Int J Fract (2013) 181:155–161

DOI 10.1007/s10704-013-9830-7 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

LETTERS IN FRACTURE AND MICROMECHANICS

INVESTIGATION OF MIXED MODE I/II BRITTLE FRACTURE USING

ASCB SPECIMEN

Radu Negru, Liviu Marsavina, Hannelore Filipescu, Niculai Pasca

POLITEHNICA University of Timisoara, Department of Mechanics and Strength
of Materials, Blvd. M. Viteazu, No. 1,Timisoara 300222, Romania
e-mail: msvina@mec.upt.ro

Abstract. Using the asymmetric semi-circular bend specimen (ASCB) with

vertical crack, a series of mixed mode I/II fracture tests were performed on two
different rigid polyurethanes materials. The experimental results obtained for
brittle fracture are compared with the theoretical predictions based on MTS and
SED criteria. The results demonstrate that the SED criterion gives better results
for mode II loading conditions, while for mode I and predominantly mode I both
criteria are accurate.
Keywords: ASCB specimen, mixed mode I/II, brittle fracture.
1. Introduction. Brittle mixed mode fracture is a frequently mode of failure in
engineering materials and components containing cracks and defects. Many
different fracture criteria were proposed for mixed mode I/II fracture investigation,
in order to determine the critical conditions at which a crack will initiate. Erdogan
and Sih (1963) have formulated the maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion,
which was generalized by Smith et al. (2001) by taking into account the influence
of the non-singular T-stress. The minimum strain energy density (SED) criterion
introduced by Sih (1974) is another criterion, which has received researchers
attention. Several different types of specimens were used in experiments. Thus,
Mahajan and Ravi-Chandar (1989) have conducted their study on PMMA and
Homalite-100 employing a center-cracked panel specimen. Aliha and Ayatollahi
(2012) have analyzed the fracture initiation angle in some ceramics using the
cracked Brazilian disc specimen. Introduced by Chong and Kuruppu (1984) for
testing mode I fracture toughness, the semi-circular bend specimen (SCB) with
angled-crack was also employed by Ayatollahi and Aliha (2006) to the fracture
behaviour investigation of rock materials. Recently, Ayatollahi et al. (2011) have
proposed the ASCB specimen with vertical crack for study of mixed mode brittle
fracture on PMMA. Taking into account the advantages of the ASCB specimen
(Ayatollahi et al., 2011) the experimental tests reported in this paper employ this
type of specimen.
Mixed mode fracture behavior for two types of rigid polyurethanes was
investigated based on MTS and SED criteria. The elastic modulus E and the
ultimate tensile strength σu were determined by tensile testing, resulting the
following average values: E = 3340 [MPa], σu = 49.75 [MPa] for Necuron 1020

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and E = 1250 [MPa], σu = 17.40 [MPa] for Necuron 651. In addition, the
Poisson’s ratio values were found through the impulse excitation technique: Ȟ =
0.34 for Necuron 1020 and Ȟ = 0.30 for Necuron 651.
2. Asymmetric Semi-Circular Bend (ASCB) Specimen. The geometry and the
loading configuration of ASCB specimen with the crack perpendicular to the flat
edge are shown in Fig. 1. The mixed mode I/II fracture conditions are obtained by
keeping fixed the distance xs1 to the support S1 and varying the distance xs2 to the
support S2. Moreover, the force F is applied along the symmetry line of the semi-
circle, the specimen being subjected to an asymmetrical three-point bend loading.

Figure 1. Geometry and loading configuration of the ASCB specimen

The analysis of mixed mode fracture initiation requires the determination of mode
mixity state expressed through the parameter M e introduced by Shih (1974):

M e = (2 π) tan −1 (K I K II ) . (1)
For the ASCB specimen, Ayatollahi et al. (2011) defined the stress intensity
factors KI and KII as functions of the crack length a, the radius R, and the distances
xs1, respectively xs2:
F
Km = πa Ym (a R , xs1 R , xs 2 R ) , m = I , II (2)
2 Rt
where YI and YII represent the geometry factors corresponding to mode I and II.
For the analyzed case of a/R = 0.3 and xs1/R = 0.75 the geometry factors YI and
YII were calculated through a linear elastic finite element analysis using ABAQUS
6.9. The following loading conditions were considered for simulations: applied
force F = 1000 [N], the support S1 fixed at xs1 = 30 [mm] and the support S2
placed at distance xs2 between 5 ÷ 30 [mm], 13 different positions being
considered. The crack tip square root singularity was modeled through the quarter
point technique using a first ring of 32 collapsed second-order isoparametric

