Advances in fatigue crack closure measurement and analysis: Second volume. ASTM special technical publication 1343

The discovery of the phenomenon of plasticity-induced fatigue crack closure by Elber was truly a landmark event in the study of fatigue crack growth (FCG) and the development of practical engineering methods for fatigue life management. Subsequent research identified other contributing mechanisms for crack closure, including crack surface roughness and oxide debris. Fatigue crack closure is now understood to be an intrinsic feature of crack growth behavior that must be considered to understand or treat many FCG problems, although closure may not be an issue in all problems and does not always provide a complete explanation of crack growth behavior. As the thirtieth anniversary of the Elber discovery approached, the strong, continuing international interest in crack closure prompted the organization of another ASTM symposium. An international audience numbering over sixty-five persons heard thirty papers contributed by authors from twelve different countries, with more than half of the papers originating from outside the United States. This STP volume contains peer-reviewed manuscripts for twenty-seven of those presentations, plus one peer-reviewed paper that could not be presented at the symposium. Topics covered are: Fundamental Studies; Experimental Characterization of Closure; Load History Effects; Surface Roughness Effects; and Closure Effects on Crack Behavior. Separate abstractsmore » were prepared for all 28 papers.« less