Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T21:51:17.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Interfacial Fracture Mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2011

John W. Hutchinson*
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Get access

Abstract

The mechanics of interface cracks has recently been clarified (e.g., [1]) and a number of efforts are underway to develop a mechanics of interface fracture with applications to composite materials, thin film/substrate systems, and coatings. An intrinsic feature of interfacial fracture is its mixed mode character wherein both shear and normal stresses act on the interface directly ahead of the crack. Depending on geometry and loading, the mixture of modes can range from purely normal stresses (mode I) to purely shear stresses (mode II). Toughness of an interface is characterized by critical combinations of mode I and mode II stress intensity factors (i.e., a locus of critical combinations) rather than just the single critical mode I stress intensity factor in the fracture of homogeneous materials. Equivalently, the critical energy release rate depends on the mode combination for interfacial fracture. Solutions are now available to the following problems: an interface crack in a layered structure where a very thin layer is sandwiched between two thick layers of different material [2], an interface crack between two layers of arbitrary thickness subject to arbitrary combinations of bending and stretching loads [3], and a crack in a substrate paralleling an interface between a thin film and the substrate driven by a variety of loadings including residual tension in the film [4]. These solutions can be used to analyze specimens for determining interfacial toughness and for predicting cracking in thin film or layered structures.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Rice, J. R., J. Appl. Mech. 55, 98 (1988).Google Scholar
[2] Suo, Z. and Hutchinson, J. W., “On sandwich test specimens for measuring interface crack toughness”, to be published in J. Materials Engng.Google Scholar
[3] Suo, Z. and Hutchinson, J. W., “Interface crack between two elastic layers”, to be published in Int. J. Fracture.Google Scholar
[4] Suo, Z. and Hutchinson, J. W., “Steady-state cracking in brittle substrates beneath adherent films” submitted to Int. J. Solids Struct.Google Scholar