Determination of Fracture Behavior of Polymeric Materials Using Digital Image Correlation and Finite Element Analysis

An effective optical measurement technique named digital image correlation (DIC) was implemented for determination of material fracture properties. To do this, a software package which implements DIC algorithms was developed and its accuracy verified by performing numerical and experimental tests. The developed software was used in a fracture test performed on Polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement to measure deformation fields in near crack tip region and stress intensity factors. The results are reported here and compared with predictions from finite element analysis. By using the results of DIC one can have more accurate and reliable determination of material fracture properties compared with traditional methods and finite element analysis.