Digitized measurements of the shape of corner cracks at fastener holes

Abstract This paper describes digitized profile measurements of fatigue cracks located at the corner of an open hole in a plate loaded in remote tension. The growth and transition of the initial corner crack into a through-the-thickness flaw is well documented. With this information, it is possible to compute crack growth rates along the flaw border, and to determine the shapes of “natural” fatigue cracks.