Equation 17 · Part 1 · Why Materials Fail: Fracture, Flaws and the Inspection Interval
Symbol K_Ic
What this part means
the plane-strain fracture toughness.
Its job in the formula
c is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
Full expression→Symbol K_Ic→Article meaning
Where the article explains it
Fracture then occurs when K reaches a material-specific critical value, the plane-strain fracture toughness .
The passage around this formula
Here is the applied stress, a the crack size, and Y a dimensionless factor capturing geometry and loading. The claim embedded in this expression is a similitude claim: two cracked bodies of different shape and size, loaded differently, have the same crack-tip conditions if they have the same K . Fracture then occurs when K reaches a material-specific critical value, the plane-strain fracture toughness .
Learn the underlying idea
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