The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks

A recently presented closed-form analytic solution for the displacement field and stress field in a cracked Brazilian disc, under uniform radial pressure along two symmetric arcs of its periphery, revealed that for a wide range of crack-axis inclinations, the lips of the crack tend to overlap each o...

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Main Authors: Markides Christos F., Pazis Dimitrios N., Kourkoulis Stavros K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2014-08-01
Series:Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/jmbm-2014-0008
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author Markides Christos F.
Pazis Dimitrios N.
Kourkoulis Stavros K.
author_facet Markides Christos F.
Pazis Dimitrios N.
Kourkoulis Stavros K.
author_sort Markides Christos F.
collection DOAJ
description A recently presented closed-form analytic solution for the displacement field and stress field in a cracked Brazilian disc, under uniform radial pressure along two symmetric arcs of its periphery, revealed that for a wide range of crack-axis inclinations, the lips of the crack tend to overlap each other, leading to a kind of an “unnatural” geometrical configuration. It is here proven that this behavior is a consequence of the inability of the mathematical model to simulate the change of the boundary conditions that appears (for some special configurations) in the physical problem and render the mathematical problem an “ill-posed” one. Indeed, what happens in praxis is that for a given interval of crack inclination angles, the initially stress-free lips are coming in contact and contact stresses appear violating the boundary conditions initially adopted in the mathematical model. This problem is here solved by superposing to the above-mentioned solution the respective one of an auxiliary mixed fundamental problem solved according to Muskhelishvili’s complex potentials method. In this way, physically acceptable displacement fields and stress fields are obtained all over the cracked disc independently from the crack inclination angle. In addition, the contact stresses developed along the crack lips are determined. Moreover, naturally sound formulae for the corresponding stress intensity factors (in case of cracks with lips in contact to each other) are obtained, which are of crucial engineering importance. The solution obtained enlightens some critical aspects related to the practical application of the cracked Brazilian disc as a tool for the standardized determination of the fracture toughness of brittle rock-like materials and concrete.
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spelling doaj.art-2f8119e8aa74457bb437a7cde94916482022-12-21T19:54:13ZengDe GruyterJournal of the Mechanical Behavior of Materials0334-89382191-02432014-08-01233-4597710.1515/jmbm-2014-0008The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracksMarkides Christos F.0Pazis Dimitrios N.1Kourkoulis Stavros K.2Laboratory of Testing and Materials, Department of Mechanics, School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, 5 Heroes of Polytechnion Avenue, Theocaris Building, Zografou Campus, 157 73 Athens, GreeceLaboratory of Testing and Materials, Department of Mechanics, School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, 5 Heroes of Polytechnion Avenue, Theocaris Building, Zografou Campus, 157 73 Athens, GreeceLaboratory of Testing and Materials, Department of Mechanics, School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, 5 Heroes of Polytechnion Avenue, Theocaris Building, Zografou Campus, 157 73 Athens, GreeceA recently presented closed-form analytic solution for the displacement field and stress field in a cracked Brazilian disc, under uniform radial pressure along two symmetric arcs of its periphery, revealed that for a wide range of crack-axis inclinations, the lips of the crack tend to overlap each other, leading to a kind of an “unnatural” geometrical configuration. It is here proven that this behavior is a consequence of the inability of the mathematical model to simulate the change of the boundary conditions that appears (for some special configurations) in the physical problem and render the mathematical problem an “ill-posed” one. Indeed, what happens in praxis is that for a given interval of crack inclination angles, the initially stress-free lips are coming in contact and contact stresses appear violating the boundary conditions initially adopted in the mathematical model. This problem is here solved by superposing to the above-mentioned solution the respective one of an auxiliary mixed fundamental problem solved according to Muskhelishvili’s complex potentials method. In this way, physically acceptable displacement fields and stress fields are obtained all over the cracked disc independently from the crack inclination angle. In addition, the contact stresses developed along the crack lips are determined. Moreover, naturally sound formulae for the corresponding stress intensity factors (in case of cracks with lips in contact to each other) are obtained, which are of crucial engineering importance. The solution obtained enlightens some critical aspects related to the practical application of the cracked Brazilian disc as a tool for the standardized determination of the fracture toughness of brittle rock-like materials and concrete.https://doi.org/10.1515/jmbm-2014-0008closing crackscontact stressescracked brazilian disccrack-lips overlappinglinear elasticitystress intensity factors
spellingShingle Markides Christos F.
Pazis Dimitrios N.
Kourkoulis Stavros K.
The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Materials
closing cracks
contact stresses
cracked brazilian disc
crack-lips overlapping
linear elasticity
stress intensity factors
title The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
title_full The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
title_fullStr The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
title_full_unstemmed The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
title_short The centrally cracked Brazilian disc: implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
title_sort centrally cracked brazilian disc implications and solutions in case of closing cracks
topic closing cracks
contact stresses
cracked brazilian disc
crack-lips overlapping
linear elasticity
stress intensity factors
url https://doi.org/10.1515/jmbm-2014-0008
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