Test Geometries for Bondline Cracked Photoelastic Models: Preliminary Results

Abstract : By interrogating polyurethane specimens containing bondlines with cracks photoelastically, the authors are conducting a study of the effect of fixed ends upon the stress intensity factor (SIF) for double edge cracked specimens for test specimens of relatively short height. Preliminary results suggest that, while the presence of the bondline increases the SIF with increasing crack length, reducing the specimen height will reduce the SIF level for all crack lengths.