Crack Growth: Stress Intensity and Fracture Mechanics

This lecture covers the concept of crack growth in materials, focusing on stress intensity factors and fracture mechanics. It explains how cracks can propagate in brittle and ductile materials, the energy considerations involved, and the critical stress intensity factor for crack growth onset. The lecture also delves into the relationship between crack growth conditions, strain energy release rates, and the fracture toughness of materials. Various dissipative processes, such as fiber bridging and plastic deformation, are discussed in the context of crack propagation.