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Investigation of mixed mode I/II brittle fracture using ASCB specimen 157

elements. A plane strain analysis was performed taking into account the thickness
of the specimens. The stress intensity factors KI and KII were obtained through the
J-integral method implemented in ABAQUS 6.9. In Fig. 2 the variations of the
geometry factors YI and YII with the normalized distance xs2/R are presented. As it
can be seen, by varying the distance xs2 from 30 [mm] to 5 [mm], the loading
conditions vary from pure mode I to dominant mode II conditions. Moreover,
using a polynomial interpolation the pure mode II exact position of support S2 was
determined at distance xs2 = 4.34 [mm] from the symmetry line of the semi-circle.
Thus, the ASCB specimen was used for mixed mode I/II fracture investigation.

Figure 2. Variations of YI and YII factors for the tested ASCB specimen geometry.

3. Experiments. The tests were performed on Walter+bai servo-hydraulic testing

machine with maximum force of 10 [kN] equipped with suitable bending fixtures.
For both materials, a total number of 18 ASCB specimens were tested considering
6 different S2 support positions. The recorded load-displacement curves were
linear (no significant non-linearity identified) and the fracture occurred suddenly,
indicating that the specimens failed in a brittle manner.
In Table 1 the fracture load Fcr values obtained from experiments are presented.
Using eq. (1) the corresponding stress intensity factors KI and KII were calculated
for each specimen and the average values are listed, while the complete results are
shown in Fig. 3 in the fracture diagram KII/KIc - KI/KIc. The mode I fracture
toughness KIc was determined for both materials by averaging the experimental
results for M e = 1. In terms of normalized toughness KIIc/KIc, for pure mode II
loading the following values were obtained: 1.062 for Necuron 1020, and 1.097
for Necuron 651. In addition, the fracture initiation angle θ0 was measured on each
broken specimen and the results are shown in Fig. 4.

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Table 1. Experimental results for mixed mode I/II fracture tests

xs2 KI KII Me
Material Fcr [kN]
[mm] [MPa⋅m1/2] [MPa⋅m1/2] [-]
30 2.460 2.490 2.500 2.677 0.000 1.000
20 3.290 3.370 3.160 2.642 0.187 0.955
Necuron 12 4.970 5.080 4.840 2.383 0.793 0.795
1020 8 6.840 6.560 6.740 1.680 1.863 0.467
6 7.130 7.015 7.475 0.845 2.614 0.199
4.34 6.550 6.455 6.080 0.000 2.843 0.000
30 1.160 1.140 1.190 1.254 0.000 1.000
20 1.580 1.625 1.545 1.278 0.090 0.955
Necuron 12 2.360 2.435 2.210 1.121 0.373 0.795
651 8 3.080 2.970 3.020 0.757 0.839 0.467
6 3.180 3.120 3.070 0.366 1.133 0.199
4.34 2.890 3.200 3.150 0.000 1.376 0.000

4. Mixed mode fracture criteria. According to the MTS criterion, the fracture
initiates from the crack tip along the radial direction θ0 on which the tangential
stress σθ reaches maximum. In addition, the fracture starts when, at some distance
rc in the direction defined by θ0, the tangential stress σθ reaches a critical value σc,
considered equal to σu. Using the singular σθ solution given by Williams (1957)
after calculations these two hypotheses lead to the following equations:
K I sin θ + K II (3 cos θ − 1) = 0 (3)
θ⎡ θ 3 ⎤
cos ⎢ K I cos 2 − K II sin θ⎥ = K Ic . (4)
2⎣ 2 2 ⎦
In eq. (4) it is assume that the mixed mode fracture starts when σθ reaches the
same value as in pure mode I, i.e. 2πrc σ c = K Ic . As eq. (3) indicates, the angle
θ0 depends only on two parameters KI and KII for any mixed mode. The fracture
diagram KII/KIc – KI/KIc shown in Figure 3 was obtained eliminating θ in eqs. (3)
and (4). In pure mode II loading eqs. (3) and (4) yield to θ0 = -70.5 [°] and
KIIc/KIc= 0.866. The theoretical predictions of the MTS criterion for fracture
initiation angle are plotted in Fig. 4.
The SED criterion formulated by Sih (1974) and reviewed by Gdoutos (1990)
expresses the strain energy density function dW/dA using the S factor:

S (θ) = a11 K I2 π + 2a12 K I K II π + a 22 K II2 π , (5)

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Investigation of mixed mode I/II brittle fracture using ASCB specimen 159

where the coefficients a11, a12 and a22 are given by Sih (1974) and they depend on
the elastic shear modulus μ and Poisson’s ratio through κ = 3 − 4ν (plane strain).

