Different fracture performance of all-steel and all-aluminium cylinders

The linear elastic and the nonlinear elasto-plastic fracture mechanics anal ysis on all-metal (all-steel and all-aluminum) cylinder with different axia lly oriented cracks were carried out using the three-dimensional finite ele ment method and the experimental method. The crack mouth opening displaceme nt CMOD and the crack driving forces (K-1 for elastic deformation state and J(1) for elasto-plastic deformation state) of the all-steel cylinder and t he all-aluminum cylinder containing axial deep cracks, were obtained. Throu gh analysis of the calculated CMOD and crack driving forces for the all-ste el cylinder and the all-aluminum cylinder with cracks, whose sizes are ofte n met, respectively, in the engineering applications, the fracture behavior s of the two kinds of all-metal cylinders are compared. The CMOD for the tw o kinds of all-metal cylinders with external axial cracks were measured by an experimental method and good agreements between the calculated CMOD and tested CMOD were reached. Some CMOD and crack driving force expressions abo ut the crack sizes, internal pressure and location along the crack front ar e obtained. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.