Fracture, fatigue and damage
Article Type: Guest editorial From: International Journal of Structural Integrity, Volume 3, Issue 2
This special issue of the International Journal of Structural Integritycontains extended versions of selected papers presented at the ACE-X 2011, the 5th International Conference on Advanced Computational Engineering and Experimenting, held at Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal, during the period 3-6 July 2011.
This issue contains full-length manuscripts covering a wide range of topics in the broad field of fracture, fatigue and failure.
The contribution of Cunda et al. addresses behaviour of Metallic Hollow Sphere Structures. Their behavior under dynamic and static loading is compared, and the influence of inertia and loading rate is studied.
Hutar et al. address the damage of high-density polyethylene structures. Most relevant damage of these structures is caused by slow crack growth. The constraint is mainly an effect of the structure geometry and can be quantified by T-stress. The authors studied two different test specimens with different constraint level, aiming at improved prediction of the lifetime of HDPE structures based on accelerated tests and better data transfer from experimental specimens to real structures.
Correia et al. address the effects of introducing strengthening ribs on GFRP sandwich panels. Tests confirmed the considerable influence of the core,namely of its stiffness and strength, on the performance of the unstrengthened panels; in addition, tests showed that the introduction of lateral reinforcements significantly increases the stiffness and strength of the panels,with the shear behaviour of strengthened panels being governed by the ribs. The models, validated with the experimental results, allowed simulating the mechanical serviceability behaviour of the sandwich panels with a good accuracy.
The paper by Sevcik et al. studies crack propagation in a welded polyolefin pipe, presenting conclusions relevant for the assessment of defects in that type of component.
The paper by de Oliveira Correia et al. proposes a new method to generate probabilistic fatigue crack propagation rates (P−da/dN−ΔK−R fields). These authors validate their model using puddle iron from old Portuguese bridges, usually characterized by significant scatter in fatigue properties.
Albuquerque et al. present an experimental programme to characterize fatigue crack growth of welded and base material S355 steel, used in the construction of composite bridges, taking into account residual stress fields and closure effects.
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the International Journal of Structural Integrity, in particular to Professor Chris Rodopoulos, Editor-in-Chief of IJSI, and to Dr Harry Colson of the publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited, who made this special issue possible. Last but not least, we thank the reviewers that kindly accepted to dedicate some of their time to review the papers selected, all of which went through a review process involving at least two referees.
Paulo M.S.T. de Castro, Pedro M.G.P. Moreira, Andreas ÖchsnerGuest Co-Editors
