Crack Propagation of Composite Material Cylinder

with Metal Liner Based on the Extended

Finite Element Method
Yanying Ma, Yadong Xu, and Cunlei Wei
Nanjing University of Science and Technology
School of Mechanical Engineering
Nanjing, China
mayanyingI27@163.com, 13601580051@139.com

Abstrad-Based on the extended finite element method
FEM), the stress intensity factors (SIFs) of different types of
cylinder are calculated by the interaction integral method, the
maximum circumferential tensile stress criterion is adopted to
determine crack propagation direction, and crack propagation of
composite material cylinder with metal liner is simulated The
numerical example of the pure metal cylinder show->
effectiveness of the presented method The numerical example of
crack propagation of composite material cylinder with metal
liner is presented, and the crack propagation path is shown.
Comparisons of SIFs among the pure metal cylinder, the pure
carbon fi her reinforced plastic (CFRP) cylinder an d
composite material cylinder with metal liner show that the pure
metal cylinder is more li kely to crack. Moreover, the effects of
loads, crack lengths, and wall thicknesses on SIFs of composite
material cylinder with metal liner are concluded that the increase
of load, crack length and the decrease of wall thickness lead to
the increase ofSIF.
Keyword�Co11fJosite 11Xlterial cylinder; Extended finite
element method; Crack; Stress intensity factor
I. INTRODUCTION
Carbon fiber reinforced plash.: (CFRP) composite materials
have been widely used in military field and civilian areas due
to their advantages such as the high ratio of strength to weight.
However, the failure behavior of carbon fiber reinforced plastic
composite material structures goes with massive local damage,
such as delamination, matrix cracking, and fiber breakage.
Although the finite element method (FEM) is often used to
simulate crack propagation, there are still a lot of lim itations in
dealing with discontinuous problems based on mesh. In
contrast, the extended finite element method (X-FEM) has
been developed in the past decades, alleviating the
shortcomings of the finite element method in discontinuous
problems, and avoiding the need of mesh encryption.
Furthermore, the mesh reconstruction when getting crack
propagation behavior is not demanded. A number of studies are
available on the crack propagation of composite materials by
X-FEM. Li et al. [1] researched crack propagation of ceramic
matrix composites using X-FEM, which provided a new way
for the analysis of the multiple toughening mechanisms of
cerami:: matrix composites. Su et al. [2] studied the fracture
behavior of particle reinforced composites under static loadings
This work is sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China.
(X­ by X-FEM procedure on MATLAB, and simulated the change
of stress intensity factor or energy release rate of the rigid and
flexible particles. Linear eigenvalue buckling analysis for
cracked Lll1i-Iayer composite plates was performed in the
framework of X-FEM by Amir et al. [3], the accuracy and
efficiency of X-FEM were discussed and compared with the
the
available results therein.
Composite material cylinder with metal liner is quite
common in the engineering field such as pressure vessels,
compressors, high pressure pipes, barrels and so on. Thermal­
the mechanical coupling mechanisms were studied by Xu et al. [4]
for the composite material cylinder with metal liner under high
temperatures using FEM. The crack propagation of composite
material cylinder with metal liner was simulated by Yang et al.
[5] with X-FEM in ABAQUS. Moreover, the composite
laminates damage modes and the law of crack growth along the
axis and radial orientation of the composite cylinder have been
concluded. SlFs at the crack tip were calculated by Cheng et al.
[6] with FEM, and the change law of the stress intensity factors
on different crack lengths and thicknesses were concluded.
In this paper, the crack propagation of composite material
cylinder with metal liner under high pressures is studied. And a
two dimensional X-FEM procedure is proposed to calculate the
stress intensity factors (SIFs) of different types of cylinder. The
calculation of the SlFs predicts the crack propagation of
composite material cylinder with metal liner under high
pressures. Firstly, the effectiveness of this procedure is
validated by the pure metal cylinder. Secondly, the composite
material cylinder with metal liner is simulated to consider the
effects of loads, crack lengths and wall thicknesses on the SlFs.
Thirdly, comparisons of the SIFs are made among the pure
metal cylinder, CFRP cylinder and composite material cylinder
with metal liner.
IT. THE EXTENDED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
The extended [mite element method, developed by
Belytschko et al. [7] in 1999, is a numerical method which
aims to solve discontinuous problems. Based on conventional
[mite element method, the displacement mode of X-FEM can
be obtained by adding the additional discontinuity functions
and being approximated by the division and summation of the

