This thesis presents research toward the development of a simple inexpensive fracture toughness tool for polymeric materials. Experiments were conducted to test the specimen configuration and the fracture toughness tool against an established ASTM standard for polymer fracture toughness, D5045, and a commonly used four-point bend method. The materials used in this study were polycarbonate and high density polyethylene. Reductions in both the production time and the variability resulting from the preparation of the specimens were addressed through the use of specially designed fixtures. The effects from the razor cut depths used in the chevron notch were compared to the fracture toughness values obtained in order to determine the effect upon the validity of the fracture toughness.

The primary objective of this study is to test the applicability to plastics of a fracture toughness testing tool developed for metals. The intent is to study pre-test conditioning of several plastic materials and the effect of the depth of the razor notch cut in the chevron notched fracture toughness test specimens. The study includes the careful preparation of samples followed by conditioning in various environments. Samples were subjected to laboratory air for a specific duration or to a controlled temperature-humidity condition as per the ASTM D1870. Some of the samples were subjected to vacuum conditioning under standard test specifications. Testing was conducted using the conventional three-point bend test as per ASTM D5045-95. ASTM E1304, which sets a standard for short rod and bar testing of metals and ceramics provides some basis for conducting chevron notched four-point bend tests to duplicate the toughness tool. Correlation of these results with the ASTM test samples is determined. The four-point bend test involves less specimen machining as well as time to perform the fracture toughness tests. This study of fracture toughness testing has potential for quality control as well as the fracture property determination.

This thesis investigates the quantity Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) as a means to assess fracture toughness when measured in the Single Edge Notched Bend (SENB) specimen setup. A particular objective is to assess the effectiveness of the test when used for high strain-hardening materials (e.g. stainless steels). This has been an increasing concern as the current available methods were generally designed for lower strain hardening structural steel. Experimental work on CTOD tests included silicone casting of the crack, and constant displacement tests were also performed. The silicone castings enable physical measurement of the crack under an optical microscope. Results from a series of Finite Element (FE) models were validated from the experiments. δ5 surface measurements were obtained using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) as a courtesy of TWI, which were compared to surface CTOD measurements from the silicone castings. In addition to the experiments and Finite Element modelling, archived test data from TWI was processed, showing analytical differences between current Standard CTOD equations. CTOD calculations from BS 7448, ISO 12135, ASTM E1820 and WES 1108 were compared to the experimental and FE modelling results. For high strain hardening material, CTOD predicted by Standard equations (apart from those in BS 7448 and single point CTOD from ISO 12135) were lower than the values determined from silicone measurements and modelling. This potentially leads to over conservative values to be used in Engineering Critical Assessments (ECA) or material approval. Based on a series of different strain hardening property models, a relationship between strain hardening and the specimen rotational factor, rp was established. An improved equation for the calculation of CTOD is proposed, which gave good estimation of the experimental and Finite Element modelling results. The improved equation will be proposed for future amendments of the ISO 12135 standard. The results of this research enable the accurate fracture characterisation of a range of engineering alloys, with both low and high strain hardening behaviour in both the brittle and ductile fracture regime.

Flattened Brazilian disc and modified ring test methods are attractive methods being simpler compared to the other mode I fracture toughness testing methods on rock cores. The aim of this study is to improve these simple methods to yield fracture toughness values that are close to the ones determined by the suggested methods. ABAQUS finite element program was used to determine stress intensity factors of models with various dimensions. Comparing fracture toughness to the results obtained by semicircular bending method tests (0.94 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for andesite and 0.56 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for marble) and the cracked chevron notched Brazilian disc method tests (1.45 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for andesite and 1.08 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for marble), proper geometrical parameters were investigated by changing diameter, central-hole diameter, and loading angle of Ankara andesite and Afyon marble specimens. Semicircular bending method results were lower than the cracked chevron notched Brazilian disc method results. With flattened Brazilian disc method, the closest results (1.45 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for andesite and 1.12 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for marble) to the suggested method was obtained by 54 mm diameter discs with loading angles between 32.5&deg / and 38.0&deg / and with thicknesses between 19 mm and 34 mm. With modified ring test on andesite, the closest results to the suggested method was obtained by 75 mm diameter discs with 8 mm central-hole diameter and 25&deg / loading angle (1.47 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for andesite and 1.07 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for marble), and with 14 mm central-hole diameter and 16&deg / loading angle (1.50 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for andesite and 1.05 MPa&amp / #8730 / m for marble).