation of Fatigue Crack Propagation in Ductile Metals by Blunting and Re-sharpening

Laird and Smith [(1962). Philosophical Magazine 8, 847–857] proposed a plastic sliding-off mechanism for the stage II fatigue crack growth via striation formation. In their view, the fatigue crack extension results solely from the changing character of deformation at the crack tip during loading and unloading. In particular, the crack tip blunts during the loading stage and folds into a double notch during the unloading stage, resulting in striation formation. In order to verify Laird’s plastic blunting mechanism for ductile polycrystals as well as for ductile fcc single crystals, FE calculations were performed for a rectangular plate with an initially sharp crack under plane strain conditions. The plate was subjected to a fully reversed tension-to-pressure cyclic load perpendicular to the crack plane (Mode 1). In the single crystal case the crack propagation simulations were carried out for cracks with crack plane (001) for two different crack growth orientations [110] and [100]. No initial radius for the crack tip was assumed. The actual shape of the crack tip followed from an initially sharp crack by repeated remeshing. To model the constitutive behavior typical for polycrystalline ductile metals, J2 hypo-elasto-plasticity model with Armstrong–Frederick kinematic hardening was used. To model the constitutive behavior typical for ductile fcc single crystals, a geometrically nonlinear version of Cailletaud’s model based on the multiplicative elasto-plastic decomposition of the deformation gradient was implemented into the FE program ABAQUS. For simplicity, only octahedral slip systems were considered. Using repeated remeshing for severely distorted elements at the advancing crack tip, deformation patterns in the sense of Laird’s mechanism for fatigue crack propagation with striation formation were obtained in the case of the polycrystal simulation as well as in the case of the single crystal simulation for [110] crack growth direction. The simulation for [100] crack growth direction with the same stress level as for [110] direction also yielded crack extension by progressive large deformations but without striation formation. The dependence of the fatigue striation formation on the crack growth direction as predicted by the simulation of crack propagation in single crystals is verified by the experimental results of Neumann [(1974). Acta Metallurgica 22, 1155–1165] on pure copper single crystals.

Crack propagation in single crystals of tungsten

Abstract The effect of pre-existing micro-cracks on the fracture of [010] tungsten single crysta's has been investigated. Cleavage cracks on (010) planes were introduced into the edge of the specimens by a spark-machining technique. Tensile tests at 77°K showed that the fracture stress was dependent on the crack length according to the Griffith criterion. At this temperature the specimens failed in a completely brittle manner. A surface energy of 6300 ergs cm−2 was obtained in close agreement with the theoretical value for the true surface energy. Metallographic examination of the fracture surfaces showed that the markings on the surface depend on the stress level at fracture. One test was carried out to determine the effect of prestraining at 295°K on the subsequent fracture behaviour at 77°K. The effect of temperature on the fracture of specimens containing a constant crack length was determined between 77 and 478°K. As the temperature increased, the crack propagation mechanism changed from fast cleavag...