Finite-element analyses and fracture simulation in thin-sheet aluminum alloy

A two-dimensional, elastic-plastic finite-element analysis was used with a critical crack-tip-opening angle (CTOA) fracture criterion to model stable crack growth in thin-sheet 2024-T3 aluminum alloy under monotonic loading after precracking at different cyclic stress levels. Tests were conducted on three types of specimens: middle-crack, three-hole-crack and blunt-notch tensile specimens. An experiment technique was developed to measure CTOA during crack growth initiation and stable tearing using a high-resolution video camera and recorder. Crack front shapes were also measured during initiation and stable tearing using a fatigue marker-load technique. Three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite-element analyses of these crack shapes for stationary cracks were conducted to study the crack-front opening displacements. Predicted load against crack extension on middle-crack tension specimens agreed well with test results even for large-scale plastic deformations. The analyses were able to predict the effects of specimen size and precracking stress history on stable tearing. Predicted load against load-line displacements agreed well with test results up to maximum load bu the analyses tended to overpredict displacements as crack grew beyond the maximum load under displacement-controlled conditions. During the initiation phase, the measured CTOA values were high but decreased and remained nearly constant after a small amount of stable tearing. The constant value of CTOA agree well with the calculated value from the finite-element analysis. The larger CTOA values measured at the sheet surface during the initiation phase may be associated with the crack tunneling observed in the tests. Three-dimensional analyses for nonstraight crack fronts predicted much higher displacements near the free surface than in the interior.