The fracture toughness characteristics of the P.E. pipe have been studied in the thesis.
To analyze the notched C-shaped specimen, two of the most successful method of approach; the singularity function formulation and enriched element technique, have been used.
Such crack tip elements can easily be incorporated into the standard isoparametric elements, permitting numerical fracture studies without extensive mesh regeneration or refinement efforts.
The numerical results obtained from the above finite element techniques agreed well with the theoretical results.
Generally, collapsed quadratic isoparametric elements produced better results than quadrilateral quadratic isoparametric elements, and enriched elements were excellently economic to gain S.I.F.
Slow crack growth behavior of two P.E. pipe samples have been evaluated utilizing the fracture mechanics. The technique revealed wide difference in crack growth behavior between the two materials.
Further development of this slow crack growth test method may provide a means of screening crack prone pipe materials from potentially hazard applications such as for gas distribution line.
