A new specimen for mixed mode I/II fracture of brittle and quasi-brittle materials

Abstract A new test configuration called Holed-Cracked Square Plate (HCSP) is proposed to investigate mixed mode I/II fracture of brittle and quasi-brittle materials. This specimen is a square plate containing a central hole and two radial cracks initiated from the circumference of the internal hole. The finite element method was used to calculate mode I, mode II intensity factors and T-stress for various crack lengths and hole diameters. The numerical results show that a full range of fracture mode mixities from pure mode I to pure mode II can be realized by changing the orientation angle of two radial cracks in this specimen. The simple geometry and loading set up of this specimen make it a good substitute for other fracture tests.