On the Double Cantilever Beam Specimen for Mode-I Interface Delamination

A compliance model is presented for a DCB specimen for mode-I interface delamination. The undelaminated part of the specimen is modeled by using Reissner’s mixed variational principle from which the rotation of the cross-section at the tip of the crack and the shear stress at the interface are evaluated. The results for a homogeneous beam with midplane crack are deduced and shown to be in better agreement with the experimental and finite element results than any of the existing models.