Fatigue crack growth

measurement in a CSM
composite using compliance and
Moire techniques
C.R. WACHNICKIand J.C. RADON

In the present work fatigue crack growth tests under constant load
conditions were carried out on centre-notched biaxial specimens in
order to measure the effects of load biaxiality in air and also in a dilute
acidic environment. Initially a compliance calibration technique was
used to determine the effective crack length so as to overcome
difficulties connected with visual measurement and to present the
fatigue results on a fracture mechanics basis when using conventional
stress intensity factors. However, the compliance method becomes
unreliable when the biaxiality factor is large or the crack length small,
so the Moire fringe technique was used to provide a method
independent of biaxiality and probably of the usual environmental
effects. Measurement of the fringe separation allowed the crack length
to be determined, while dislocations in the fringe pattern showed the
crack opening mode. The merits of the two techniques were compared
and assessed using the Paris law relationship, based on conventional
fracture mechanics.

Key words: composite materials; fatigue testing; fatigue crack

growth; environmental testing; biaxiality ratio; compliance technique;
Moire technique

Real materials do not exhibit linear elastic behaviour
near the tip of a flaw under load. Consequently a
plastic zone develops at the crack tip to accommodate
the crack tip opening. This form of inelastic yielding
at the crack tip, such as plastic flow in metals, has the
function of partially relaxing the high local stresses
and partially absorbing facture energy. In the present
study, the glass-reinforced plastic material under
investigation showed a limited capacity for plastic flow,
and the yielding at the crack tip was observed to take
the form of a damage zone. This damage zone is a
region of crack growth extending from the tips of a
pre-cut centre notch (CN), consisting of subcritical
cracks oriented along the interface between the glass
fibres and matrix all around the main crack. This
makes the direct measurement of crack length very
difficult because it is not always clear whether the
aligned fibres within the damage zone have either
broken or pulled out, or where the crack tip can be
located within the thickness of the specimen.
The present work is part of a programme to study
corrosive environmental fatigue crack propagation in a
glass fibre-reinforced plastic under biaxial stress. The
framework of the analysis is that of conventional
fracture mechanics, so that a relationship is sought
between the crack growth rate, da/dN, and the stress
intensity factor range, AK. As fatigue crack
propagation governs the failure of the composite
material, the analysis of the fracture phenomenon
requires accurate measurement of the running crack
behaviour. Two methods are proposed for making
crack measurements - - one, compliance and the other,
a Moir6 fringe technique - - to circumvent difficulties
observed in direct measurement of crack length in
composite materials. A compliance technique has been
developed to determine an equivalent crack length
which includes a plastic zone correction, using
expressions derived from fracture mechanics. The
Moir6 fringe method enables an accurate crack length
measurement, described in the following paragraphs.
No plastic zone correction was made for the Moir6
technique, as plastic flow ahead of the crack tip would
have been observed as distortion in the fringe pattern.

0010-4361/84/030211-06 $03.00 © 1984 Butterworth Et Co (Publishers) Ltd.

