Fracture initiation under pure shear revisited: Remarks on the mode II fracture in quasi-brittle materials

Mode II fracture, as one basic fracture mode, remains an interesting topic in fracture mechanics. However, its realization is a challenge in the laboratory, especially for quasi-brittle materials. In this study, two types of specimens were tested: the angled edge crack semi-circular specimen under three-point bending (SCB) and double edge notched compression (DENC) specimen. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to measure the displacements...