CRACK GROWTH IN TWISTED RUBBER DISKS. PART 3. EFFECTS OF CRACK DEPTH AND LOCATION

摘要

A simple analysis of the fracture energy for a shallow ring crack in a twisted rubber disk is presented and compared to a linear fracture mechanics solution for a similar crack in an infinitely long cylinder. The analysis predicts that the fracture energy increases linearly with crack depth. Since a previous analysis shows that the fracture energy subsequently decreases with crack depth when the crack is deep, it follows that the fracture energy passes through a peak as it transitions from shallow crack to deep crack behavior. The transition occurs when the crack depth becomes comparable to a fraction of the disk height. The analysis is supported by the results of finite element analysis. In addition, the effects of disk size, crack location (in the middle of the cylinder vs. at the bonded ends) and material properties are also considered.