Figure 3. Experimentally values of KII/KIc and KI/KIc at fracture and the predicted fracture diagrams.

Figure 4. Measured values of crack initiation angle θ0 together and the predicted curves θ0 vs. M e.

This criterion postulates that the brittle fracture initiates from the crack tip in a
radial direction θ0 along which the strain energy density S factor is a minimum.
Moreover, the fracture occurs when the strain energy S factor at some distance rc
reaches a critical value Sc. In the case of pure mode I crack extension Sc is directly
related to KIc through the expression S c = (κ − 1)K Ic
2
8π μ . After calculations,
these hypotheses lead to the following two equations:

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K I2 [2 cos θ − κ + 1] sin θ + 2 K I K II [2 cos 2θ − (κ − 1) cos θ ]

(6)
+ K II2 [(κ − 1 − 6 cos θ ) sin θ ] = 0
K I2 (1 + cos θ)(κ − cos θ) + 2 K I K II (2 cos θ − κ + 1)
(7)
[ ]
+ K II2 (κ + 1)(1 − cos θ) + (1 + cos θ)(3 cos θ − 1) = 4(1 − 2ν )K Ic
2
.
As can be observed, the results obtained by applying the SED criterion depend on
Poisson’s ratio Ȟ. Thus, for pure mode II the eqs. (6) and (7) yield to θ0 = -83.8 [°]
and KIIc/KIc = 0.893 for Ȟ = 0.34, while for Ȟ = 0.28 the results are θ0 = -81.5 [°]
and KIIc/KIc = 0.984. The fracture diagrams KII/KIc – KI/KIc are shown in Figure 3
for both materials. Also, the theoretical curves for the values of θ0 as functions of
the parameter Me are plotted in Fig. 4.
The critical load value Fcr for onset of mixed mode brittle fracture can be
predicted based on the MTS and SED fracture criteria. The critical load value Fcr
was obtained by substituting eq. (2) in eq. (4), according to the MTS criterion:
−1
2 Rt K Ic ⎛ θ 3 θ ⎞
Fcr = ⎜ YI cos 3 0 − Y2 cos 0 sin θ 0 ⎟ . (8)
πa ⎝ 2 2 2 ⎠

Figure 5. Experimentally and predicted values of critical force Fcr

In a similar manner, Fcr was obtained for SED criterion:

Fcr = 2 Rt
Sc
a
(
a11YI2 + 2a12Y IYII + a 22YII2
− 0.5
. ) (9)

The experimental values and the predicted variations of Fcr as functions of mixed
mode parameter M e are shown in Figure 5 for both materials.

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5. Conclusions. The mixed mode I/II brittle fracture was studied using ASCB
specimens made of two types of rigid polyurethanes with different elastic
properties. The critical load Fcr, the initiation angle θ0, and the stress intensity
factors KI and KII values were evaluated experimentally for 6 mode mixities from
pure mode I to pure mode II. In addition, the MTS and SED criteria were
employed in order to estimate the critical conditions of fracture onset. For the
loading conditions with a dominant mode I influence (M e between 1 to 0.467) a
very good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions was
found for both materials. However, for a mixed mode loading closer to the mode
II, MTS criterion estimations are not very accurate. The use of SED criterion has
improved the prediction performance, the average relative errors in case of Fcr
falling to approximately -16.5 [%] for Necuron 1020 and respectively -12.9 [%]
for Necuron 651.
Acknowledgments. This paper was supported by the project “Development and
support for multidisciplinary postdoctoral programmes in major technical areas of
national strategy for Research-Development-Innovation” 4D-POSTDOC, Contract
No. POSDRU/89/1.5/S/52603, project co-funded by the European Social Fund
through Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-
2013, and by the strategic grant POSDRU ID77265 (2010), co-financed by the
European Social Fund-Investing in People, within the Sectorial Operational
Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013.
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