AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF INTERFACIAL CRACK KINKING

The growth of a crack located at the interface between two linearly el astic solids is investigated experimentally. It is found that the crac k may advance by kinking into either of the adherends or by propagatin g along the interface itself, depending on the applied loading conditi ons. The experimentally observed kinking behavior is compared with ana lytical results. Agreement between these results is improved by suitab le manipulation of a presumably material characteristic crack-extensio n length, the origin of which is rooted in the linearized analysis. Th e influence of material rate effects on the crack-kinking behavior is also investigated.