Determination of the fracture behaviour of MgO-refractories using multi-cycle wedge splitting test and digital image correlation

Refractories with reduced brittleness show a pronounced deviation from linear elastic behaviour and an enhanced thermal shock resistance. This paper aims to study the influence of microstructure on the fracture behaviour of magnesia refractories. The wedge splitting test(WST), which enables stable crack propagation for quasi-brittle materials, was used to identify the fracture behaviour and evaluate the energy dissipation. The evaluation of the crack lengths of the magnesia and magnesia spinel materials during the entire cyclic WST is based on the localized strain evaluated using the digital image correlation (DIC). A significant fracture process zone develops in the magnesia spinel material. The relationship between the dissipated energy and the actual crack length, which was used to characterize the crack growth resistance, was determined. The refractory materials that showed reduced brittleness consume a small amount of energy for fracture initiation but a large amount of energy for further crack propagation.     

Elucidating the Crack Resistance of Alkali‐Activated Slag Mortars Using Coupled Fracture Tests and Image Correlation

The resistance of alkali silicate‐activated slag mortars to crack propagation is explored. With increasing SiO₂‐to‐alkali oxide ratio (M_s) of the activating solution (between 1.0 and 2.0), the flexural strengths, fracture energies, and the strain energy release rates (crack resistance, G_R) are noted to increase. The G_R values, especially of the systems with M_s of 1.5 and 2.0, are higher than that of ordinary portland cement (OPC) mortar. In contrast, the fracture process zone (FPZ) was observed to be smaller for the alkali‐activated slag mortars, with higher localized strains. Similarly, the FPZs also shrink with increasing M_s. These responses are related to the differences in the reaction products in these systems. The fundamental differences in the fracture response of these binder systems are elucidated through tracking the FPZ development. The crack extension‐crack tip opening displacement relations and its relationship with the inelastic strain energy release rates are also used to bring out the differences between the binder systems.     

Observation and quantification of the fracture process zone for two magnesia refractories with different brittleness

In this paper, the formation of the fracture process zone (FPZ) of industrially produced magnesia spinel and magnesia refractories was analysed using digital image correlation (DIC). Compared to pure magnesia materials, the magnesia spinel materials exhibited a higher amount of microcracks, causing a larger FPZ. A critical displacement, where the cohesive stress between the crack faces decreases to zero, is determined by analysing the development of the localized zone. Critical displacement determined from the changes of the FPZ width and length is used to determine the onset of macro-cracking and locate the crack tip. The development of the fracture process zone for a magnesia spinel initiates before reaching the maximum load, and the onset of the macro-crack is in the post-peak region. The FPZ size increases until the formation of a macro-crack takes place, but decreases afterwards. For the magnesia refractory, no pronounced FPZ could be detected.     

Influence of fracture process zone height on fracture energy of concrete

The implication of modelling concrete fracture with a fictitious crack of zero fracture process zone (FPZ) height is addressed because FPZ height, in reality, is not zero and is bound to vary during crack growth. The ligament effect on fracture energy G_F is explained by the nonuniform distribution of a local fracture energy g_f showing the influence of specimen boundary and variation of FPZ height. The nonuniform g_f distribution is then used to determine the size-independent G_F. The recent boundary-effect model based on a bilinear g_f function is confirmed by the essential work of fracture (EWF) model for the yielding of deeply notched polymer and metal specimens. The EWF model provides a theoretical basis for the bilinear g_f distribution. The principal rationale of the boundary-effect model, the influence of FPZ height on fracture energy, is supported by experimental observations of thickness effect on fracture toughness of thin polymeric adhesives between metals.     

