The Max Flaw Size Component | Lightweight Utility

Overview

The Max Flaw Size component is based on a line on the Flaw Height vs Flaw Length chart, as shown here:

The line is input as a list of points. There are three rules:

For the first point, the value for Flaw Length must be 0
For the final point, the value for Flaw Height must be 0
No line segment may have a positive slope

The Max Flaw Size component takes an initial flaw and compares it with the Max Flaw Size line. If the initial flaw is below the line, the result is Acceptable. If it is above the line, the result is Not Acceptable. The final flaw is the initial flaw, as there is no flaw growth.

Example Application of the Max Flaw Size Component

End Of Life Fracture: As described in the article for the Group component, any number of Fracture components can be created, each representing an event of interest, and added to a Group component. The Material ECA Solver can be run on the Group component to produce a list of critical flaws. These can be processed, as described in the article for the Solver and used to create a Max Flaw Size component. Using this in a Chain component instead of the Group and Fracture components can reduce complexity and improve computational speed. It also allows the Solver results to be processed to address non-unique solutions or add custom limits, as desired.

Creating a New Max Flaw Size Component

A Max Flaw Size component is created the same way other components are created. From the Components page, click the tile with the plus (+) sign. In the Add New Component form, select “Max Flaw Size”, add a name and description, and click Save. The newly created Max Flaw Size component is available on the Components page. Click it to open it.

Input the following the desired Geometry Type and units to use for the max flaw size line (mm or inches). Next add the points that make up Max Flaw Size line. Each point must be on each row. Each row must have two values: flaw height followed by flaw length. The two numbers must be separated be either a comma, space, tab, or any combination of the these.