a = 2 inches + (2.5 * 10^(-5) inches/cycle * 10,000 cycles) = 4.5 inches
The stress intensity factor is a measure of the stress field around a crack tip, and is defined as:
The failure occurred suddenly, without warning, and was attributed to a crack that had grown to a critical size. The pipeline was inspected regularly, but the crack was not detected until it was too late. principles of fracture mechanics rj sanford pdf pdf work
The team used the following equation to calculate the stress intensity factor:
where ac is the critical crack length.
where da/dN is the crack growth rate, C and m are material constants, and ΔK is the stress intensity factor range.
KIC = σ√(πac)
K = 85 MPa√m < KIC = 100 MPa√m