Obtaining mode mixity for a bimaterial interface crack using the virtual crack closure technique

We review, unify and extend work pertaining to evaluating mode mixity of interfacial fracture utilizing the virtual crack closure technique (VCCT). From the VCCT, components of the strain energy release rate (SERR) are obtained using the forces and displacements near the crack tip corresponding to the opening and sliding contributions. Unfortunately, these components depend on the crack extension size, Δ, used in the VCCT. It follows that a mode mixity based upon these components also will depend on the crack extension size. However, the components of the strain energy release rate can be used for determining the complex stress intensity factors (SIFs) and the associated mode mixity. In this study, we show that several—seemingly different—suggested methods presented in the literature used to obtain mode mixity based on the stress intensity factors are indeed identical. We also present an alternative, simpler quadratic equation to this end. Moreover, a Δ-independent strain energy release based mode mixity can be defined by introducing a “normalizing length parameter.” We show that when the reference length (used for the SIF-based mode mixity) and the normalizing length (used for Δ-independent SERR-based mode mixity) are equal, the two mode mixities are only shifted by a phase angle, depending on the bimaterial parameter ε.