Experimental and Analytical Estimates of Fatigue13; Crack Closure in an Aluminium-Copper Alloy Part-1: Laser Interferometry and Fatigue Crack Closure

An experimental investigation of fatigue crack closure in compact tension specimens made out of an Al-Cu alloy HE15AST (2014-T6511 equivalent) is presented crack closure stress was estimated by the following experimental techniques: Transmission Electron Fractography scanning electron fractography. In addition, laser inter interformatry was used to obtain load versus near-crack tip displacements both under constant aplitude and random loading. A comparison is made on the estimates obtained from different experimental techniques