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FATIGUE CRACK PROPAGATION BEHAVIOUR OF SHORT CRACKS; THE EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE
Author(s) -
TAYLOR D.,
KNOTT J. F.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
fatigue and fracture of engineering materials and structures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1460-2695
pISSN - 8756-758X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-2695.1981.tb01116.x
Subject(s) - microstructure , materials science , length scale , fracture mechanics , critical distance , homogeneous , crack closure , fatigue testing , work (physics) , structural engineering , composite material , mechanics , geology , engineering , statistical physics , mechanical engineering , physics , sound power , geomorphology , sound (geography)
— –Fatigue cracks shorter than some critical length tend to propagate anomalously quickly. This paper examines the concept of a ‘critical length’, identifying three regimes of behaviour for different crack lengths. Some published work is examined, covering a wide range of different materials. It is concluded that there is an approximate correlation between the critical length for short crack behaviour and the scale of the microstructure. LEFM is difficult, if not impossible, to apply to cracks shorter than this critical length because the material surrounding a crack cannot be assumed to approximate to a homogeneous continuum. Suggestions are made for a fatigue design philosophy which incorporates short crack behaviour.