Fracture mechanics global approach concepts applied to creep slow crack growth in a medium density polyethylene (MDPE)

Hedi Ben Hadj Hamouda , Lucien Laiarinandrasana (1) , Roland Piques (1)

1 CDM - Centre des Matériaux

Creep fracture by slow crack growth is studied in a medium density polyethylene at 60 °C and 80 °C. Whereas elastic–plastic fracture mechanics load parameters fail to provide a unique temperature-independent correlation, that of the fracture mechanics for creeping solids C* is proved to be relevant since this parameter correlates very well with the time to failure. Correlation established on both full notched creep tensile and double edge notched tensile tests was validated on cracked gas-pipe samples tested under hydrostatic pressure, extending the use of time to failure versus C* diagram to predict lifetime of engineering components.

Mots clés: Polymers; Fracture mechanics; C*-integral; Creep crack growth; Failure assessment

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Hedi Ben Hadj Hamouda, Lucien Laiarinandrasana, Roland Piques. Fracture mechanics global approach concepts applied to creep slow crack growth in a medium density polyethylene (MDPE). Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2007, 74, pp.2187-2204. ⟨10.1016/j.engfracmech.2006.10.009⟩. ⟨hal-00154573⟩