Fatigue And Fracture Of Non Metallic Materials And Structures

The mechanics of fracture and fatigue have produced a huge body of research work in relation to applications to metal materials and structures. However, a variety of non-metallic materials (e.g., concrete and cementitious composites, rocks, glass, ceramics, bituminous mixtures, composites, polymers, rubber and soft matter, bones and biological materials, and advanced and multifunctional materials) have received relatively less attention, despite their attractiveness for a large spectrum of applications related to the components and structures of diverse engineering branches, applied sciences and architecture, and to the load-carrying systems of biological organisms. This book covers the broad topic of structural integrity of non-metallic materials, considering the modelling, assessment, and reliability of structural elements of any scale. Original contributions from engineers, mechanical materials scientists, computer scientists, physicists, chemists, and mathematicians are presented, applying both experimental and theoretical approaches.

The mechanics of fracture and fatigue have produced a huge body of research work in relation to applications to metal materials and structures. However, a variety of non-metallic materials (e.g., concrete and cementitious composites, rocks, glass, ceramics, bituminous mixtures, composites, polymers, rubber and soft matter, bones and biological materials, and advanced and multifunctional materials) have received relatively less attention, despite their attractiveness for a large spectrum of applications related to the components and structures of diverse engineering branches, applied sciences and architecture, and to the load-carrying systems of biological organisms. This book covers the broad topic of structural integrity of non-metallic materials, considering the modelling, assessment, and reliability of structural elements of any scale. Original contributions from engineers, mechanical materials scientists, computer scientists, physicists, chemists, and mathematicians are presented, applying both experimental and theoretical approaches.

Fracture, fatigue, and other subcritical processes, such as creep crack growth or stress corrosion cracking, present numerous open issues from both scientific and industrial points of view. These phenomena are of special interest in industrial and civil metallic structures, such as pipes, vessels, machinery, aircrafts, ship hulls, and bridges, given that their failure may imply catastrophic consequences for human life, the natural environment, and/or the economy. Moreover, an adequate management of their operational life, defining suitable inspection periods, repairs, or replacements, requires their safety or unsafety conditions to be defined. The analysis of these technological challenges requires accurate comprehensive assessment tools based on solid theoretical foundations as well as structural integrity assessment standards or procedures incorporating such tools into industrial practice. This volume is focused on new advances in fracture, fatigue, and structural integrity of metallic structural components containing defects (e.g., cracks, notches, metal loss, etc.), and also on those developments that are being or could be incorporated into structural integrity assessment procedures, such as BS7910, R6, or API 579-1/ASME FFS-1.

This book is primarily a textbook. It is written for engineers, students and teachers, and it should also be useful for people working on various topics related to fatigue of structures and materials. The book can be used for graduate and undergraduate courses and for short courses for people already working in the industry, laboratories, or research institutes. Furthermore, the book offers various comments which can be useful to research-workers in order to consider the practical relevance of laboratory investigations and to plan future research. An important theme of the book is the understanding of what happens in the material of a structure in service if the structure is subjected to a spectrum of cyclic loads. Knowledge of the fatigue mechanism in the material and how it can be affected by a large variety of practical conditions is essential for dealing with fatigue problems. The designer of a dynamically loaded structure must “design against fatigue”. This includes not only the overall concept of the structure with related safety and economic aspects, but also questions on detail design, joints, production and material surface quality. At the same time, the designer must try to predict the fatigue performance of the structure. This requires a knowledge of the various influencing factors, also because predictions on fatigue have their limitations and shortcomings. Similar considerations arise if fatigue problems occur after a long period in service when decisions must be made on remedial actions.

The design of mechanical structures with improved and predictable durability cannot be achieved without a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of fatigue damage and more specifically the relationships between the microstructure of materials and their fatigue properties. Written by leading experts in the field, this book (which is complementary to Fatigue of Materials and Structures: Application to Damage and Design, also edited by Claude Bathias and André Pineau), provides an authoritative, comprehensive and unified treatment of the mechanics and micromechanisms of fatigue in metals, polymers and composites. Each chapter is devoted to one of the major classes of materials or to different types of fatigue damage, thereby providing overall coverage of the field. The book deals with crack initiation, crack growth, low-cycle fatigue, gigacycle fatigue, shorts cracks, fatigue micromechanisms and the local approach to fatigue damage, corrosion fatigue, environmental effects and variable amplitude loadings, and will be an important and much used reference for students, practicing engineers and researchers studying fracture and fatigue in numerous areas of mechanical, structural, civil, design, nuclear, and aerospace engineering as well as materials science.

Written by a leading researcher in the field, this revised and updated second edition of a highly successful book provides an authoritative, comprehensive and unified treatment of the mechanics and micromechanisms of fatigue in metals, non-metals and composites. The author discusses the principles of cyclic deformation, crack initiation and crack growth by fatigue, covering both microscopic and continuum aspects. The book begins with discussions of cyclic deformation and fatigue crack initiation in monocrystalline and polycrystalline ductile alloys as well as in brittle and semi-/non-crystalline solids. Total life and damage-tolerant approaches are then introduced in metals, non-metals and composites followed by more advanced topics. The book includes an extensive bibliography and a problem set for each chapter, together with worked-out example problems and case studies. This will be an important reference for anyone studying fracture and fatigue in materials science and engineering, mechanical, civil, nuclear and aerospace engineering, and biomechanics.