Tensile behaviour of magnesia-spinel refractories: Comparison of tensile and wedge splitting tests

In some industrial applications, the need to improve the thermal shock resistance of refractories by optimisation of their microstructural design is of major importance. Refractories with enhanced thermal shock resistance usually present a rather low resistance to crack initiation but high resistance to crack propagation (rising R-curves), as well as a mechanical behaviour deviating from pure linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), often qualified as nonlinear. The present work aimed at studying the influence of thermal micro-damage within the microstructure released during the cooling process on the nonlinearity of the mechanical behaviour in tension. The two-phase composites considered were magnesia-spinel refractories with different spinel inclusions content allowing to modulate the micro-damage level. Two different destructive mechanical tests, namely tensile and wedge splitting tests, were performed and their results were compared. The influence of thermal damage on different relevant mechanical parameters was investigated, and a quantitative correlation analysis between these parameters was proposed.     

Investigation of microstructure-property relantionships of magnesia-hercynite refractory composites by a refined digital image correlation technique

Industrial magnesia-spinel bricks destined for thermal shock applications often show more flexibility and improved crack growth resistance. Components from the spinel structure group are usually added to promote microcracking coming from thermal expansion mismatch. This leads to the development of toughening mechanisms that are very effective in improving the crack propagation resistance.Magnesia-hercynite composites were investigated in order to highlight their fracture process, with regard to their microstructure, by using Digital Image Correlation (DIC). The direct measurement of displacement fields between digital images of the reference state and the deformed one has provided valuable information on material deformation during loading. The aim of this work was to investigate the fracture behaviour of refractories through the coupling of the Wedge Splitting Test (WST) and DIC. By using a refined DIC process transformation taking into account a discontinuity of displacement, called 2P-DIC, a more effective characterisation of the fracture behaviour was achieved.     

Fracture behaviour of magnesia refractory materials in tension with the Brazilian test

In this work, the tensile failure of magnesia, rebound magnesia-chrome and chrome-containing magnesia-spinel refractories under the Brazilian test were investigated. The digital image correlation and acoustic emission were applied simultaneously for ensuring the validity of Brazilian test and studying the fracture process. The brittle refractories fail abruptly while reaching their load peaks because of the unstable crack propagation. However, the chrome-containing magnesia-spinel refractory shows a reduced brittleness due to the pre-existing microcracks, which promotes quasi-stable crack propagation evidenced by the nonlinearity in the pre-peak region and the softening in the post-peak region. Besides, the thickness-to-diameter ratio has a great influence on the fracture behaviour, which also shows brittleness dependence. The fracture behaviour of rebound magnesia-chrome refractory varies from brittle to less brittle while the thickness increasing from 10 mm to 50 mm. The quasi-stable crack propagation favors the central crack initiation and ensures the tensile failure under the Brazilian test.     

Deformation and fracture behavior of polypropylene–ethylene vinyl alcohol blends compatibilized with ionomer Zn2+

This work investigated the deformation and fracture behavior of polypropylene–ethylene vinyl alcohol (PP/EVOH) blends compatibilized with ionomer Zn²⁺. Uniaxial tensile tests and quasistatic fracture experiments were performed for neat PP and for 10 and 20 wt % EVOH blends with different ionomer contents. The addition of EVOH copolymer to PP led to an increase in the Young's modulus whereas the yield strength was decreased with the EVOH content as a consequence of the higher stiffness of EVOH and the poor interfacial adhesion between PP and EVOH, respectively. Furthermore, the incorporation of EVOH into PP promoted stable crack growth. Neat PP displayed nonlinear load‐displacement behavior with some amount of slow crack growth preceding unstable brittle fracture, whereas most PP/EVOH blends exhibited “pseudostable” fracture characterized by slow crack growth that could not be externally controlled. All blends exhibited lower resistance to crack initiation than PP but the fracture propagation resistance was significantly improved. For 10 wt % EVOH blends, the resistance to crack initiation was roughly constant with the ionomer content up to 5%, then it increased with the further addition of compatibilizer. Conversely, for 20 wt % EVOH blends, the resistance to crack initiation appeared to be independent of the ionomer content. The better resistance to crack initiation exhibited by the 10 wt % EVOH blends could be attributed to a higher level of compatibilization in these blends. By contrast, 20 wt % EVOH blends with ≤2% ionomer content showed completely stable crack growth. In addition, J–R curves and valid plane strain fracture toughness values for these blends could also be determined. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 1271–1279, 2005     

