Fracture Mechanics
Uses fracture analysis to determine the critical stress
at which a crack will propagate and eventually fail
The stress at which fracture occurs in a material is termed
fracture strength
- For a brittle elastic solid this strength is estimated
to be around E/10, E being the modulus of elasticity
- This strength is a function of the cohesive forces
between the atoms
- Experimental values lie between 10 and 1000 times
below this value
- These values are a due to very small flaws occurring
throughout the material referred to as stress raisers