Abstract
An investigation was undertaken into the interfacial crack kinking phenomena in a bimaterial specimen of epoxy and aluminum alloy using a combination of experimental method and numerical simulation. It was found that all kinked fractures occurred at loading angles equal to or larger than 120°, and this was attributed to the direction of the global shearing mode. Three categories of fracture pattern were identified (A, B and C). In the case of type A fracture, the (J_1^0)_<kink> integrals were generally higher than the homogeneous epoxy J_<ic> at loading angles of 120° and above. In contrast, for types B and C fracture, the J_1^0 integrals were consistently lower than the homogeneous epoxy J_<ic>. Predictions of crack kinking behavior made using the Maximum Energy Release Rate Criterion (MG-criterion) were found to agree well with the observed experimental results.
