Designing a simple and suitable laboratory test specimen for investigating the general mixed mode I/II/III fracture problem

Abstract

A novel test specimen was designed for experimental investigations of pure and mixed mode fracture. This novel test configuration is called “modified edge notched disc bend” (M-ENDB) specimen. The M-ENDB specimen has a circular disc shape with an edge crack along its diameter that is loaded using asymmetric three-point bending. Different fracture parameters including: stress intensity factors (SIFs), geometry factors, T-stress, biaxiality ratio (BR), and out-of-plane constraint factor (Tz) were determined for the suggested disc bend specimen using the extensive finite element (FE) analyses. According to the obtained results, the proposed specimen can present all combinations of mode mixities, including pure modes I, II, and III as well as mixed-mode I/II, I/III, and I/II/III deformations. Afterwards, a large number of pure and mixed-mode fracture toughness experiments were carried out on polyurethane (PUR) foam to examine the capabilities of the suggested M-ENDB specimen. Fracture path, fracture surface, fracture toughness, work of fracture, and critical T-stress of broken foams under general mixed mode conditions were investigated. Mixed mode I/II/III fracture toughness value was smaller than the pure mode I fracture toughness (KIc) value showing the weakness of brittle materials against multi-axial fracture compared to pure tensile type fracture.