COMPOSITES. VOLUME 15. NO 3. JULY 1984 211
Table 1. Composition of laminates studied resin catalysed with 4 g of benzoyl peroxide (Lucidol
CM50) and 0.3 cm 3 of dimethylaniline accelerator per
Composition 100 cm 3 of resin. Twenty-hours after moulding the
specimen was post-cured for 3 h at 80°C. The specimen
CSM reinforcement Polyester resin - - Atlac blanks were then machined to the dimensions presen-
382-05A, unsaturated polyester ted in Fig. 1, which shows a modified CN biaxial test-
resin/styrene ratio = 5 0 / 5 0 % piece of 3.5 mm nominal thickness, designed to mini-
Accelerator- Dimethylaniline in mize interaction between two orthogonaUy applied
solution, dimethylaniline/styrene loads. This design is the fourth of a seres of such
ratio = 1 0 / 9 0 %, 0.3 c m 3 of specimens initiated by a previous photoelastic
solution per 100 cm 3 of resin investigation) which showed that this interaction varied
Catalyst - - Lucidol CH50, from 1 to 3% over a load biaxiality range of 0 < B < 2.
benzoyl peroxide powder, 4 g
per 1 O0 cm 3 of resin A horizontal testing machine of an electro-hydraulic
type, cycling from zero to a maximum load amplitude
Surface tissue 2 layers of C-glass tissue per of 30 kN for a cyclic frequency range of 0.1 to 1 Hz,
specimen was used to perform the fatigue tests. This rig2 is based
Reinforcement 4 layers of powder bound CSM, on a double acting actuator, dividing a single uniaxial
TBA Mat 80, each layer force into two orthogonal components of known and
containing 450 g m -2 controllable magnitude. Biaxiality ratios from B = 0 to
reinforcement 4 may be achieved by suitable adjustment of linkages
and levers.
Specimens Glass contents = --- 37% by
weight, total reinforcement Fatigue tests were carried out at a constant load range,
content = 1.8 kg m -2 AP, and biaxiality factor, B, until fracture in two
different environments; air at 20°C and 50% relative
humidity, and 5% sulphuric acid solution at 20°C, for
B = 0 and 1 in each environment. The stress ratio
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE equivalent to Kmin/Kma x and the constant load range
rate, dP/dt, was maintained at 0.1 and 5 kN sec-L The
The cruciform specimens for fatigue testing were
cyclic frequency, f, was related to the load range rate by
individually moulded using the 'hand lay-up technique,
f = 2.5/dP Hz. For the acidic environment fatigue tests,
the laminates being impregnated with a powder bound
a chamber was constructed using a rubber 'O' ring and
E-glass fibre from TBA Company Limited, in a
polyethylene terephthalate film sealed together with
chopped strand mat (CSM) reinforcement, see Table 1.
silicone rubber to both sides of the specimen as shown
The resin used was an ICI 'Atlac' 282-05A bisphenol
in Fig. 1. The dilute acid was introduced into the
chamber using a hypodermic syringe via an aperture in
the top section.
The compliance method 3 was used to determine the
270 effective crack length, 2a, in relation to the biaxial CN
_
95 -I
specimen compliance. Araldite knife edges were
72 attached to the specimen surface with araldite adhe-
sive, as stress raisers could be formed using a bolt-on
i i , , ; ;, type of knife edge in the biaxial mode. The biaxial
specimen was positioned in the test system and the
clip-gauge and the associated instrumentation con-
nected and balanced as shown in Fig. 2. The
experimental determination of compliance was made
by extending a slot in the specimen by a small amount
B~--
- - ~ S l i t s
, I I I 45mmlong
2.4 mm wide
20 mm apart
Clamped I
actuator ""~lJ II Clip gauge I.. I,. J,.
region

305
Ar~ldite knife edges
/ubber '0' rings

I![[[I Coad
/t ~
i --

\
Melinex sheet
=

~
Fig. 1 Biaxial fatigue specimen geometry with side profile of
environmental chamber Fig. 2 Test system used with biaxial fatigue specimen

212 COMPOSITES. JULY 1984

 does not exhibit a sudden yielding, and corresponds to
o B=O / the stress at which resin cracking becomes a maxi-
40C o B=I /
z~B=2
mum. The modified crack half-length, am ---- a + ry, was
E plotted against the number of cycles, N, in Figs 4-7,
and subsequently used in further calculations of da/dN
E 30C
E and AK.
e The Moir6 technique gives an alternative method of
~2OC measuring crack length by providing a precise location
of crack opening at the crack tip. Crack opening is
E observed in the form of clockwise and counter-
~) 10C clockwise rotations of Moire fringes in the vicinity of
the crack tip. Deformation of the Moir6 fringe field
ol 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
5O
Crack l e n g t h , 2 a ( m m )
• Moir6, t
Fig. 3 Compliance calibration curves for B = 0, 1 and 2 ,~ 4 5