Fractographic and Fracture Mechanical Investigations of Refractories under Different Loading Conditions

Crack initiation and propagation have been investigated under tensile and shear loading in ceramically and carbon bonded refractories.A wedge splitting test procedure and a modified shear test have been applied.Test results have been used for material characterization especially with respect to brittleness.Furthermore a microscopic fractographic test procedure was developed and applied on fractured test specimens.In order to explain brittleness dependence on structure properties correlation of fractographic and fracture mechanical results has been evaluated.Frequently brittleness reduction is achieved by a lower amount of transgranular crack propagation associated with a strength decrease while maintaining specific fracture energy unchanged.Deviations from pure linear fracture mechanics increase with decreasing brittleness and contribute to specific fracture energy.Shear specimens may show two generations of cracks,a first one initiated by tensile loads （stable propagation） and a second one by shear loads （unstable propagation）.     

Mechanical behavior and thermal shock resistance of MgO-C refractories: Influence of graphite content

The mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of MgO-C refractories are of major importance in the industrial applications, and highly depend on the optimization of their microstructural design. In the present work, the influence of flaky graphite content on mechanical behavior and thermal shock resistance of such refractories was investigated with the aid of the wedge splitting test, fractal and microscopic fractographic analysis. The results showed that the increase of graphite content in the specimens led to an enhanced non-linear fracture behavior, a reduced nominal notch tensile strength (σ_NT), and a higher specific fracture energy (G_f), characteristic length (l_ch) and thermal shock resistance parameter (R_st). The fractal analysis of the crack propagation path of the specimens after the wedge splitting test indicated that increasing graphite content in the refractories can enhance their irregularity of the crack propagation path during fracture. Also, it was suggested from microscopic fractographic analysis that the improvement of thermal shock resistance of MgO-C refractories was positively correlated with the increase of interface crack propagation.     

A laser irradiation disc test for fracture testing of refractory fine ceramics

The critical stress intensity factor, tensile strength and crack stability were analysed for a zirconia refractory by parameter identification based on a laser irradiation test and a finite element simulation. Furthermore, the results for the specific fracture energy were determined for different assumed cohesive behaviours. The tests were carried out on notched discs that were irradiated at their centres. During the tests, temperatures are recorded by a thermo vision camera and the crack propagation by an acoustic emission recorder. Acoustic emission allowed for the determination of the onset of crack initiation (time t₁) and unstable crack propagation (time t₂). A finite element model representing the geometry of the sample was built to determine the fracture mechanical parameters from t₁ and t₂. This method is believed to be favourable for rather brittle refractory ceramics, whereas for less brittle materials, a wedge splitting procedure according to Tschegg is considered more favourable.     

Preparation and fracture behavior of bionic layered SiCp/Al composites by tape casting and pressure infiltration

In this study, the bioinspired laminated composites with alternating soft Al layers and hard SiCp/Al were fabricated through the tape casting followed by pressure infiltration. In-situ bending and digital image correlation technology (DIC) analysis were carried out on the laminated composites. The results showed that the uniform layers of SiCp/Al and Al were obtained with the thickness of 30 μm and 10 μm, respectively. The interfaces between layers had an intimated combination. The bending deformation process of the laminated composites could be divided into three stages, i.e., crack initiation, crack stable diffusion and crack propagation instability. During deformation, the laminated structure changed the state of strain and strain distribution, further restricted the development of the crack, and the whole materials presented a stepped fracture. This study provides support for preparation and fracture process analysis of biomimetic layered composites prepared by tape casting.     

