There are insufficient details during preliminary stages of a pressure component design to warrant a comprehensive inelastic determination of the fracture energy release rate, J. A simplified formulation for estimating J, described in this paper, relies on a knowledge of the linear elastic stress-intensity parameter and the plastic collapse load. Subsequently, an expression for J is provided in terms of the r-node strain, which serves as an upper bound in the elastic-plastic regions for components subjected to mechanical loads. Estimates of J for several standard configurations have been obtained by inelastic FEA, and the comparisons with the corresponding robust estimates are reasonable.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
fracture, plasticity, cracks, stress effects, stress-strain relations, pressure vessels
Topics:
Design, Fracture (Materials), Stress
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Copyright © 2001
 by ASME
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