with a fine fret saw, then measuring the displacement

per unit of applied load for each crack half-length, a.
Calibration curves for biaxiality ratios B ---- 0, 1 and 2
are shown in Fig. 3, where the compliance, ~b, is
defined as the result of crack opening displacement 2s
times specimen thickness divided by a corresponding
load increment. The crack length can be calculated ~ 2o
and plotted as a function of the number of cycles, N,
from which the crack growth rate may be determined 15
by graphical differentiation. 1 1 I I I I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The damage z o n e observed in the fatigue tests Number of cycles, Nx 10 3
represents the crack and the debonded fibres around it. Fig. 5 Crack length vs number of cycles for specimen in 5 % H2SO 4 with
Yielding has been observed ahead of the crack in the B=I
form of a 'whitening zone' in the CSM layers of the
composite. This was very evident at net gross stresses
corresponding to the resin cracking stress of the 4~
• Moir~
composite obtained from its stress/strain curve. These q
o Compliance
'intense energy' regions beyond the damage zone were E 4c
similar to plastic flow patterns observed in metals. ~3
Therefore it was assumed that the use of a plastic
correction factor was justified for use with the
compliance method. The plastic zone at the crack tip
-~ 3c
has been characterized by Irwin ~ for conditions of
plane stress with a radius ry: u
~ 2e
T
ry = Kl2/2rrtrys2.
2C
Here the yield stress, ~rys = 52.7 MPa, is defined as the I I I I I I I I I
12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
stress given by the 0.2% off-set stress, as the composite N u m b e r of cycles, NxlO 3

Fig. 6 Crack length vs number of cycles for specimen in air at 2 0 ° C with

50 B=O

• Moir~
45
o Compliance 45 • Moir~
o Compliance
vE 4 0
40

5 35
35
r
3O
3O
u 25 U
T 25
2O
v7 v= w
15 20~ I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I 18 2O 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Number of cycles,NxlO 3 N u m b e r of cycles, N x l O 3

Fig. 4 Crack length vs number of cycles for specimen in 5 % H2SO 4 with Fig. 7 Crack length vs number of cycles for specimen in air at 2 0 ° C with
B=O B=I

COMPOSITES . JULY 1984 213

 in the region of the crack tip explains local yielding
and is taken into account in the crack length measure-
ment, deeming the use of ry as unnecessary.
For the Moir6 fringe method, orthogonal gratings of
500 lines per inch were used, supplied by Graticules
Limited in the form of a film deposited on an acetate
base. The gratings were cut to an appropriate size and
coated with a Loctite strain gauge cement and then
attached to the specimen. When the adhesive had
cured the protective backing was stripped off so that
the gratings were then ready to use. A second grating of
the same pitch was superimposed on the fLxed grating
producing an interference pattern due to the mis-
alignment of the gratings. Assuming that the specimen
and reference gratings are coincident before deforma-
tion, the Moir6 fringes represent the loci of points of
constant displacement. If there are no cracks present,
the Moir6 fringes are straight continuous bands, the
displacement field being a single-valued function.
During a fatigue test the development of a crack
disrupts the fringe patterns causing local kinks because
displacement is not single valued at the crack opening
tip. By adjusting the rotational mismatch between the
specimen and reference gratings, crack visibility can be
increased because a greater number of fringes can be
exhibited. To help in the measurement of the crack
length, a measuring grid graduated in miUimetres was
fLxed to one face of the specimen 5 mm below the
crackline and along it. Location of the crack tip using
Moir6 fringes on this grid (Letraset Letratone type
T159) was judged to be accurate to ___0.1 mm or better
when corrected by grid calibration. Figs 4-7 show
where the constants C and m (see Table 2) are determined
from constant crack growth data of specimens cycled at
a constant load range in steady-state fatigue growth.
It may be noted that Owen and Bishop 9 published a
value of 12.75 for the exponent m for a similar CSM
reinforced composite which is very close to the present
value of 13.61. There is a great variation in the value of
the exponent for all materials; 6.4 for a plain-weave
fabric-reinforced polyester resin (Owen and Bishop)
and 24 for a 181-style fabric-reinforced polyester
(Mandell), and a comparative analysis of published
data is in preparation.
The fatigue cycle is described by AK = (gma x - - Kmin);
Kma x and Kmi n represent the opening mode stress
intensity factors calculated from the maximum and
minimum stresses measured during the fatigue cycle
for an appropriate stress ratio, R.
The environmental fatigue crack growth results under
biaxial stress are shown in Figs 8 and 9, and analysis
of the data shows that a unique relationship exists
between log (da/dN) and log (AK) for the two tests in
air and in an acidic environment. The results also
show fairly good agreement between Moir6 and
compliance data for the conditions tested.
n
o a Compliance dote •
• • Moir# dote o QB
O

.crack data.
1 0 -1 o0 o
Fracture mechanics concepts were applied in analysing o •
the crack propagation data obtained from the fatigue u
tests, as the stress intensity factor, KI, has been used o
\ • G
successfully to describe the behaviour of cracks in E o

composite materials? Irwin's tangent formula was used E

5% H2SO4 o •
ld 2
in the form: o • Q
% •

z ~ = Ao Wtan ~ - (1) Q

o o• Air, 20"C
1 0 -3
where A~r is the cyclic stress range and W the o •

specimen width, nominally 120 mm.

