Determination of V-notch SIFs in multi-material anisotropic wedges by digital correlation experiments

In this paper, theoretical formulations based on the Stroh's complex function approach were used to find the displacement field and H-integral of a sharp V-notch formed from several anisotropic materials. Displacements from the image-correlation experiments are then substituted into the least-squares formulation to find V-notch stress intensity factors (SIFs) in multi-material anisotropic wedges. Validations using the H-integral indicate that the experimental SIFs evaluated from the proposed method of acceptable accuracy. The major advantage is that the proposed method only requires displacements inside the specimen, and displacements near the notch tip, specimen boundaries, or notch surfaces are not necessary. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.