Open Access

ARTICLE

An Experimental Study on Crack Bifurcation by Optical Methods

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1 Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan

Structural Longevity 2012, 8(1), 7-14. https://doi.org/10.3970/sl.2012.008.007

Abstract

Two kinds of experiments are described on rapid crack bifurcation. One is static experiments with stationary bifurcated cracks. The static experiments demonstrate COD method that measures crack opening displacement, COD, to obtain stress intensity factor of bifurcated cracks. Moirè interferometry is used to measure COD. The other is dynamic experiments on bifurcation of fast propagating cracks. High-speed holographic microscopy is applied to take photographs of rapidly bifurcating cracks and to measure COD of the cracks. The measured CODs give the energy release rate of bifurcating cracks through the COD method developed in the static experiments. The experimental results say that energy release rate increases gradually and continuously across the bifurcation point.

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