Identification of a crack propagation law by digital image correlation

It is proposed to use digital image correlation (DIC) to identify parameters governing crack propagation of commercially pure titanium. To achieve this goal, crack tip location, stress intensity factor, T-stress and plastic zone size are sought. Most of the DIC approaches are based upon local analyzes of displacements, and their subsequent projection onto a set of mechanically relevant fields. It is proposed to perform these two sequential steps in a unique (and integrated) way, and to compare the results with a global approach to DIC with subsequent post-processing. A priori performances of two global approaches are compared, and a propagation law is identified form the series of raw images of a fatigue test on commercially pure titanium with the integrated approach that yields better results. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.