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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

Crack propagation and arrest in pressurized containers

The problem of crack propagation and arrest in a finite volume cylindrical container filled with pressurized gas is considered. It is assumed that the cylinder contains a symmetrically located longitudinal part-through crack with a relatively small net ligament. The net ligament suddenly ruptures initiating the process of fracture propagation and depressurization in the cylinder. The problem is formulated by making two major assumptions, namely, that the shell problem is quasi-static and the gas dynamics problem is one-dimensional. The problem is reduced to a proper initial value problem by introducing a dynamic fracture criterion which relates the crack acceleration to the difference between a load factor and the corresponding strength parameter. The main results are demonstrated by considering two examples, an aluminum cylinder which may behave in a quasi-brittle manner, and a steel cylinder which undergoes ductile fracture. The results indicate that generally in gas-filled cylinders fracture arrest is not possible unless the material behaves in a ductile manner and the container is relatively long.

Erdogan, F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Three-Dimensional Gear Crack Propagation Studied

Gears used in current helicopters and turboprops are designed for light weight, high margins of safety, and high reliability. However, unexpected gear failures may occur even with adequate tooth design. To design an extremely safe system, the designer must ask and address the question, "What happens when a failure occurs?" With gear-tooth bending fatigue, tooth or rim fractures may occur. A crack that propagates through a rim will be catastrophic, leading to disengagement of the rotor or propeller, loss of an aircraft, and possible fatalities. This failure mode should be avoided. A crack that propagates through a tooth may or may not be catastrophic, depending on the design and operating conditions. Also, early warning of this failure mode may be possible because of advances in modern diagnostic systems. One concept proposed to address bending fatigue fracture from a safety aspect is a splittooth gear design. The prime objective of this design would be to control crack propagation in a desired direction such that at least half of the tooth would remain operational should a bending failure occur. A study at the NASA Lewis Research Center analytically validated the crack-propagation failsafe characteristics of a split-tooth gear. It used a specially developed three-dimensional crack analysis program that was based on boundary element modeling and principles of linear elastic fracture mechanics. Crack shapes as well as the crack-propagation life were predicted on the basis of the calculated stress intensity factors, mixed-mode crack-propagation trajectory theories, and fatigue crack-growth theories. The preceding figures show the effect of the location of initial cracks on crack propagation. Initial cracks in the fillet of the teeth produced stress intensity factors of greater magnitude (and thus, greater crack growth rates) than those in the root or groove areas of the teeth. Crack growth was simulated in a case study to evaluate crack-propagation paths. Tooth fracture was predicted from the crackgrowth simulation for an initial crack in the tooth fillet region. This was the desired failure mode for an ultrasafe design. Lastly, tooth loads on the uncracked mesh of the split-tooth design were up to five times greater than those on the cracked mesh if equal deflections of the cracked and uncracked teeth were considered. This effect needs to be considered in the design of a split-tooth configuration. This work was done in-house at Lewis in support of the National Rotorcraft Technology Center project, Ultra-Safe Gear Design, with the Boeing Defense and Space Group. The crack-propagation package was developed by the Cornell Fracture Group at Cornell University. The reported results, which are the initial findings of Lewis gear-crackpropagation research for the Rotorcraft Base Program, will be further investigated to develop generalized gear design guidelines.

Lewicki, David G.↗
NASA NTRS1961

Effect of Decarburization on Notch Sensitivity and Fatigue-Crack-Propagation Rates in 12 MoV Stainless-Steel Sheet

Tests were conducted in order to determine the effect of surface decarburization on the notch sensitivity and rate of fatigue crack propagation in 12 MoV stainless-steel sheet at room temperature. Three specimen configurations were utilized in the course of the investigation: standard tensile specimen, 9-inch-wide specimens containing fatigue cracks or thread-cut notches of 0.005-inch radius, and 2-inch-wide specimens containing fatigue cracks. The 12 MoV stainless-steel sheet in the normal condition was found to have an ultimate tensile strength of 251 ksi and to be extremely notch sensitive. The material in the decarburized condition was found to have an ultimate tensile strength of 210 ksi and to be considerably stronger than the normal material in the presence of fatigue cracks. Decarburization did not appear to have any significant influence on the rate of fatigue crack propagation in the 2-inch-wide specimens at the stress levels considered. In addition to the tests, two methods for predicting residual static strength and their application to the material are discussed.

