Prof. John D. Landes


Modelling and Simulation

6902 Views Fracture and Fatigue of Engineering Materials Lecture 6

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The Many failures of engineering structures result from fracture and fatigue problems. It is estimated that in The USA more than 100 billion dollars are lost every year to fracture and fatigue problems. This number is likely multiplied many times over on a worldwide scale. Since the development of quantitative approaches to fracture and fatigue in the mid 1900’s,an estimated 50 percent of these failures could have been prevented by the proper application of technology. Many industries fail to use these proven approaches due to lack of knowledge or inadequate funding to implement the latest technology. Use of these technologies can improve the design life of structures by an implementation of fail-safe,safe-life or fracture-proof designs. It is important that engineers involved with structural design,material ion and failure prevention and analysis have a working knowledge of fracture and fatigue fundamentals and methods of failure prevention. This knowledge could come from a better understanding of fracture mechanics and fatigue concepts and a knowledge of methods for applying these to engineering structures. Since the development of fracture and fatigue concepts in the middle 1900’s,many test standards have been developed and many methods for application of these techniques are available. This proposed mini-course would present the basic concepts of engineering fracture mechanics and fatigue. In addition test methods used for determining properties used in a fracture and fatigue and fatigue analysis would be presented. Finally methods of applying the technology to the prevention of fracture and fatigue failures will be presented. Some case studies showing how this technology has been used in the past used would also be presented. The course would start with the traditional linear-elastic approach to fracture mechanics. After the linear-elastic concepts are fully covered,the newer nonlinear approaches to fracture mechanics would be covered. The course is designed for students who have little or no knowledge of fracture and fatigue concepts. However,the student should have a good background in basic stress analysis,engineering mathematics and a working knowledge of engineering materials. The course would be suitable for advanced undergraduate students,graduate students and engineers from industry. The course would involve some student participation with workshop sessions for solving practical problems in fracture and fatigue. The course will also provide an opportunity for students to bring to class problems for discussion.

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