MECHANICAL REASONS FOR PLASTICITY-INDUCED CRACK CLOSURE UNDER PLANE STRAIN CONDITIONS

A mechanical explanation of plasticity‐induced crack closure under plain strain conditions is given first by means of dislocation mechanics and then by the methods of continuum mechanics. In plane strain, the event of crack closure is due to transport of material from the wake to the crack tip. It is an elastic effect caused by the response of the matrix surrounding the plastic wake. The transported material produces a wedge which follows the...