Engineering topics

Tracey, D. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Tracey, D. M..

3 records

NASA NTRS1976

Finite element solutions for crack-tip behavior in small-scale yielding

The subject considered is the stress and deformation fields in a cracked elastic-plastic power law hardening material under plane strain tensile loading. An incremental plasticity finite element formulation is developed for accurate analysis of the complete field problem including the extensively deformed near tip region, the elastic-plastic region, and the remote elastic region. The formulation has general applicability and was used to solve the small scale yielding problem for a set of material hardening exponents. Distributions of stress, strain, and crack opening displacement at the crack tip and through the elastic-plastic zone are presented as a function of the elastic stress intensity factor and material properties.

Tracey, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Computational fracture mechanics

Numerical procedures for accurate determination of elastic stress intensity factors for the general two-dimensional crack problem are reviewed. The elastic perfectly plastic state of crack tip deformation is studied by a finite element procedure. Elastic-plastic fields in the immediate vicinity of a crack tip are determined numerically by finite element procedures based on asymptotic studies of crack tip singularities in plastic materials. The small-scale yielding problem is modeled, and expressions for crack tip opening displacement, shear singularity amplitude, and plastic zone extent are derived. A finite element solution to the large-scale yielding of a circumferentially cracked round tension bar is obtained. The three-dimensional aspects of flawed structures and numerical methods of treating them are studied. Ductile fracture mechanisms, in particular crack tip fracture on the microscale, are discussed.

Rice, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1971

Finite elements for determination of crack tip elastic stress intensity factors.

A new type of finite element is introduced which embodies the inverse square root singularity of the stress distribution arising near a crack in an elastic medium. Using this element near the crack tip in two typical cracked configurations, stress intensity factors within 5% of accepted values were obtained, with meshes having as few as 250 degrees of freedom.

Tracey, D. M.↗