Photoelastic Investigation of Interaction Between Matrix Crack and Different Shapes of Inclusions
The interaction between different shapes of inclusions and the mode I matrix crack was studied experimentally using the photoelasticity method. First, the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the matrix crack tip in the neighborhood of the inclusions was derived based on transformation toughening theory and the Eshelby equivalent inclusion method. Then, photoelastic experiments were conducted using specimens with different shapes of inclusions, and the typical isochromatic fringe patterns around the crack tip near the inclusions were obtained. Finally, a numerical simulation was conducted for the same problem using ABAQUS, and the stress intensity factors computed from the finite element method were compared with the experimental results. The results show that the stress intensity factors extracted from isochromatic fringe patterns agree well with the numerical and theoretical results.