A FRACTURE-RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT METHOD FOR BIMATERIAL INTERFACES HAVING LARGE DEBOND ENERGY

Experimental results obtained for the DCDC specimen demonstrate its ca pabilities for measuring the mode I fracture energy, Gamma(i), of bima terial interfaces. Two specific characteristics have been highlighted. (i) For interfaces characterized by a steady-state, Gamma(i), the abi lity to obtain high-fidelity measurements over many millimeters of cra ck extension has been validated. The demonstrations have been made for glass/resin and sapphire/Au interfaces. Moreover, a concomitant abili ty to monitor interactions between the growing crack and the microstru cture, including interface defects, has been presented. (ii) For inter faces that have differing mechanisms of crack growth initiation and pr opagation, such as sapphire/Pt, an ability to distinguish the initiati on and arrest fracture energies has been illustrated. The correspondin g capacity to monitor the associated mechanisms by optical microscopy has also been demonstrated.