Three-dimensional stress and deformation fields around flat and slant cracks under remote Mode I loading conditions

This paper investigates the phenomenon of slant fracture observed in stable tearing tests of many ductile materials, where an initially flat crack, loaded under remote Mode I conditions, tends to grow into a slant crack and stay in the slant configuration until final fracture. In an effort to identify potential reasons why cracks prefer to grow in a slant manner, three-dimensional finite element analyses of crack-front stress and deformation fields in Arcan-type specimens containing a flat or slant crack are performed under elastic–plastic and remote Mode-I loading conditions. In particular, the crack-tip opening displacement (COD) at a position behind the crack tip, the mean stress, the effective stress, and a constraint factor (defined as the ratio of the mean stress and effective stress) are studied and compared for the two types of cracks. Analysis results reveal several stress/deformation field variations around flat and slant cracks under identical remote loading conditions. First, close to the crack front, the COD of a slant crack is greater than that of a flat crack. Second, at the specimen’s mid-plane, a flat crack leads to a higher constraint value ahead of the crack than a slant crack. Third, the effective stress ahead of a slant crack is greater than that ahead of a flat crack, especially close to the crack front. The above results seem to suggest that slant fracture may be preferred because a slant crack enhances the driving force in the form of a higher near-tip COD value and because a shearing type of failure is promoted in the case of a slant crack compared to a tensile type of failure in the case of a flat crack.