STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR AND COMPLIANCE SOLUTIONS FOR A SINGLE-EDGE NOTCHED SPECIMEN WITH CLAMPED ENDS

A single edge notched geometry [SE(T)] with clamped ends is well suite d for fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth testing of composite s. Closed form expressions for the stress intensity factor and the com pliance for an SE(T) with clamped ends were developed using finite ele ment analysis. Using these expressions, automated crack growth tests w ere conducted on a monolithic Ti-1100 and a [90]8 SCS-6/Ti-24Al-11Nb c omposite. The crack growth behavior, characterized in terms of the cra ck growth rate versus the applied stress intensity factor range, corre lated well with available data obtained using the compact tension geom etry. The results of this investigation indicate that the SE(T) geomet ry with clamped ends can be successfully used for fracture and fatigue crack growth testing of monolithic and composite specimens.