Objectives: A defect (scratch, cavity or crack) in a material can be very harmful and cause the sudden breakage of a structure. This rupture can be fatal, for example in the fields of transport or nuclear energy production, but also during earthquakes. The purpose of the course is to provide the theoretical basis for estimating the harmfulness of such a defect.
Contents: After a reminder on linear elasticity, both, Irwin’s approach based on the stress singularity at the crack tip and variational Griffith’s approach based on energy minimization principles are addressed. The lessons are illustrated by some examples and numerical simulations based on FEniCSx/Python open source tools.
Prerequisite: applied mathematics (linear algebra, Partial Differential Equations), continuum mechanics (strain and stress descriptions, equilibrium equations), linear elasticity
Keywords: Stress Intensity Factors, Energy Release Rate, Fracture Toughness, Damage Tolerance
Acquired Skills: At the end of this course, students will have acquired the basic tools for engineering purposes in reliable and sustainable design, or for undertaking a thesis in the field.
- Teaching coordinator: Danas Konstantinos
- Teaching coordinator: Lazarus Véronique