Kaveh Samadian

A strain-based approach to study interaction between non-coplanar through-thickness edge notches

Structural integrity assessment procedures to assess the effect of interaction between multiple adjacent flaws normally consist of two stages. First, alignment rules categorize non-coplanar flaws as aligned or non-aligned. Second, combination rules classify aligned flaws as interacting or non-interacting. Although these criteria are applied to different failure modes like brittle fracture, elastic–plastic fracture and plastic collapse, most of them were developed based on linear elastic fracture mechanics for the sake of simplicity. However, there are very limited references available for the technical background of these criteria. This lack of justifying backgrounds becomes more critical when applying these procedures to any other failure modes other than brittle fracture. This article studies the interaction between non-coplanar edge notches in scenarios of large deformation. Hereto, strain patterns are studied through full-field deformation measurements utilizing both experimental and numerical tools. Digital image correlation is used to measure strain during experiments and to verify the finite element analyses. The results show that in addition to the crack driving force, which represents a local response of notches, the global strain distribution within the specimen in terms of strain patterns can be used to probe the interaction between non-coplanar flaws. The authors suggest a novel criterion based on the trajectory of maximum equivalent strain to distinguish between aligned and non-aligned flaws. This study is based on double-edge notched tension specimens and gives a fundamental insight into flaw interaction in failure modes other than brittle fracture.

Using 3D Digital Image Correlation (3D-DIC) to Measure CTOD in a Semi-Elliptical Surface Crack

The subsurface nature of Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) makes its direct measurement very difficult, if not impossible. During fracture toughness testing, CTOD is commonly calculated by applying a plastic hinge model using externally applied clip gauges. However, clip gauge CTOD calculations merely provide information relating to the center of the defect (which is typically the most critical point, but not always). For the case of a finite-length surface defect, CTOD will be variable over the defect front. Exact knowledge of CTOD over the entire front is useful for detailed calculations, such as crack profile evolution due to ductile tearing or calculations involving interacting defects. To experimentally measure the CTOD at locations other than the center of the crack, the authors propose a technique based on full field three-dimensional profile measurement of the notched surface by means of stereoscopic Digital Image Correlation (3D-DIC). The method is based on the plastic hinge model assuming that the crack flanks rotate in a rigid manner around a plastic hinge point in the un-cracked ligament. Having measured full-field out-of-plane displacement at the surface of the specimen around the crack using the 3D-DIC method, CTOD can be inferred over the entire crack front. Results show that, due to the acceptable agreement between the DIC based calculation and CTOD measured from cast replicas, the proposed technique has a sufficient accuracy to measure CTOD on the entire crack front in plastically deforming specimens.