Experimental study of fractal properties of fatigue crack growth and energy dissipation in crack tip

Paper is devoted to investigation of initiation and propagation of cracks in titanium alloys by infrared thermography study of heat generation under cyclic loading and fractography analyses of fracture surface. Two series of experiments on flat smooth specimens and flat specimens with preliminary grown fatigue crack are carried out. Spatial and time temperature evolution into crack tip is investigated, the shape and dissipative intensity at crack process zone are estimated. Based on a result of comparative analysis of the experimental data and the linear fracture mechanics equations it is shown that the spatial distribution and character of heat dissipation zone into the crack tip doesn’t correspond to the conventional models. High-speed shooting (at a frequency of 1 kHz) allowed us to determine the intensity and shape of zone of energy dissipation caused by plastic deformation at the crack tip, as well as to compare the rate of energy dissipation for different stress levels. Fractured specimens were analyzed by interferometer microscope and SEM to verify the existing models of inelastic deformation at the crack tip and to improve methods of monitoring of damage accumulation during fatigue test.