Fracture behavior of polymeric foams under mixed-mode loading

Abstract

The present work deals with the crack growth behavior in polymeric foams under mixed-mode loading conditions. Polymeric foams are anisotropic materials and cracks generally propagate under mixed-mode conditions. Due to the anisotropy of the material crack kinking occurs even though the applied load is perpendicular to the crack plane. The strain energy density criterion is used for the determination of the critical load of crack initiation and crack growth path under mixed-mode loading. A stress analysis of the plate is performed by a commercial finite element computer program. Results are obtained for the fracture trajectories for various polymeric foams. The study takes place within the frame of linear elastic fracture mechanics of anisotropic media. ©2010 Society for Experimental Mechanics Inc.