A new experimental technique based on the method of caustics is presented for the measurement of the distance between the lips of a crack near the crack-tip. The two parts of the caustic formed by reflections from the front and rear faces of the specimen lie at a distance from each other. The gap between these parts depends on the total c.o.d. (crack-opening displacement), that is the initial opening and the opening due to loading, as well as on the optical and mechanical characteristics of the material By increasing the external loading of the cracked plate, the gap between the parts of the caustic was changed and this gap measured the instantaneous c.o.d. due to loading. The method was applied to the measurement of small c.o.d.s. due to small-scale loading, with satisfactory results. Therefore it can certainly be used to measure c.o.d.s at large loading steps, up to fracture, because the gap between the parts of the caustic becomes significant and easy to measure. Measurements with cracked plates made of p.m.m.a. (polymethylmethacrylate) and polycarbonate showed that the results obtained are in good agreement with theory. Thus, it has been proved that the method of caustics yields a very sensitive means for measuring c.o.d.s, especially in small-scale deformations, where measurement of c.o.d by conventional methods is inaccurate. A great advantage of the method is that it measures the c.o.d.s at a well defined region, which always remains near to the crack tip.
Discussion: “Elastic-Plastic Fracture Toughness: A Comparison of J-Integral and Crack Opening Displacement Characterizations” (Griffis, C. A., 1975, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 97, pp. 278–283)
