IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research & Development| Vol.

4, Issue 01, 2016 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613

FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The

Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
Samed Saeed1 Babu Reddy2
1
Student 2Assistant Professor
1,2
Department of Machine Design Engineering
1,2
VTU PG Centre, Kalaburagi, India
Abstract— Determination of the behaviour of a crack, both calculations and both the results are compared. The
stationary as well as propagating, in many situations plays a Analytical computations for the determination of direction of
vital role for satisfactory and non-catastrophic performance propagation of crack are performed using MATLAB, which is
of components, especially in Aviation Industries, Automobile a very powerful software tool for many computational works
Industries, Power-Plant Industries etc. In many situations, it such as numerical computations, solving algebraic and
is very difficult to determine the crack behaviour analytically differential equations, data and image processing, curve
and hence cracks are analysed using Finite Elements fitting, plotting data and many other works involved in
Analysis. In the present work, both the stationary and science and engineering. The Finite Elements Analysis is
propagating cracks are analysed using Finite Elements done using ABAQUS analysis software tool, which has
Analysis and results obtained from aforementioned methods integrated pre-processor, solver and postprocessor, and is
are then compared with the analytical results. Stationary very popular in solving finite elements problems in various
cracks are compared using Stress Intensity Factors and fields such as structural mechanics, fluid mechanics, fracture
propagating cracks are compared for the crack propagation mechanics, thermal analysis etc.
paths, both obtained from Finite Elements Analysis and
Analytical calculations. ABAQUS analysis software tool is II. ANALYTICAL CALCULATIONS
used for the Finite Elements Analysis and Analytical
computations are done using MATLAB software tool. A. Analysis of Stationary Crack:
Keywords: SIF, ABAQUS, MATLAB. MTS, SED 1) SIF for Straight, Edge Crack:
Consider a rectangular plate of dimensions ‘2h’ by ‘b’ with
I. INTRODUCTION straight edge crack of length ‘a’ subjected to a remote loading
‘σ’ in a direction perpendicular to the crack as shown in fig.
Cracks in engineering components are characterized by the
1. The stress intensity factor for this case, which is mode I
parameters such as Stress Intensity Factor (SIF), Energy
SIF, is determined for various cases using the expressions
Release Rate (ERR), J-integral etc. For Linear Elastic given below:
Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) approach, which deals with the For ≥ 1 and ≤ 0.6
linear elastic behaviour of the materials with crack when
subjected to remote stress, SIF is mostly used as a parameter
to evaluate the state of stress near the crack tip. Analysis of
crack can be done for isotropic materials and composite For ≥ 1 and ≥ 0.3
materials with simple geometries and simple load cases using
analytical calculations but in case of complex geometries and
complex load cases, it is very difficult to analyse the crack
using analytical methods. Hence Finite Elements Analysis is
done using commercially available packages. For the
validation of the results obtained from Finite Elements
Analysis, the element size of the cracked component is varied
from coarse mesh to fine mesh and the SIFs are obtained.
Proper element size is validated when SIF does not change
much with the change in the element size. In the present work
the SIFs are determined for various crack cases, which are
obtained by changing a/b ratios for stationary straight and
angle crack, and the crack initiation angle is determined by
increasing the crack increment in case of propagating crack,
using Finite Elements Analysis and these results are
compared with the results obtained from Analytical
Calculations. The effect of variation of plate thickness on SIF Fig. 1: Plate with Edge Crack Subjected to Uniaxial Load
is also analysed along with the analysis of straight 2) SIF For Inclined, Edge Crack:
propagating cracks. For stationary straight cracks the mode I Consider a rectangular plate of dimensions ‘2h’ by ‘b’ with
SIFs are calculated and for angle crack, which is a case of centre crack of length ‘a’ inclined by an angle ‘β’ with
mixed mode fracture, both mode I and mode II SIFs are abscissa, subjected to a stress of ‘σ’ along the ordinate and a
calculated. Here the mode I and mode II SIFs are obtained by stress of ‘α σ’ along the abscissa as shown in the fig. 2. For
varying a/b ratio. The inclined propagating cracks are simplicity the stress along the abscissa is not applied and
analysed for the direction of propagation of cracks. This is since the crack is inclined, it is a mixed mode problem. Hence
done using both Finite Elements Analysis and Analytical

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 FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
(IJSRD/Vol. 4/Issue 01/2016/402)

it is analysed for mode I and mode II SIFs using the components of stress near the crack tip in polar
expressions given below: coordinate are:

