paper-72Paper-PBP-FEA-JMBM.doc.docVIP

CRACK-TIP STRESS ANALYSIS AT A BI-MATERIAL INTERFACE G. A. Papadopoulos1, E. B. Bouloukou1 and E.G. Papadopoulou2 1National Technical University of Athens, Department of Engineering Science, Section of Mechanics, 5 Heroes of Polytechniou St., GR-157 73, Zografou campus, Athens, Greece. E-mail: gpad@central.ntua.gr 2National Technical University of Athens, Department of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy, Laboratory of physical Metallurgy. 9Iroon Polytechniou Str., Zografou GR15780,?Athens, Greece. E-mail: papadel@central.ntua.gr ABSTRACT The paper investigates the stress state at the bi-material interface crack-tip by the Photoelastic and Isopachic methods and the Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The principal stresses at the bi-material interface crack-tip are theoretically determined using the combination photoelastic and isopachic fringes. The size and the shape of crack-tip isochromatic and isopachic fringes, at a bi-material interface under static load, are studied. When the crack-tip, which is perpendicular to interface, is placed at the interface of the bi-material, the isochromatic and the isopachic fringes depend on the properties of the two materials. Thus, the isochromatic and the isopachic fringes are divided into two branches, which present a jump of values at the interface. The size of the two branches mainly depends on the elastic modulus and the Poisson’ s ratio of the two materials. From the combination of the isochromatic and the isopachic fringes, the principal stresses σ1 and σ2 can be estimated and the contour curves around the crack-tip can be plotted. For the FEA analysis, the program ANSYS 11.0 was used. The bi-material cracked plates were made from Lexan (BCBA) and Plexiglas (PMMA). Keywords: crack, bi-material, photoelasticity, isochromatic, isopachic, FEA INTRODUCTION The study of the behaviour of a transverse crack propagating through the mesophase of composites has become a subject of great interest. The problem of crack propagati