2D mapping of plane stress crack-tip fields following an overload

Abstract

The evolution of crack-tip strain fields in a thin (plane stress) compact tension sample following an overload (OL) event has been studied using two different experimental techniques. Surface behaviour has been characterised by Digital Image Correlation (DIC), while the bulk behaviour has been characterised by means of synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD). The combination of both surface and bulk information allowed us to visualise the through-thickness evolution of the strain fields before the OL event, during the overload event, just after OL and at various stages after it. Unlike previous work, complete 2D maps of strains around the crack-tip were acquired at 60?m spatial resolution by XRD. The DIC shows less crack opening after overload and the XRD a lower crack-tip peak stress after OL until the crack has grown past the compressive crack-tip residual stress introduced by the overload after which the behaviour returned to that for the baseline fatigue response. While the peak crack-tip stress is supressed by the compressive residual stress, the crack-tip stress field changes over each cycle are nevertheless the same for all Kmax cycles except at OL.