Energy Release Rate Evaluation of Bi-material Interface Cracks

Fracture analysis of crack growth in between two material interfaces (different engineering materials) is one of the challenging tasks in the engineering field. In the present investigation, different properties of bi-material are considering to study the damage-tolerant design and analysis of fracture mechanics. A double cantilever beam (DCB) with a bi-material crack is considered for analysis. In FEM, specifically a post-processing command virtual crack closure technique (VCCT) is used for evaluation of mixed mode energy release rate of bi-material interface cracks. Validation of obtained results is done with a benchmark problem in the literature. Then parametric studies have been conducted on four different material combinations for a range of crack length and height of the beam. The results generated will be useful for assessing structural integrity.