Issue 41

P. Gallo et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 41 (2017) 456-463; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.41.57 460 1 1 0 22 22 22 22 22 0 22 22 ( ) Δ Δ Δ 2 n n n n n n cf t c f p t t c p K C E                (10) 5. For a given time increment Δ t n , determine from Eq. (11) the increment of the total strain at the notch tip, 22 Δ n t  : 22 22 22 Δ Δ Δ n n n t t c E      (11) 6. Repeat steps from 3 to 5 over the required time period. R ESULTS he proposed new method has been applied to a hypothetical plate weakened by lateral symmetric V-notches, under Mode I loading; see Fig 1b. The notch tip radius ρ and the opening angle 2 α have been varied, while for the notch depth a , a constant value equal to 10 mm has been assumed. Three values of the opening angle 2α have been considered: 60°, 120° and 135°. The notch tip radius assumes for every opening angle three values: 0.5, 1 and 6 mm. The plate has a constant height, H , equal to 192 mm and a width, W , equal to 100 mm. The numerical results have been obtained thanks to the implementation of the new developed method and its equations in MATLAB®. In the same time, a 2D finite element analysis has been carried out through ANSYS. The Solid 8 node 183 element has been employed and plane stress condition is assumed. The material elastic ( E , ν , σ ys ) and Norton Creep power law ( n , B ) properties are reported in Tab. 1. For the sake of brevity, only few examples are reported in Fig. 2 (a-b). All the other cases present the same trend of Fig. 2. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the numerical FE values. All the stresses and strains as a function of time have been predicted with acceptable errors. In detail, maximum discrepancy in modulus of 20% has been found for both quantities, with a medium error about 10%. Considering the examples of the strain prediction depicted in Fig. 2(b), the discrepancy within numerical and predicted solution of the strain is most likely due to different approximations introduced in the theoretical formulation, such as the assumption of the elastic-perfectly plastic behavior of the material inside the plastic zone and the employment of the Irwin’s method to estimate the plastic radius. E (MPa) ν σ ys (MPa) n B (MPa - n /h) 191000 0.3 275.8 5 1.8 Table 1: Mechanical properties. (a) (b) 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0 4 8 12 16 20 ε θθ creep σ θθ [MPa] t [h ] FEM Theoretical solution 2α = 120° ρ = 0.5 mm a = 10 mm C p = 1.57 K Ω = 103 Stress Strain 0.000 0.010 0.020 0.030 0.040 0 4 8 12 16 20 ε θθ creep t [h] FEM Theoretical solution 2α = 135° a = 10 mm C p = 1.41 K Ω = 10.10 ρ = 0.5 mm ρ = 1 mm ρ = 6 mm Figure 2: Comparison between theoretical and FEM evolution of stress and strain as a function of time for V-notch geometry: (a) ρ = 0.5 mm, 2 α = 120°; (b) 2 α = 135° and ρ = 0.5, 1, 6 mm. T