Determining stress intensity factors of composites using crack opening displacement

The main purpose of this paper is to find the mixed-mode stress intensity factors of composite materials using the crack opening displacement (COD). First, a series solution of the composite material with a crack was used to evaluate COD values. Then, the least-squares method was used to calculate mixed-mode stress intensity factors. This algorithm can be applied to any method that generates or measures COD values. The major advantage of this method is that COD values very near the crack tip are not necessary. Both finite element simulations and laboratory experiments were applied to validate this least-squares method with acceptable accuracy if the even terms of the series solution are removed. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.