Effect of microporous aggregates and spinel powder on fracture behavior of magnesia-based refractories

The influences of microporous aggregates and spinel powder on the properties and fracture behavior of magnesia-based refractories were investigated by the three-point bending test and wedge splitting test with the digital image correlation method. With microporous aggregates instead of dense ones, lower thermal conductivity, higher cold modulus of rupture and compressive strength were observed for lightweight magnesia-based refractories. Besides, the results indicate that the strengthened interlocking interface between microporous aggregates and matrix in lightweight magnesia refractories decreased the proportion of crack propagation along the aggregate/matrix interface (P_AM). This reduced the tortuosity of crack propagation as well as increased the brittleness. With the addition of spinel powder in the matrix, the pregenerated microcracks by thermal mismatch increased the P_AM, which increased the tortuosity of crack propagation, improved fracture energy and reduced the brittleness. Lightweight magnesia spinel refractories merely showed a slightly higher brittleness than dense ones.     

Evaluation of fracture behavior of lightweight magnesia-based refractories via wedge splitting test along with acoustic emission detection

The effect of spinel powder on the fracture behavior and mechanical properties of lightweight magnesia-based refractories containing microporous magnesia aggregates with high apparent porosity (37.4%) were investigated by the wedge splitting test (WST) with the digital image correlation and acoustic emission. With the addition of spinel powder, lightweight magnesia spinel refractories showed a higher cold compressive strength compared with lightweight pure magnesia refractories. From the WST, the addition of spinel powder increased the specific fracture energy and characteristic length of lightweight magnesia spinel refractories, which improved the crack propagation resistance. The increased tortuosity of main crack and a higher ratio of crack propagation along the aggregates/matrix interface were main reasons for reducing the brittleness of lightweight magnesia spinel refractories. Besides, acoustic emission (AE) signal activity indicated that the propagation of pregenerated micro-cracks by the thermal mismatch and the development of fracture progress zone were primary ways to consume energy in lightweight magnesia spinel refractories. The reduced proportion of crack propagation within aggregates was also detected by the peak frequency of AE signals in lightweight magnesia spinel refractories. For microporous magnesia aggregates with high apparent porosity (37.4%), lightweight magnesia spinel refractories also showed reduced brittleness fracture behavior than lightweight pure magnesia refractories.     

Toughness Optimization of SBR Elastomers – Use of Fracture Mechanics Methods for Characterization

Elastomer materials are used in a wide application range and subjected to different loading from which failure of the material results. Because this failure is caused by initiation and propagation of cracks, the application of fracture mechanics methods for the assessment of the material is obvious. A short summary of the methods of technical fracture mechanics including possibilities of determination of crack resistance curves is given. Vulcanizates on the basis of SBR 1500 with various sulfur and carbon black contents were investigated. For describing the crack initiation and crack propagation behavior, several fracture mechanics examination methods were applied. Tear‐analyzer results were used to assess the crack propagation behavior under fatigue‐like loading conditions. Furthermore, for the characterization of the crack resistance of the materials under impact‐like loading conditions, instrumented tensile‐impact tests were performed. To obtain information about the initiation and propagation of a stable crack, quasi‐static fracture mechanics tests were applied. The results of the several tests are discussed in dependence on sulfur and carbon black contents. We found a non‐monotonous behavior of the toughness as a function of carbon black loading. An explanation is given in connection with a percolation‐like transition in filler morphology on larger length scales.

Schematic crack propagation curve for characterizing the fatigue behavior of the vulcanizates recorded in a TFA test.     

Fracture energy evaluation of refractories in wedge splitting tests from notch opening displacements

The work of fracture of refractories is commonly calculated from crack mouth opening displacements (CMODs) in wedge splitting tests (WSTs). This paper proposes a methodology for estimating the fracture energy from notch opening displacement (NOD) measurements, which is useful for setups where CMOD is not accessible. NODs and CMODs are calculated for both faces of two WSTs experiments on a castable refractory via digital image correlation (DIC) and finite element simulations. A quadratic function fits well the non-linear CMOD vs. NOD behavior in the crack initiation regime, while an affine trend describes the propagation regime. Although the nonlinearity associated with crack initiation is more complex, the crack propagation energy can easily be estimated from NOD data when CMODs cannot be measured.     

