Statistical modeling of crack growth and reliability assessment of high-density polyethylene

In this work, a statistical evaluation of the crack-growth process in high- density polyethylene (HDPE) was carried out. The specimens were compression molded from virgin, molding-grade HDPE. Edge-notched specimens for replica te fatigue testing were prepared from compression-molded sheets. Fatigue te st results were then analyzed, and it is shown that if the crack-growth pro cess can be characterized as a random process following a power-law-type be havior, then the time to reach a critical crack length will be distributed according to an inverted lognormal model.