An Experimental Study of CTOD for Mode I/Mode II Stable Crack Growth in Thin 2024-T3 Aluminum Specimens

An experimental study of crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) for Mode I/Mode II stable crack growth in thin sheet 2024-T3 aluminum has been conducted. To perform the experiments, an Arcan specimen and fixture was modified so that (1) slippage in the grips was eliminated, (2) large rotations of the fixture components were achievable and (3) bending stresses were minimized. Defining {Theta} to be the angle between the Mode I loading direction (perpendicular to the crack line) and the direction of applied loading, experimental results indicate that (a) for large amounts of crack extension, a {ge} 10mm, the value of CTOD at 1 mm behind the crack tip appears to approach a constant value of 0.1 mm for all modes of loading, (b) the direction of crack extension varied with applied mixed mode loading, (c) Mode I crack extension is predominant for 0{degree} {le} {Theta} {le} 60{degree}, (d) Mode II crack extension is predominant for 75{degree} {le} {Theta} {le} 90{degree} and (e) a transition zone exists for angles {Theta} near 75{degree}.