Fatigue crack growth and delamination in fiber metal laminate (GLARE) during loading with positive mean stress

The aim of the paper is to present the results of a study on the damage of fiber metal laminate (GLARE) subjected to the low cycle fatigue loading with positive mean stress. The fatigue crack initiation and growth was observed on the surface of notched specimens and then the individual layers of fatigued specimens were removed by chemical etching and polishing to obtain data about cracks length and delamination shape and area. Mechanism of initiation and crack growth in this type of materials differs from homogeneous monolithic materials. The fatigue life in term of number of cycles to crack initiation depending on amplitude of local plastic deformation and local stress in the notch root was evaluated