Constraint effect on the slow crack growth in polyethylene

Abstract

Purpose

From the practical point of view, most relevant damage to high density polyethylene (HDPE) structures is caused by slow crack growth. Therefore, detailed information about this type of damage is necessary. Experimental results transfer from specimens to real structure can be influenced by structure geometry (constraint). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and discuss the effect of the constraint and relation between crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) and crack length.

Design/methodology/approach

The constraint effect is mainly effect of the structure geometry and can be quantified by T‐stress. Two different test specimens with different constraint level (T‐stress) were prepared: single edge notched specimen and modified single edge notch (SEN) specimen. The crack mouth opening displacement, crack tip opening displacement and crack length was measured.

Findings

The main conclusions of this work can be summarized as: the slow crack growth rate in HDPE materials corresponds to velocity of CMOD; the influence of the presented specimen geometry on slow crack growth rate can be considered as negligible; and for transfer of the experimental results from specimens to real structure the influence of the structure geometry (constraint) is not critical.

Originality/value

Experimental results obtained from different specimens with different constraint level are rare and can lead to better data transfer from experimental specimens to the real structures.

Citation

Hutar, P., Zouhar, M., Nezbedova, E., Sadilek, J., Zidek, J., Nahlik, L. and Knesl, Z. (2012), "Constraint effect on the slow crack growth in polyethylene", International Journal of Structural Integrity, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 118-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/17579861211235156