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Analysis Of Short Crack Growth In Particulate Composites, Ying Zhang, Tsuchin P. Chu, Ajay Mohan Mahajan, Chi Tsieh Liu

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

This paper presents the analysis of the short-crack propagation and growth in particulate composite materials by using the image correlation techniques and fracture mechanics theory. The fracture mechanics model for a long crack does not work very well with short-crack propagation when the initial crack length is less than 5.1 mm (0.2 inch). In order to investigate the short crack effect, a series of tests of particulate composite specimens with long and short cracks have been performed and the results were recorded on a video tape. These test data were analyzed to determine the strain fields near the crack tip, …