Characterising resistance to fatigue crack growth in adhesive bonds by measuring release of strain energy

Measurement of the energy dissipation during fatigue crack growth is used as a technique to gain more insight into the physics of the crack growth process. It is shown that the amount of energy dissipation required per unit of crack growth is determined by Gmax, whereas the total amount of energy available for crack growth in a single cycle is determined by (Δ √g)2.