Crack Growth Prediction in Aluminium Alloy at Different Environmental Temperatures

. The evaluation of the crack initiation and propagation under different environmental conditions is of great interest for many engineering applications. Several crack growth criteria have been proposed in the last decades, but each criterion can be employed only for particular loading situations, environmental conditions and materials. In the present paper, an extension of the criterion known as R-criterion (minimum extension of the core plastic zone) is proposed in order to take into account the environmental temperature dependence. The modified criterion is herein employed to predict the crack growth path in an edge-cracked finite plate under tension, by using a simplified procedure to determine the Stress-Intensity Factor. Then, some experimental mixed-mode fracture tests performed on edge-cracked aluminium alloy plates at different temperatures are described. Finally, the theoretical results are compared with the experimental data.