Crack closure - is it just a surface phenomenon?

Abstract The fatigue crack closure response in the plane strain regions of a BS4360 50B steel specimen is evaluated. Compliance measurements using a new type of closure gauge, crack-mouth clip gauge and back face strain gauge show that the fatigue crack is closed for a significant portion (20%) of the load cycle. A sectioning technique is used to confirm that the fatigue crack is closed along the whole crack front, at zero load.