Where fij(r,θ) are given by

Fig. 2: Plate with Slanted Edge Crack under Biaxial Load

The SIFs for mode I and mode II cases are given below:

3) SIF For Inclined, Centre Crack Now substituting f21(r,θ) and f22(r,θ) in equation of σθθ and
Again, considering the same plate as discussed in the maximizing σθθ using equations
previous section but with a central, inclined crack as shown
in the fig. 3. For simplicity, the stress along the abscissa is not
applied and since the crack is inclined, it is a mixed mode
problem. Hence it is also analysed for mode I and mode II
SIFs using the expressions given below:
Now simplifying and replacing θ by crack extension
direction θc we get the following expression:

Solving the above equation for θc gives multiple

values of crack propagation angle of which one that satisfies
the above inequality is considered as appropriate crack
propagation angle.

III. FINITE ELEMENTS ANALYSIS

A. Mesh Convergence Study:
The analysis for stationary straight and angle crack is done on
Fig. 3: Plate with Slanted Central Crack under Biaxial Load
a plate with width of 1m, length of 2m and thickness of 0.1m.
The CAD model of the plate is created using Abaqus/CAE is
The mode I and mode II SIFs are given below: shown in fig. 4. The material assigned is Aluminium with
Young’s modulus E=70GPa and Poisson’s ratio υ=0.33 and
Static, General Step is created and XFEM edge crack is
assigned in interaction module. A pressure load of 1MPa is
applied at top and bottom surfaces along with the constraint
in the movement of top right edge in all directions except in
B. Analysis Of Propagating Crack the y-direction and the movement of bottom right edge is
1) Maximum Tensile Stress (MTS) Criterion: This criterion constrained in all directions. It should be ensured that the
considers a certain component of stress state and it states PHILSM and PSILSM under Failure/Fracture and STATUS
that the crack will propagate only if this component XFEM under State/Field/User/Time are checked in Field
reaches a critical condition. Again consider the fig. 3, the Output Request. History Output Request is created for Crack
domain and Energy Release Rate is selected under Stress

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 FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
(IJSRD/Vol. 4/Issue 01/2016/402)

Intensity Factor. The mesh is varied from coarse mesh to finer B. FE Analysis of Stationary Crack:
mesh as shown in fig. 4. This is obtained by selecting element 1) FE Analysis for Straight Crack:
sizes in a decreasing magnitude so that the number of The stationary cracks are analysed for various plate
elements per unit length of the component is increased in thicknesses and various crack length to plate width ratios.
magnitude. The results in the form of SIFs are obtained and This is done on the same plate as mentioned in the previous
the proper mesh will be the one for which the result is not section along with material properties, mesh, load and
much varied even when the mesh is further refined. The boundary conditions. The crack lengths are increased for
results (fig. 4) are tabulated in table 1 and plotted as shown in each thickness of the plate and the results are tabulated. This
the graph 1. is repeated for various thicknesses.
2) FE Analysis for Inclined Crack:
Angle cracks, when subjected the loading, will be in a mixed
mode loading scenario and hence they need to be evaluated
using both mode I and mode II SIFs. They are modelled in
Abaqus/CAE and are given the same properties, mesh, step,
loading and boundary conditions as they were for straight
crack as shown in the fig. 5 and fig. 6. The crack length to
plate width ratio is varied for each crack angle and the results
are tabulated. This is again repeated for various crack angles.
The t/b ratio for inclined edge cracks is 0.10 and for inclined
centre cracks, it is 0.05.
Fig. 4: Plate with Straight Edge Crack Along with Load,
BC, Mesh and Analysis Results in Abaqus
Element No. of Elements per Unit
SIF
Size Length
0.075 13.333 1.820
0.05 20 1.763
0.025 40 1.711
0.02 50 1.692
0.0175 57.143 1.665
0.0125 80 1.661 Fig. 6: Plate with Inclined Edge Crack with Load, BC and
0.01 100 1.623 Mesh in Abaqus

TABLE 1: SIFs for various Number of Elements per Unit

Lengths
2.000
1.950
1.900
1.850
1.820
1.800
1.763 Fig. 7: Plate with Inclined Central Crack with Load, BC and
SIF

1.750
Mesh in Abaqus
1.700 1.711
1.692
1.650 1.665 1.661
1.623
1.600
1.550
1.500
0.000 50.000 100.000 150.000
No. of elements per unit length

