Dynamic crack propagation in transparent functionally graded material
Abstract
Transparent graded materials were used to investigate the steady state and transient crack propagation in a functionally graded material. A transparent graded material was fabricated using two different materials systems of polymer resin, which were cast using a special mold; to give continuously graded properties along the crack propagation direction. High-speed digital photography combined with photoelasticity technique was used to record the full-field stress data around the propagating crack. By analyzing the photoelastic fringe patterns the dynamic stress intensity factor and propagation velocity of the crack tip were obtained. Experiments were also done with FGMs where the properties were graded through thickness direction. Similar techniques were used for fabrication and analysis of the dynamic fracture behavior of thickness graded FGMs.