Strip model plasticity analysis of mixed mode crack opening displacement in aluminum alloy LY12

Under mixed mode loading, the crack tip blunts and undergoes displacements in two directions, the normal and shear component corresponding to Mode I and Mode II loading, respectively. These local displacements are determined by the duplicated film method and used to analyze the behavior of mixed mode fracture in aluminum alloy LY12. The mixed mode resultant crack opening displacement (COD) at fracture initiation tends to increase more rapidly with increase of the Mode II shear component. The fracture initiation value of COD for pure Mode II loading is six (6) times greater than that for Mode 1 loading. The same applies to the maximum effective plastic strain crack growth near the crack front. Observed are two typical morphologies, the equal-axes dimples and the parabolic dimples with evidence of slippage as dominated, respectively, by Mode I and Mode II loading.