Fig. 5: Graph 1. SIFs for various Number of Elements per

Unit Length

TABLE 2: Plasticity Data for material of CT Specimen

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 FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
(IJSRD/Vol. 4/Issue 01/2016/402)

Fig. 10: Inclined Crack in CT Spicemen with Mesh and

Crack Propogation path of in Abaqus

IV. RESULTS
Fig. 8: Compact Tension (CT) Specimen A. Stationary Crack:
Propagating Straight Crack is analysed using standard CT 1) Straight Crack:
specimen for the variation of strain energy and plastic
dissipation energy as crack propagates for an initial crack
length of 5 mm and applied displacements at each hole in y-
direction is 0.5mm which will cause the propagation of crack.
Propagating Inclined Crack is analysed using standard CT
specimen, with initial crack length of 5mm; inclination of 30
degrees w.r.t. x-axis and applied displacements at each hole
in y-direction is 6.9mm, to determine the path of crack.
Standard CT specimen is modelled in Abaqus/CAE and is
applied with the material properties of Aluminium with
elasticity property as E=66.36 GPa, v=0.33 and plasticity
property as shown in TABLE 2. Maximum Principal Stress
Damage Criterion is used as Damage for Traction Separation
Laws with maximum principal stress of 146.3 MPa along
with Energy as damage evolution type with fracture energy
of 24.2 MPa and viscosity coefficient of 10-6 for damage
stabilization cohesion. Static, General Step is created with
non-linear geometry turned on and maximum number of
increments set to 10000 along with initial, minimum and
maximum increment sizes of 0.02, 10-40and 0.1 respectively.
XFEM crack is assigned in the interaction module. Fig. 11: Graph 2. SIF Analysis Results for various t/b ratios
Displacement controlled analysis is done by applying a (Straight Edge Crack)
displacement of 6.9mm each at upper and lower portion of 2.1
the plate. Free mesh technique is used for meshing the
specimen with 4-noded bilinear plane stress quadrilateral a/b=0.30
1.6
SIF, KI

element. It should be ensured that the PHILSM and PSILSM

a/b=0.25
under Failure/Fracture and STATUS XFEM under
State/Field/User/Time are checked in Field Output Request. 1.1 a/b=0.20
General Solutions Control under “Other” tab in the main
menu should be edited for Step created so that the Time 0.6 a/b=0.15
Incrimination is specified for Discontinuous Analysis and IA 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 a/b=0.10
under “More” tab is set to 50. The result of the analysis then t/b ratio
obtained is shown in figure 4.5.
Fig. 12: Graph 3. Variation of SIF with t/b ratios for various
a/b ratios

Fig. 9: Straight Propogating Crack in CT SPECIMEN with

Mesh for various step Times in Abaqus

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 FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
(IJSRD/Vol. 4/Issue 01/2016/402)

2) Inclined Edge Crack: B. Propagating Crack:

1) Straight Propagating Crack:

Fig. 15: Graph 6. Variation of Strain Energy with Step Time

Fig. 13: Graph 4. SIFs for various angle cracks

3) Inclined Central Crack:

Fig. 16: Graph 7. Variation of Plastic Dissipation Energy

with Step Time
2) Inclined Propagating Crack:
The path of crack propagation of inclined crack is given
below:

Fig. 14: Graph 5. SIFs for various Inclined Central Crack

Fig. 17: Crack propagation path using Abaqus

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 FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
(IJSRD/Vol. 4/Issue 01/2016/402)

Abaqus on standard CT specimen for the variation of Strain

Energy and Plastic Dissipation Energy. It is found that there
is a sudden drop in strain energy when crack incrimination
takes place and at the same time there is an increase in plastic
dissipation energy. This observation is in agreement with the
findings mentioned in [28]. For inclined propagating cracks
in CT specimen, the crack propagation path is analysed using
MTS criterion. The propagation path is obtained by
developing a program in MATLAB numerical software tool
using MTS criterion and the result is compared with the
propagation path obtained from Abaqus analysis software
tool. The results are in close agreement.
Fig. 18: Graph 8. Crack propagation path by Analytical
Calculations using Matlab
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 FE Analysis of Stationary and Propagating Cracks for The Determination of SIF and Crack Initiation Angle
(IJSRD/Vol. 4/Issue 01/2016/402)

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