Author(s)

George A. Papadopoulos, Elen B. Bouloukou, Elen G. Papadopoulou

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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 isochro-matic 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).

Crack, Bi-Material, Photoelasticity, Isochromatic, Isopachic, FEA

G. Papadopoulos, E. Bouloukou and E. Papadopoulou, "Crack-Tip Stress Analysis at a Bi-Material Interface by Photoelastic, Isopachic and FEA," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 2 No. 8, 2011, pp. 1027-1032. doi: 10.4236/msa.2011.28139.