Determination of the crack-initiation and propagation conditions in a styrene-acrylonitrile water-filter housing with external ribs based on destructive pressure tests

Fatigue cracks were initiated during the operation of a water-filter housing made from styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN). Using a destructive pressure test, it was confirmed that the sharp transition between the wall and the vertical external ribs of the filter housing at the point of the increased external diameter is the critical area of the water-filter housing. This is a consequence of the stress concentration due to the combined action of the sharp edges of the vertical external ribs and the increased stiffness due to the thicker wall and the mounting of the upper part of the housing onto the filter head. During the destructive pressure tests a crack was initiated on the external surface in the same place and spread in the same direction as the fatigue crack during the operation of the water filter. At the critical point the actual loads due to the stress concentrator are approximately 3.2 times higher than that expected based on the water pressure in the pipeline. The tensile strength of the styrene-acrylonitrile from the water-filter housing was comparable with the literature data. The fracture toughness of styrene-acrylonitrile is low and comparable to the fracture toughness of polymethylmethacrylate. The critical crack depth for the occurrence of an uncontrolled rupture for a continuously increasing load is approximately 100 μm, while the plane-strain condition occurs at a thickness of about 1 mm. A rapidly growing crack in the wall tends to grow in a layer of plane-strain conditions, and from the internal- to the external-wall surface. The possibility of determining the fracture toughness with a destructive pressure test of the housing or a pressure vessel with an external surface stress concentrator was achieved.