Fracture process zone of notched three-point-bending concrete beams

By measuring and analyzing the load-deflection curve and acoustic emission characteristics of notched three-point-bending concrete beams with different notch depths, the length of the fracture process zone (FPZ) was calculated from the difference between the equivalent crack lengths obtained by different kinds of equivalence. Then, the evolution of the FPZ was quantitatively described. It was found that length of the FPZ is not a material parameter; it is greatly influenced by the specimen size. But in a relative sense, the influence of the specimen size can be eliminated. Also, the evolution of the FPZ in specimens of different sizes is almost the same. When the crack length is small, the FPZ increases linearly with the crack extension. As the crack extends to half of the ligament, the FPZ reaches its maximum size. Thereafter, the FPZ moves ahead and shrinks, but the ratio of its length to the length of the residual ligament remains constant, approximately equal to 0.77.     

Fracture behavior of Al2O3–SiO2 castables by the wedge splitting test and digital image correlation technique

The fracture mechanisms are helpful for the optimization and design of toughness and microstructure of refractories. Fracture behavior of ultra-low cement bonded Al₂O₃–SiO₂ castables was researched using the wedge splitting test coupled with digital image correlation technique (WST-DIC). Flexibility of Al₂O₃–SiO₂ castables is improved by introducing andalusite aggregates into the castables. The characteristic length L_CH, a parameter used to assess flexiblity of materials, was observed to reach 287.2 mm in andalusite-containing Al₂O₃–SiO₂ castables, more than 5 times that of reference castables. Microcracks toughening is the main toughening mechanisms for flexibility improvement of the Al₂O₃–SiO₂ castables containing andalusite. Microcrack network in the Al₂O₃–SiO₂ castables could be designed by exploiting the volume expansion caused by mullitization of andalusite and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the andalusite aggregate and the matrix. Unlike andalusite-free castables, castables containing andalusite possess a distinct fracture process zone (FPZ), the crack branching and deflection can be observed around the main crack during the fracture process, which leads to the prolong of the crack propagation path, the increase of the dissipation energy during the fracture, and the enhancement of resistance to crack propagation.     

Instantaneous crack resistance during crack propagation in a viscoelastic solid

Instantaneous crack resistance values during the mode I stable crack propagation in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were investigated with the aid of the sector area method at different test temperatures. The crack resistance during stable crack propagation is a gradually decreasing function of crack passage at all temperatures. The rate decreases as the test temperature decreases, down to ?30°C, irrespective of high initial crack resistance. The crack propagation velocity profiles, obtained through velocity gages, also show the decreasing function of crack passage. Both crack resistance R and its gradient with respect to the crack propagation velocity, dR/d?, become greater as the temperature decreases. R becomes greater as ? increases, contrary to the usual crack resistance behavior in metals.     

Effect of the phase transformation on fracture behaviour of fused silica refractories

In this paper, the influence of phase transformation on the properties and fracture behaviour of fused silica refractory was investigated. The virgin fused silica refractory is amorphous, and possible failure is attributed to the propagation of a single crack in the structure. Due to the crystallization and phase transformation of low-/high- temperature cristobalite subpolymorphs occurring during the heat treatment, microcracks are formed especially in the matrix and at the grain boundary. This microcracking enables the development of sizable fracture process zone, which is responsible for the increase of specific fracture energy even with the decrease of strength. Therefore, the heat-treated specimens exhibit lower brittleness and higher strain tolerance before failure compared with the virgin fused silica refractory. All of these properties represent a better thermal shock resistance. Furthermore, microcracking causes a characteristic temperature dependence of Young’s Modulus due to phase transformation and partial crack closure at increased temperatures.