Herrnstein, William H., III↗
NASA NTRS1979

Fatigue crack propagation behaviour of unidirectionally solidified gamma/gamma-prime-delta eutectic alloys

Fatigue crack propagation studies were carried out on unidirectionally solidified gamma/gamma-prime-delta (Ni-Nb-Al) alloys over an aluminum content range of 1.5-2.5% by weight. The variation of Al content of as-grown alloys did not significantly affect the crack growth behavior of these eutectic composites. The results indicate that the addition of Al to the eutectic dramatically improved the FCP behavior. The gamma/gamma-prime-delta alloy exhibited crack growth rates for a given stress intensity range that are an order of magnitude lower than those for the gamma-delta alloy. It is suggested that this difference in FCP behavior can be explained on the basis of stacking fault energy considerations. Extensive delaminations at the crack tip were also revealed, which contributed to the superior fatigue response. Delamination was predominantly intergranular in nature.

Bretz, P. E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Gear Crack Propagation Path Studies: Guidelines for Ultra-Safe Design

Design guidelines have been established to prevent catastrophic rim fracture failure modes when considering gear tooth bending fatigue. Analysis was performed using the finite element method with principles of linear elastic fracture mechanics. Crack propagation paths were predicted for a variety of gear tooth and rim configurations. The effects of rim and web thicknesses, initial crack locations, and gear tooth geometry factors such as diametral pitch, number of teeth, pitch radius, and tooth pressure angle were considered. Design maps of tooth/rim fracture modes including effects of gear geometry, applied load, crack size, and material properties were developed. The occurrence of rim fractures significantly increased as the backup ratio (rim thickness divided by tooth height) decreased. The occurrence of rim fractures also increased as the initial crack location was moved down the root of the tooth. Increased rim and web compliance increased the occurrence of rim fractures. For gears with constant pitch radii, coarser-pitch teeth increased the occurrence of tooth fractures over rim fractures. Also, 25 deg pressure angle teeth had an increased occurrence of tooth fractures over rim fractures when compared to 20 deg pressure angle teeth. For gears with constant number of teeth or gears with constant diametral pitch, varying size had little or no effect on crack propagation paths.

Lewicki, David G.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Residual strength and crack propagation tests on C-130 airplane center wings with service-imposed fatigue damage

Fourteen C-130 airplane center wings, each containing service-imposed fatigue damage resulting from 4000 to 13,000 accumulated flight hours, were tested to determine their fatigue crack propagation and static residual strength characteristics. Eight wings were subjected to a two-step constant amplitude fatigue test prior to static testing. Cracks up to 30 inches long were generated in these tests. Residual static strengths of these wings ranged from 56 to 87 percent of limit load. The remaining six wings containing cracks up to 4 inches long were statically tested as received from field service. Residual static strengths of these wings ranged from 98 to 117 percent of limit load. Damage-tolerant structural design features such as fastener holes, stringers, doublers around door cutouts, and spanwise panel splices proved to be effective in retarding crack propagation.

Snider, H. L.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Compilation of fatigue, fatigue-crack propagation, and fracture data for 2024 and 7075 aluminum, Ti-6Al-4V titanium, and 300M steel. Volume 1: Description of data and data storage on magnetic tape. Volume 2: Data tape (7-track magnetic tape)

Fatigue, fatigue-crack-propagation, and fracture data compiled and stored on magnetic tape are documented. Data for 202 and 7075 aluminum alloys, Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy, and 300M steel are included in the compilation. Approximately 4,500 fatigue, 6,500 fatigue-crack-propagation, and 1,500 fracture data points are stored on magnetic tape. Descriptions of the data, an index to the data on the magnetic tape, information on data storage format on the tape, a listing of all data source references, and abstracts of other pertinent test information from each data source reference are included.

