A detailed analytical and experimental investigation is presented to understand the dynamic fracture behavior of functionally graded materials (FGMs) under mode I and mixed mode loading conditions. Crack-tip stress, strain and displacement fields for a mixed mode crack propagating at an angle from the direction of property gradation were obtained through an asymptotic analysis coupled with a displacement potential approach. This was followed by a comprehensive series of experiments to gain further insight into the behavior of propagating cracks in FGMs. Dynamic photoelasticity coupled with high-speed photography was used to obtain crack tip velocities and dynamic stress fields around the propagating cracks. Birefringent coatings were used to conduct the photoelastic study due to the opaqueness of the FGMs. Dynamic fracture experiments were performed using different specimen geometries to develop a dynamic constitutive fracture relationship between the mode I dynamic stress intensity factor (K ID ) and crack-tip velocity ( : a ) for FGMs with the crack moving in the direction of increasing fracture toughness. A similar : a -K ID relation was also obtained for matrix material (polyester) for comparison purposes. The results obtained show that crack propagation velocities in FGMs were about 80% higher than the polyester matrix. Crack arrest toughness was found to be about 10% lower than the value of local fracture toughness in FGMs.

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In the present paper, a hydrodynamic bird material model made up of water and air mixture is developed, which produces good correlation with the measured sttain-gauge test data in a panel test. This parametric bird projectile model is u.sed to generate the timehistory of the transient dynamic loads on the turbofan engine blades for different size bitds impacting at vaiying span locations of the fan blade. The problem is formulated in 3D vector dynamics equations using a nonlinear trajectory analysis approach. The analytical derivation captures the physics of the slicing process by considering the incoming bird in the shape of a cylindrical impactor as it comes into contact with the rotating fan blades modeled as a pretwisted plate with a camber. The contact-impact dynamic loading on the airfoil produced during the bird-strike is determined by solving the coupled nonlinear dynamical equations governing the movement of the bird-slice in time-domain using a si.xth-order Runge-Kutta technique. The analytically predicted family of load time-history curves enables the blade designer to readily identify the critical impact location for peak dynamic loading condition during the bird-ingestion tests mandated for certification by the regulatory agencies.

This article presents a review of dynamic fracture studies on functionally graded materials. A brief literature review on the fracture mechanics of graded materials is presented first. This is followed by a discussion on the higher‐order asymptotic analysis of the transient elastic field surrounding the tip of a dynamically growing crack in a functionally graded material. A comprehensive experimental study of dynamic crack growth in model functionally graded material using the optical method of reflection photoelasticity and high‐speed photography is then presented. The results are analysed to establish a generalised relationship between the crack velocity and the dynamic mode‐I stress intensity factor (SIF). This relationship is found to be unique and is distinctly different from that previously established for the matrix material (polyester). Finally, an innovative experimental procedure is used to demonstrate the necessity of employing a fully transient stress‐field representation in the analysis of optical data for an accurate prediction of the dynamic SIF history.