Fatigue and fracture behavior of woven steel reinforced polyethylene composite

The objective of this study is to investigate the fatigue and fracture behavior of woven steel reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) thermoplastic composite having a middle tension (MT) specimen with through-thickness crack. The composite material was manufactured from bi-directional woven Cr-Ni steel fibers and HDPE with a fiber volume fraction (V-f) of 0.04. The crack initiation, damage behavior, fatigue crack-growth rate (da/dN), stress intensity factors (Delta K), strain energy release rates (Delta G), and fracture toughness (K-IC) were determined in the study. Moreover, Delta G values were obtained by using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and compliance methods, and the results were compared with each other. Also, da/dN-Delta K and da/dN-Delta G were plotted for determining fracture behavior under fatigue loading of the composite material.