Rice, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The effect of adhesive layer on crack propagation in laminates

The effect of the adhesive layer on crack propagation in composite materials is investigated. The composite medium consists of parallel load carrying laminates and buffer strips arranged periodically and bonded with thin adhesive layers. The strips, assumed to be isotropic and linearly elastic, contain symmetric cracks of arbitrary lengths located normal to the interfaces. Two problems are considered: (1) thin adhesive layers are approximated by uncoupled tension and shear springs distributed along the interfaces of the strips for which only the case of internal cracks can be treated rigorously; (2) broken laminates and the true singular behavior in the presence of the adhesive layer are studied. The adhesive is then treated as an isotropic, linearly elastic continuum. General expressions for field quantities are obtained in terms of infinite Fourier integrals. These expressions give a system of singular integral equations in terms of the crack surface displacement derivatives. By using appropriate quadrature formulas, the integral equations reduce to a system of linear algebraic equations which are solved numerically.

Gecit, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Predicting crack propagation

Flaw growth under load is predicted in two dimensions with Advanced Crack Propagation Predictive Analysis Program (FLAGR04). FLAGR04 accommodates variety of cracks, crack transitions, stress gradients, changes in material properties, and Willenberg retardation. Program is written in FORTRAN IV for batch execution and is available for CDC and IBM machines.

Hu, T.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A study of spectrum fatigue crack propagation in two aluminum alloys. 1: Spectrum simplification

The fatigue crack propagation behavior of two commercial Al alloys was studied using spectrum loading conditions characteristics of those encountered at critical locations in high performance fighter aircraft. A tension dominated (TD) and tension compression (TC) spectrum were employed for each alloy. Using a mechanics-based analysis, it was suggested that negative loads could be eliminated for the TC spectrum for low to intermediate maximum stress intensities. The suggestion was verified by subsequent testing. Using fractographic evidence, it was suggested that a further similification in the spectra could be accomplished by eliminating low and intermediate peak load points resulting in near or below threshold maximum peak stress intensity values. It is concluded that load interactions become more important at higher stress intensities and more plasticity at the crack tip. These results suggest that a combined mechanics/fractographic mechanisms approach can be used to simplify other complex spectra.

Telesman, J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Study of Near-Threshold Fatigue Crack Propagation in Pipeline Steels in High Pressure Environments

Near threshold fatigue crack propagation in pipeline steels in high pressure environments was studied. The objective was to determine the level of threshold stress intensity for fatigue crack growth rate behavior in a high strength low alloy X60 pipeline-type steel. Complete results have been generated for gaseous hydrogen at ambient pressure, laboratory air at ambient pressure and approximately 60% relative humidity as well as vacuum of 0.000067 Pa ( 0.0000005 torr) at R-ratios = K(min)/K(max) of 0.1, 0.5, and 0.8. Fatigue crack growth rate behavior in gaseous hydrogen, methane, and methane plus 10 percent hydrogen at 6.89 MPa (100 psi) was determined.

Mitchell, M.↗
NASA NTRS1960

Fatigue-Crack Propagation in Aluminum-Alloy Tension Panels

Results are presented of a series of fatigue tests to study crack propagation and the resulting stress distributions in tension panels. The panels were all of the same general design, and configurations varied mainly in the relative amount of cross-sectional area in the skin, stiffeners, and flanges. The panels were constructed of 2024-T3 and 7075-T6 aluminum alloys. It was found that the average rate of crack growth was slower in panels made of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy than in panels made of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. All cracks initiated in the skin, and the slowest crack growth was measured in configurations where the highest percentage of cross-sectional area was in the stiffeners. Strain-gage surveys were made to determine the redistribution of stress as the crack grew across the panels. As a crack approached a given point in the skin, the stress at that point increased rapidly. The stress in the stiffeners also increased as the crack approached the stiffeners. During the propagation of the crack the stress was not distributed uniformly in the remaining area.

Whaley, Richard E.↗