978-1-4673-9088-0/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

506
stress singularity in the stress field. The displacement function
UXFEM [7] can be given as:

= UFEM
UXFEM + ucrack-face + ucrack-tip (1)
Ok= arc tan l�':tan 0
f-lkx
1, (
j
k � 1, 2 ) (8)

where Ucrack-face and Ucrack-tip are added in order to model the

where f-lkx and f-lky are the real and imaginary parts of the roots
discontinuity in the displacement field and the singularity in
of the characteristic equation[9]
the stress field. UFEM is the conventional finite element
function. The expression for the discontinuity enriched part of tip 4
all flk - al6 flk +
2 tip 3 (2al2tip + a66tip ) flk 2 - 2 a26tip flk + a22tip - 0 (9)
-
the displacement field is
(10)
Ucrack-face
= LajNjx( )H(x) (2)
jEM where a�P are the elements of the compliance tensor a

where N/x) is the common nodes function.

nodes enriched by the Heaviside functions. aj represents
M is the set of
£ = aa (11)
where £ is the strain, a is the stress.
additional degrees of freedom used for modeling crack face
discontinuity. The Heaviside function for a point x is defined
as [8] Ill. MODELING AND CRACK PROP AGATION THEORY

Hx=
()
{I (x-x*)·en:2:0
(3)
A. Modeling of composite material cylinder with metal liner
The configuration of thick cylinder is composite material
-1 (x-x*)·en <0
cylinder with metal liner. The composite layers are stacked
where x' denotes the coordinate of the closest point of the along the radial direction, and each layer is laid on a different
crack to the point x (Fig. 1). Tn a similar manner, the angle. The choice of the layer angle and the stacking sequence
expression for the crack tip enriched part of the displacement aims to improve the structural strength, shear strength, and
field is stiffness. However, the composite material cylinder with metal
liner is considered in this paper with the zero angle layer.
Assuming that the adhesion between layers is ideaL a two
(4) dimensional model of composite material cylinder with metal
liner with a crack is shown in Fig. 2. The material of the metal
where N k (x) is the common nodes function. N is the set of is Ni3, and the material of CFRP is T300. The physical
properties of metal and CFRP are shown in TABLE I. The
nodes enriched by the crack tip functions, and B is the set of
strength properties of the materials are shown in TABLE IT.
Ba crack tip functions. bka represents additional degrees of
freedom used for modeling crack tip discontinuity. Due to the
presence of metal in this study, isotropi.: functions can be given
as:

where (r,O) is the polar coordinate system of crack tip, 0 is Fig. I. Normal and tangential coordinates of a smooth crack
0 0 represents tangential direction of crack
shown in Fig. 1, =
tip. And considering the presence of carbon fiber reinforced
plastic materiaL the following orthotropic functions are CFRP: o·
Tt
adopted [9] Inner:steel
1

J; sin OJ �gJ (OJ)

2
Fig. 2. Configuration of composite material cylinder with metal liner with a
(7) crack

TABLE!. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL

507
 E, (MPa) E,(MPa) E6(MPa) V21 l!12 a, ( )
O
C a2 ( )
O
C /1, /12 p(Kgim')
T300 181000 10300 7170 0.28 0. 5 0.02e-6 22.5e-6 0 0. 6 1600

Nil 176900 176900 69646 0.27 0.27 12e-6 12e-6 7800

TABLE n. STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF THE MA TERIAL

X,(MPa) X,(MPa) Y, (MPa) Y,(MPa) S(MPa)

T300 1500 1500 40 246 68
Nil 800 ( )
uo 1082 ( )
ub

B. Cra ck Propagation Theory b) Mixed Mode Cra ck

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic composite materiaL whi.::h is
1) Stress Intensity Fa ctor
anisotropic materiaL is considered in this study. Thus, the crack
The SIF is an important criterion parameter of crack
is the mixed mode crack for anisotropic materials. The major
propagation. It can be obtained by the interaction integral
difference between the mixed mode and the classical Griffith