O

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

O
It is usual to express fatigue crack growth results as a 10"
log (da/dN) versus log (AK) curve using the ParAs
relationship: ~
I I I° I I I I I I I I
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ~01~2~3
da = C(Z~(,)rn (2) Log (AK/MPa[~)
dN Fig, 8 T h e relationship b e t w e e n log ( d a / d N ) and log ( A K ) f o r B = 0

Table 2. Comparison of values of C end m derived from Moir~ and compliance methods

Specimen B Environment Moire Compliance

number
m C m C

SP25 0 5% H2SO 4 4.76 1.849 x 105 5.03 1.632 x 10 -6

SP24 1 5% H2SO 4 4.41 1.947 x 105 4.36 1.901 x 10 -5
SP30 0 Air, 20°C 14.07 3.092 x 10 -15 13.61 7.119 x l 0 -15
SP31 1 Air, 20"C 13.46 9.613 x 10 -15 13.42 1.353 x 10 -14

The units of C are derived f r o m da/dN in m m cycle -1 and f r o m A K in M P a v t m

214 COMPOSITES . JULY 1984

 o=
The initial portion of the curve varies from specimen
to specimen depending on the degree of warp in the
o test-piece, a feature of the moulding process. However
o o Compliance data in fatigue testing for R = 0.1, this effect is insignificant
• • Moir~ data
o as the specimen is kept fiat for the complete test. The
relatively high value of location parameter was used so
10"1 o0
that compliance curves for large biaxiality factors
could be obtained without encountering negative
e o
deflections due to the Poisson effect. The drawback of
o
u
having a large D is t h a t the compliance curves are
\ o shallow for low values of crack length, inducing
E
5"/. H2SO 40 O accuracy errors of 9% for B = 0 and 14% for B = h the
IO-~ oo errors reduce to 4% for large values of crack length at
\
Q Q
0 ° •
B = 0 and 1.
a
\
oe° Air, 20"C Moire crack measurement is most easily
oo •
o Q Q accomplished by observing the movement of the
jO 10-3
o0 fringes during a fatigue cycle, see Fig 11. As the top
o
and bottom parts of the crack are moving in opposite
directions, the fringes associated with the two sides of
the crack are also moving in opposite directions. The
crack tip can be located where the clockwise and
o
counter-clockwise fringe movements coincide. The
ld 4
o

I I ~ I I I I I I I I
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1213
Log (AK/MPa ~-~ )
Fig. 9 The relationship between log (da/dN) and log (AK) for B = 1

Experimental calibrations (Fig. 3) were made relating

the elastic compliance to the crack half-length for
3.5 m m nominal thickness biaxial CN specimens. A
displacement clip-gauge, accurate to within 1% of the
displacement range, was used for displacement
measurements at a D = 0.25 location centred on the
crack line. D = e/W, where e is the separation between
knife edges. The experimentally measured compliance
data were determined from measurements of deflection Fig. 1 1 Crack in a composite specimen depicted by Moire fringe patterns
vs applied load slopes; examples are given in Fig. 10. for B = 1 in 5% H2SO4, showing millimetre scale

0.25 0.25 0.25

.20- ~ 0.2C

"~- 0.15 - 0.15 0.1E

0.10 - 0.1C

O.OE
0"05I
Warp effect
True Je
origin
O 2 4 2 6 4 6 0 0 2 4 6
Load, P(kN)
Fig. 10 Deflection vs applied load curves for: (a) B = 0, a = 20.7 mm; (b) B = 1, a = 23.1 mm; (c) B = 2, a = 26.4 mm

