FATIGUE CRACK PROPAGATION IN BIAXIAL STRESS FIELDS

Abstract

Abstract Biaxial tension-compression fatigue tests were conducted with cruciform shaped specimens in a closed-loop servo hydraulic testing machine. The effects of static and cyclic non-singular stresses acting parallel to the crack plane on the crack growth rate are discussed based on the experimental observations of crack opening behaviour and fractography. Those non-singular stresses did affect the growth rate significantly under certain conditions. The range of crack-tip opening displacement was found to be a better parameter in correlating the growth rate than the stress intensity range or its effective range. The rate tended to increase with increasing non-singular stress which is correlated to the opening displacement range. This tendency was explained by the shift of fracture mechanisms to a more brittle type due to a higher elevation of hydrostatic stress near the crack tip for the case of a larger non-singular stress term.