((J0) �(2)
method with X-FEM as [7]: mode 1 crack propagation is that the crack spread not only

f along the original crack surface, but also along the new

J
a
(J(2) �-WO,2) <5. .::.!Let 'A (12)
a (I)
+ a
1 (1,2) =
branching extension Therefore, mixed mode crack growth is
A lJ ax lJ ax l' ax .
] mainly considered by two problems, the first of whi.::h is the
I I
,
where W(I 2) (J(I) S(2)
=
(J(2) S(I)=
are the strain energy density ' direction of crack propagation, the second of which are crack
u u u u
propagation angle and the critical value of load.
((J,;I),sjl),u?» ) and ((J,;2), S,;2),u?» ) are the real field and the
In engineering, the maximum circumferential tensile stress
auxiliary field, respectively. A is the circle domain with criterion [10] is often used to calculate SlFs. It is based on two
radius r whose center is the crake tip. q takes the following hypotheses, one is that the crack propagates along the direction
values on the boundaries of A, if nodes are in the integral of the maximum circumferential stress, the other is that the
region, q equals 1, on the contrary, if nodes are out of the crack begins to extend with the critical value of the
circumferential stress being reached.
integral region, q is zero.
The relationship between interaction integral of crack tip and The circLllTIferential stress of crack tip under the polar
coordinate system can be given as:
SIF can be shown as:
[(1,2) = �* (K KGlIX + K KGlIX)
[ [ IT IT
(13) 1 e 2e 3
(J' =--cos- K cos ---K sme
[ . ] (14)
£ H 2.J2;rrr 2 [ 2 2 TT

where KI and KII are mode I and mode IT SIF in the real field, The direction of crack propagation can be expressed as:
respectively, Klaux and KI�uX are STFs of mode I and mode IT
*
in the auxiliary field, respectively. £ is the parameter of (15)
elasticity modulus, when it is under the plane stress case, £*
equals £, and £' is E/(1-V2), when it is under the plane Then, the angle of crack propagation can be given as:

strain case. v is the Poisson's ratio.

2) Cra ck Propagation Criterion (16)

Crack propagation criterion is the necessary condition for
determining the crack growth. Then, the effect of the crack on
And the fracture criterion can be described as:
the structural safety performance can be conjectured and safety
prediction parameters for engineering application can be
provided. (17)
a) Pure Mode 1 Cra ck where Kec is the critical value of circLllTIferential stress
Considering the stress state in the metaL one can have a intensity factor.
pure mode 1 crack. When the SlF of material gets to a critical
value under a certain load, cracked structure starts crack. The
critical value reflects an inherent property of the material itself IV. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES

and represents the ability of material resistance to brittle In this section, a new X-FEM procedure, the flow chat of
cracking. It is also known as fracture toughness Kc. Hence, the which is shown in Fig. 3, is employed to investigate the SIFs
fracture criterion can be established as K <Kc . and crack propagation. In the first simulation example, the SIFs

508
 No Calculate
>01..-----1 Crack Angle
And Step

Calculate
Total
Determine Stress
Input Numbeer Load Vector
Enrich Nodes Equation Intensi ty
Matrix Focter

Stop

Fig. 3. Framework of main procedure with the extended finite element method

of the pure metal cylinder are calculated and compared with the
theoretical results to validate the effectiveness of the procedure. TABLElll. K, OF NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS WITH X-FEMAND
And the SIFs of the composite material cylinder with metal THEORETICAL SOLUTIONS (TS)
liner are calculated in the second example to simulate the crack
a (m) K (MPa·mli2) Error (%)
propagation. J
1S X-HM
A. Pure Metal Cylinder with a Cra ck 0.001 152.0467 148. 127 2. 5
0.002 215.0265 213.6507 0. 6
The configuration of pure metal cylinder with a crack is
0.003 282.9408 280.6745 0. 8
shown in Fig. 4. The external radius �) is 44mm, the internal
0.004 384.5148 377.4873 1.8
radius R) is 30mm, the lengths of the crack a are 1mm, 2mm, 0.005 477.6674 469.3345 1.7
3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, respectively, and the 0.006 554.0383 539.5448 2. 6
internal pressure is 600MPa The physical properties of metal
B. Composite Material Cylinder with Metal Liner witha
can be given by TABLE I, and theoretical solutions of K) in
Cra ckand Dis cussions ofthe results
this case can be provided as the stress intensity factor manual
[11] : The configuration of composite material cylinder with
metal liner is shown in Fig. 2. The external radius �) is 40mm,
(18) the internal radius R) is 30mm, and the thickness of composite
layer is 4mm. The effects of loads, crack lengths, and wall
thicknesses on SIFs of composite material cylinder with metal
where F is the function which depends on a / ( Ro - R]) , P liner, and SIFs of different types of cylinders are shown in the
represents the internal pressure , a represents the length of the following figures. Furthermore, the position of crack tip of
crack, Ro and R) are the external radius and internal radius, which composite material cylinder with metal liner is shown.
respectively. From Fig. 5, the change law of K) with different crack
In TABLE TIl, the errors can be obtained from lengths is shown, where P are 100MPa, 200MPa, 300MPa,
K -K 400MPa, 500MPa, and 600MPa, respectively. In the same load
JITS) J(X-FF.M) x 100% . It can be denoted that the numerical
KleI condition, the larger crack length is, the larger K) along the
S)
solutions of K) agree well with the corresponding theoretical horizontal coordinate is. Similarly, in the same crack length
condition, the lower pressure is, the lower the KI along the
solutions. The relative errors are all within 3%, which validate
the effectiveness of the procedure. longitudinal coordinate is. Moreover, it can be concluded that
the increase of crack length and the increase of pressure make
the structure being more likely to crack.
In Fig. 6, the structure of composite material cylinder with
metal liner is described that the external radius Ro is 40mm,
the internal radii R) are 30mm, 25mm, and 20mm,
respectively, the thickness of composite layer is 4mm, and P
is 600MPa. It can be concluded that the increase of wall
thickness leads to the decrease of K) . Then, the thicker the
Fig. 4. Configuration of pure metal cylinder with a crack cylinder is, the less likely the cylinder tends to crack.

