The fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of PWA1484 single crystals was characterized in air under mixed-mode loading at 593°C as a function of crystallographic orientation using an asymmetric four-point bend test technique. Most mixed-mode fatigue cracks deflected from the symmetry plane and propagated as transprecipitate, noncrystallographic cracks, while self-similar fatigue crack growth occurred on the (111) planes in (111)/[011] and 111/[112]¯ oriented crystals. The local stress intensity factors and the crack paths of the deflected mixed-mode cracks were analyzed using the finite-element fracture mechanics code, FRANC2D/L. The results indicated that the deflected crack path was close to being normal to the maximum tensile stress direction where the Mode II component diminishes. Crystallographic analysis of the deflected crack paths revealed that the Mode I and the deflected mixed-mode cracks were usually of different crystallographic orientations and could exhibit different Mode I FCG thresholds when the crystallography of the crack paths differed substantially. These results were used to identify the driving force and conditions for cracking mode transition.
Mode I and mixed-mode propagation of delamination fatigue cracks in CFRP laminates.