Investigation by Digital Image Correlation of Mixed-Mode I and II Fracture Behavior of Polymeric IASCB Specimens with Additive Manufactured Crack-Like Notch

In this work, the fracture mechanics properties of polyamide (PA) specimens manufactured by the selective laser sintering (SLS) technology are investigated, in which an embedded crack-like notch was inserted in the design and produced during the additive manufacturing (AM) phase. To cover a wide variety of mode I/II mixity levels, the inclined asymmetrical semicircular specimen subjected to three points loading (IASCB) was employed. The investigation was carried out by analyzing the full displacement field in the proximity of the crack tip by means of the digital image correlation (DIC) technique. To characterize the material, which exhibits a marked elastic-plastic behavior, the quantity J-integral was evaluated by two different methods: the first one exploits the full fields measured by the DIC, whereas the second one exploits the experimental load–displacement curves along with FEM analysis. The DIC methodology was experimentally validated and proposed as an alternative method to evaluate the J-integral. It is especially suited for conditions in which it is not possible to use the conventional LDC method due to complex and possibly unknown loading conditions. Furthermore, results showed that the AM technique could be used effectively to induce cracks in this type of material. These two aspects together can lead to both a simplification of the fracture characterization process and to the possibility of dealing with a wider number of practical, real-world scenarios. Indeed, because of the nature of the additive manufacturing process, AM crack-like notches can be sintered even having complex geometry, being three-dimensional and/or inside the tested structure.