An Innovative Technique for Evaluating Fracture Toughness of Graphite Materials

-J. A. JOHN WANG AND KEN C. LIU (OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY)

PRESENTED BY : PRACHI AGARWAL (SC09B071), VI semester

OBJECTIVES
To understand the paper and look into the new

experimental techniques coming up in the field of Fracture Mechanics To evaluate the technique proposed and compare its results with the conventional techniques

AIM OF THE PAPER

To introduce a new technique to effectively overcome

the deficiencies of the traditional testing techniques The paper focuses on graphite (brittle material) and A302B steel (ductile material) testing The main application of the test results for graphite will be in Nuclear Pressure Vessels and Piping (PVP) systems Using the results to modify current regulations on safety assessment

BACKGROUND
ASTM standard test methods use compact tension

(CT) and compact disk tension (CDT) specimen of specified dimensions Plane strain condition has to be ensured Charpy V-notch (CVN) impact test used for nuclear reactor pressure vessels Elements of uncertainties in these techniques Large safety factors considered hence material wastage

LIMITATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES

Direction of crack propagation is unpredictable
Lack of methods for uniform distribution of applied

load Stresses at and near the free ends are anamolous resulting in shear lip formation Size effect is not considered Large data scatter in results Fracture behaviour under mixed mode loading not well known

NEW TECHNIQUE PROPOSED

Spiral Notch Torsion Fracture Toughness Test

(SNTT) Measures intrinsic fracture toughness ( KIC) Pure torsion applied to uniform cylindrical specimen with a notch line that spirals around at a 45 degree pith Suitable for testing a wide variety of materials used in pressure vessels and piping structural components

ADVANTAGES OF SNTT
Ensures Mode I crack for 45 pitch
Defined direction of crack propagation Ensures uniform distribution of applied loads

Size miniaturization
Mixed mode loading conditions can be tested Applicable to both ductile and brittle materials

KIC values for functionally gradient (non

homogeneous) materials and metal-matrix composites can be determined

SNTT SYSTEM
Applies pure torsion to cylindrical specimen having a

notch line that spirals at a 45 deg pitch angle Pure torsion creates uniform equibiaxial tension/ compression stress field on each of concentric cylinders Grooved line effectively becomes a Mode I crack mouth opening Plane strain achieved on every plane normal to spiral groove

TEST SET UP
Torsion tests performed on a

closed loop controlled, electrohydraulic, biaxial testing system Shear strain measured by biaxial extensometer Rossette strain gauge for cross calibration Pure torsion achieved with zero axial force in control Pre-cracking of metallic specimen accomplished by cyclic torsion using Haver sine wave form

DEFORMATION MECHANISM
When grooved specimen is sectioned

into segments perpendicular to the groove line, each of the segment can be viewed as a CT specimen with a notch Since all CT specimen are bonded the compatibility condition is satisfied In absence of V groove the state of stress of a round bar under pure torsion can be depicted as tension (normal to 45 pitch) and compression (tangential to 45 pitch) of equal magnitude When a notch is introduced, a tri-axial tensile stress field will evolve around notch root area Hence the grooved line effectively becomes a Mode I cracking

SNTT KIC EVALUATION

Due to 3-D non-coplanar crack front of SNTT

configuration and lack of closed form solutions KIC values are obtained with the aid of a three dimensional finite element computer code TOR3DKIC Fig (a) used for brittle SNTT specimen with shallow crack front Fig (b) used for ductile specimen FEM model contains 8000, 20-node quadratic brick elements

SNTT SPECIMEN SIZE REDUCTION

CT specimen test are size specific SNTT specimen is a manifestation

of CT specimen having width equivalent to the total length of spiral notch Key information needed for determining KIC value is manifested in within a small region near crack tip, therefore rod specimen can be miniaturized Brittle materials need only shallow surface notch which reduces the size further as compared to conventional techniques which use deep notch

 A302B steel specimen :

uniform gauge section of 20.3 mm diameter and 76.2 mm gauge length Spiral V-groove depth of 1.9 mm Fractured at 519.7 Nm Specimen miniaturization yielded same result

MIXED MODE LOADING

CT test specimen require a complex test set up
Can be done in SNTT by varying the pitch angle Test results indicated reduction to 50% in toughness

and 30% in tearing modulus in ductile material Synergistic impact due to combination of normal stress (Mode I) and torsion (Mode III) In brittle material, Mode I dominates failure mode

GRAPHITE TESTING
Graphite specimen:

Gauge length- 25.4

mm Gauge diameter- 15 mm and 25 mm Shallow spiral groove No pre-cracking

COMPARISON OF SNTT RESULTS WITH CONVENTIONAL METHOD TEST RESULTS

MATERIALS

SNTT (KIC IN MPam)

CONVENTIONAL METHOD CT (KIC in MPam) 55.0 51.0

A302B steel 7475-T7351 Al

55.8 51.3

Mullite ceramic
Graphite

2.21
1.0

2.20
1.0

FURTHER SCOPE
The technique has been proposed as a technique for evaluating wind

turbine blade composites Refer: An Innovative Technique for Evaluating the Integrity and Durability of Wind Turbine Blade Composites (FY2010 Report) by JyAn John Wang and Fei Ren Also proposed as to develop fracture toughness testing protocol for concrete materials Refer: Developing an Innovative Field Expedient Fracture Toughness Testing Protocol for Concrete Materials by Jy-An John Wang and Fei Ren Can be used in bi-material interface toughness research Refer: An Innovative Technique for Bi-Material Interface Toughness Research by John Jy-An Wang, Ian G. Wright, Ken C. Liu, Michael J. Lance

CONCLUSIONS
SNTT overcomes many limitations inherent in

traditional techniques and introduces new possibilities in fracture toughness testing Conforms to the classical theory of fracture toughness Can test multiple modes of stress Controls crack propagation Consistent results Not limited by size of the sample Potential for use to determine KIC values of interface of non homogeneous materials

 Agreement between SNTT data and reported data in

literature is remarkable, in view of possible material variation, inhomogenity, and anisotropy These factors confirm that proposed technique is a reliable way Can be used as an effective tool for nuclear pressure vessel and piping (PVP) system surveillance

THANK YOU