Compact shear test specimen

Arcan et aL (1978) proposed a biaxial fixture, commonly known as the Arcan fixture, to produce biaxial states of stress. The compact nature of the Arcan fixture enables obtaining the shear properties in all in-plane directions in a relatively simple manner. The Arcan fixture can be used to apply both shear and axial forces to the test specimen. The adhesive characterization in mixed mode loading allows for the generation of the yield surface of the adhesive in the hydrostatic versus the von Mises plane, which enables one to develop more accurate adhesive models for better simulations. Several modifications to the original test fixture have been proposed to include compression, such as that by El-Hajjar and Haj-Ali (2004). A scheme of the test fixture is shown in O Fig. 19.17. 

The tensile strength of compacts [30] also provides useful information. Excellent specimens of square compacts are necessary to conduct the tensile testing. For this reason, a split die [31 ] (Fig. 2) is used to make compacts that are not flawed. The split die permits triaxial decompression, which relieves the stresses in the compact more uniformly in three dimensions and minimizes cracking. These specimens are then compressed with platens 0.4 times the width of the square compacts in the tensile testing apparatus. (Fig. 3). Occasionally nylon platens and side supports are used to reduce the tendency to fail in shear rather than tension. The force necessary to cause tensile failure (tensile forces are a maximum... 

Figure 11.27 Deformation maps of (a) a nonnucleated PP/EPR with 15% EPR and (b) its p-nucleated counterpart for different temperatures and crack-tip loading rates as deduced from the fracture surfaces of compact tension specimens. A rough indication of the test speed is provided by the upper scale. ( ) shearing, ( ) shearing and crazing, (A) multiple crazing, and (X) single craze. (From Reference 32 with permission from Springer Science and Business Media.)...

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