COMPOSITES . JULY 1984 215

accuracy of measurement is directly related to the pitch
of the grating (0.0508 mm) with an overall accuracy of
+_ 0.1 mm constant over the entire usable crack path
length. A stereo microscope of 8 times magnification
was used to observe the fringes by transmitted light so
that the whole test area could be observed. A 35 times
attachment was occasionally used to observe more
detailed information in the immediate vicinity of the
crack tip. The environmental tests did cause some
minor problems; the air and liquid gap between the
two contact gratings reduced fringe contrast and the
differences in refractive index of air and aqueous
environment caused distortion in the fringe pattern.
Analysis of the fatigue data has been discussed
elsewhere in terms of environmental 7 and biaxialitys
effects. The appearance of the fracture surfaces of
specimens from the dilute acid and air tests was found
to be strikingly different; specimens tested in air
displayed significant fibre pull-out over the whole
surface area, whereas the surface of the slow crack
growth region of specimens fatigued in an acid
environment showed little sign of fibre pull-out giving
a glassy appearance to the fracture surface. The reason
for this lack of pull-out was attributed to chemical
attack of the fibres by acid which, in conjunction with
the mechanically applied cyclic stress, caused the fibres
to fail along their length, effectively eliminating their
reinforcing properties. A modified crack length with a
correction factor was u s e d , as the environment only
affected the progress of the damage zone growth and
not the yielding within the laminate at the crack tip.
The interesting difference between the two methods of
crack measurement is the discrepancy in the magni-
tude of the crack length. The underestimation of crack
length by the compliance technique can be partly
explained by the mechanisms of fibre bridging and
fibre pull-out, thus holding the crack faces together
and reducing the compliance, and therefore the crack
length. However, the biaxiality effect is not explained
unless stress biaxiality reduces the plastic zone size, on
the assumption that the applied biaxial stresses simply
modify the uniaxial yield strength of the composite.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the variation in crack length magnitude
between the Moir6 and compliance methods, the
fatigue crack growth data show good agreement and
the exponent m varies less than 5% for any particular
test. Both methods have a unique approach to the
problem of crack measurement in composite materials.
216
The Moir6 fringe method is independent of
biaxiality, specimen geometry and loading conditions
and measures the physical dimensions of the crack.
The compliance method, on the other hand, although
more cumbersome to use, takes into account
reinforcement geometry and biaxiality and gives an
equivalent crack length based on the energy release
rate of the composite material.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the support received by ICI
Limited.
REFERENCES
1 Waehnicld, C.R. and Radon, J.C. 'Photoelastic study of two
biaxial stress fracture specimens' Proc ECF2, Darmstadt, FRG
(VDI, Dusseldorf, 1979) pp 36-64
2 Leevers, P.S., Radon, J.C. and Culver, L.E. 'Crack growth in
plastic panels under biaxial stress"Polymer 17 (1976)
pp 627-632
3 Irwin, G.R. and Kies, J.A. 'Critical energy analysis of fracture
strength' WeldingJ Suppl 33 (1954) pp 1935-1985
4 Irwin,G.R. 'Fracture mode transition for a crack traversing a
plate' Trans ASME, J Basic Engng 82 (1960) p 417
5 Owen, M.J. and Rose, R.G. 'The fracture toughness and
crack propagation properties of polyester resin casts and
laminates' J Phys D: Appl Phys 6 (1973) pp 42-53
6 Paris, P.C. and Erdogan, F. 'A critical analysis of crack
propagation laws' TransASME, JBasic Engng 85 (1963) pp
528-534
7 Radon, J.C. and Waehnieki, C.R. 'Fatigue damage in glass
reinforced plastics' Int Conf on FractureMechanics Technology,
Melbourne, Australia, August 1982 in press
8 Radon, J.C. and Wachnicki, C.R. 'Biaxial fatigue of fibre
reinforced polyester resin' Int Symposium on Biaxial/
Multiaxial Fatigue', San Francisco, CA, USA, 15-17 December
1982 (American Society for Testing and Materials)
9 Owen,M.J. and Bishop, P.T. 'Crack growth relationships for
glass-reinforced plastics and their application to design' J
Phys D: Appl Phys 7 (1975) pp 1214-1226
AUTHORS
The authors are with the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Imperial College of Science and
Technology, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2BX, UK.
Inquiries should be directed to Dr Radon.
COMPOSITES . J U L Y 1 9 8 4