Slow Crack Growth Analysis of Brittle Materials with Finite Thickness Subjected to Constant Stress-Rate Flexural Loading

A two-dimensional, numerical analysis of slow crack growth (SCG) was performed for brittle materials with finite thickness subjected to constant stress-rate ("dynamic fatigue") loading in flexure. The numerical solution showed that the conventional, simple, one-dimensional analytical solution can be used with a maximum error of about 5% in determining the SCG parameters of a brittle material with the conditions of a normalized thickness (a ratio of specimen thickness to initial crack size) T > 3.3 and of a SCG parameter n > 10. The change in crack shape from semicircular to elliptical configurations was significant particularly at both low stress rate and low T, attributed to predominant difference in stress intensity factor along the crack front. The numerical solution of SCG parameters was supported within the experimental range by the data obtained from constant stress-rate flexural testing for soda-lime glass microslides at ambient temperature.