This short review is devoted to recent advances in the characterization of cracks in various stages of development. This process is now termed “quantitative nondestructive evaluation” (QNDE). If indications of some anomaly appear, the inspection is concentrated on these locations and, if the response verifies the presence of a flaw, the size, shape, orientation of the flaw and the potential for future growth of the flaws are determined. Most inspections today are performed in a scanning mode. With these parameters and the magnitude of the applied stress, the driving force on the crack can be calculated by determining the stress intensity factor K or the stress intensity range Δ K.
To determine precisely how detrimental the crack actually is, one must characterize several crack parameters, particularly the location, size, shape, and orientation with respect to the applied stress. Although cracks in structural components are, in general, highly undesirable, not all of them are detrimental to the life of the structure.
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