Averaged strain energy density criterion to predict ductile failure of U-notched Al 6061-T6 plates under mixed mode loading

• Published in: Theoretical and applied fracture mechanics 2017-10, Vol.91, p.86-93
• Main Authors: Torabi, A.R., Berto, F., Campagnolo, A., Akbardoost, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Al 6061-T6; Aluminum base alloys; Averaged strain energy density (ASED); Crack propagation; Criteria; Ductile failure; Elastic analysis; Equivalent material concept (EMC); Flux density; Fracture toughness; Load carrying capacity; Load-carrying capacity (LCC); Metal plates; Strain energy; Studies; U-notch
• ISSN: 0167-8442; 1872-7638
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tafmec.2017.04.010

•Mixed mode I/II ductile failure of U-notched Al 6061-T6 plates is investigated.•Fracture tests are conducted on U-notched plates under mixed mode I/II loading.•The EMC is used together with the averaged strain energy density (ASED) criterion.•The EMC-ASED criterion could predict well the experimentally obtained critical loads.•No elastic-plastic analysis is required in the present ductile failure study. The well-known Averaged Strain Energy Density (ASED) criterion, which is basically a brittle fracture criterion, is employed in conjunction with the Equivalent Material Concept (EMC) to predict the experimental failure loads of some U-notched ductile Al 6061-T6 plates reported in the literature under mixed mode I/II loading. While the EMC-ASED criterion does not claim that it is able to predict the fracture plane, the growth path of the crack emanating from the notch border, etc.; it is shown to be successful in predicting the load-carrying capacity (LCC) of the U-notched Al 6061-T6 plates, that fail by the large-scale yielding (LSY) regime, without performing time-consuming and complex elastic-plastic analyses.