509
 700 '00
200
600
. . . . . • . . . . • . . • . . .

. ------ 300
500 -- m
....... /
C
"; 500
'",-..E 400 --- P ... //
/

. /
� 400
6 J: 300 ;e.
---. >-
� 300 /..
� / ..
/ . ..
200 :z 200 /
..

100 100
O '---�-�-�-�-
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 O '--�-��-�
a/( R. - R,) o 2 3 4 5 6
a( 10·3m)
Fig. 5. Variation of Kj with different pressures.( a/(I?" - Rj) is
dimensionless quantity) Fig. 8. Variation of cylinder with different materials

It is demonstrated that the relationship between crack

700 length and K] of different materials can be shown in Fig. 8.
R,/ R, 0.5 =

R, / Ro 0.625
600 m represents the pure CFRP cylinder, c represents the pure
=

R.! Ro 0.7}/
r
=

E 500 metal cylinder, and p represents composite material cylinder

�'" 400
/
/ with metal liner. It should be easily observed that the growth
/
/ .....
.. '
:-; --:: :.. ..... . rate of K] of metal is faster than others, the growth rate of K]
� 300 .
of composite material cylinder with metal liner is faster than
200 --- the pure CFRP cylinder.
100 '--���-����
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 V. CONCLUSION
a/(Ro -R,) Numerical simulation has been performed in the present
paper within the procedure of X-FEM for various types of
Fig. 6. The effects of K] with different Will thicknesses. (a/( Ro - R)) is cracked cylinder. The effects of different parameters, such as
dimensionless quantity) crack lengths, pressure, and various materials on cracked thick
cylinder have been investigated. The following conclusions
It is depded that different crack lengths influence the
can be drawn as follows:
position of crack tip in Fig. 7 when crack grows. Tn this section,
the structure of composite material cylinder can be described • It is clearly demonstrated that the procedure of the
that �, is 4Omm, R, is 30mm, P is 600MPa, the thickness of extended finite element method is suitable to simulate
composite layer is 4mm, and a are Imm, 2mm, 3mm, and crack propagation with thick cylinder structure though
4mm, respectively. It can be denoted that the crack length has the first numerical example. The provided method is
influence on path of crack propagation, and crack tip position effective.
can mutate near the interface of the metal and the composite. • Generally, in all loading condition, crack length
Moreover, the slope of crack propagation path in metal is more increases with the increase of K, . And in the same
than zero, but the slope of crack propagation path with
composite material is less than zero. loading condition, the larger the pressure is, the larger
the K, is. The thicker the cylinder is, the smaller the
0.4
---- a=lmm K, is. Furthennore, the crack propagation behavior in
o=2tnm
0.3
. . • . . . . . . . . . . .

------ a=3mm composite material cylinder with metal liner was

E _ . . _" ._ . a=4mm.
01 0.2
investigated by X-FEM. The position of crack tip on the
o
step was concluded. It is important for engineering
�O.I application to predict the crack propagation of the
0.0
composite material cylinder with metal liner.
• Comparisons of the pure metal cylinder, the pure CFRP
3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2 cylinder, and the composite material cylinder with
x(IO·'m) metal liner are drawn K, of the pure CFRP cylinder is
Fig. 7. The position of crack tip with the same pressure the smallest, K, of the pure metal cylinder is larger
than composite material cylinder with metal liner.

510
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study is supported by National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No.51205206)
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