Crack-craze opening profiles near a crack tip in a polytetrafluoroethylene

The crack opening and craze profiles near a crack tip in a polytetrafluoroethylene have been experimentally investigated. A double-edge-crack plate specimen under uniaxial tensile load was used in the experiment and the experimental procedure was performed using the Digital Image Correlation method, which is a well-established optical-numerical method for estimating full-field displacement. A theoretical model of the stress intensity factor based on linear elastic fracture mechanics combined with a classical saturated expression was proposed. The proposed model is in good agreement with experimental data and predictions of the model may be used to verify the non-linear behavior from crack and craze (cohesive) zones.