Fracture Toughness (KIc) Determination

Catastrophic fractures are often caused by the interrelationships between materials properties, design, fabrication, loading, corrosion and preexisting flaws. Experts cite the 1962 collapse of Pennsylvanias Point Pleasant Bridge from a stress corrosion crack, or 1988s Aloha Airlines Flight 243, which lost 30% of its roof in midair. It is estimated that up to a fifth of all merchant ships built during World War II had developed significant cracks by wars end and that at least 16 ships were lost due to catastrophic fracture.
A critical evaluation Plane Strain Fracture Toughness (KIc) quantifies the resistance of a metal to brittle fracture under various combinations of stress and critical flaw size. It is also a critical material property. A fracture toughness test characterizes the resistance of a material to fracture in a neutral environment and in the presence of a sharp crack. In contrast with Charpy Impact Toughness, which can only be used to compare the notch toughness of materials or to determine a metals compliance with a specification, the KIc value can be used directly in design, life calculations and crack growth or remaining life calculations. Safety and reliability If safety is critical to your product and you are interested in avoiding the expense of product failures, contact the experts at Stork Materials Technology for information about a cost-effective and customized testing program that will help you to ensure product reliability. Safety applications Large and complex structures-such as buildings, bridges, ships, aircraft, windmill towers, nuclear reactors, pressure vessels, and press bodies-often have crack-like imperfections or sharp notches. Using fracture mechanics, engineers can quantitatively establish allowable stress levels for new structures and inspection requirements for structures used beyond their initial design life. Testing methods The most common test for determining Plane Strain Fracture Toughness is ASTM E399. Stork is fully qualified to conduct the machining, fatigue pre-cracking, and fracture toughness testing of bend or compact-tension samples in the companys computercontrolled servohydraulic test frames. Storks Applied Mechanics experts are able to test high-strength ferrous and

Stork experts and laboratories provide materials testing, failure analysis, consulting, and product development and qualification testing to industries worldwide.

nonferrous materials in both small and large specimen sizes. Stork can help you solve fracture toughness problems in your industryfrom ground vehicle, aerospace, and defense suppliers to the power generation sector and nuclear and wind power industries. Stork Materials Technology has the mechanical and metallurgical engineering expertise and experience to recommend and conduct various tests, analyze the complex test data, and consult on fracture toughness issues.

info.smt@stork.com www.storksmt.com