Kinetic energy corrections for slip-stick behavior in brittle adhesives

Fracture mechanics is the study of the failure of a body that contains a flaw. In the energy balance approach to fracture mechanics, contributions from the external work and elastic strain energy are accounted for, but rarely are corrections for the kinetic energy given. Under slip-stick conditions, part of the external work is expended as kinetic energy. The magnitude of this kinetic energy depends upon the shape of the crack. A specimen with a blunt crack will fail at a high load, and the crack will catastrophically travel through the material until the kinetic energy is dissipated. Material with a sharp crack will fail at a lower load but will still be catastrophic in nature. In this work kinetic term is incorporated into the energy balance approach. This term accounts for the Of the moving crack and how far the crack travels before arresting. This correction makes the shape of the initiation crack irrelevant. When applied to data generated by tapered double cantilever beam specimens under slip-stick conditions, the scatter in the measured critical strain energy release rate is significantly reduced. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.