Influence of empty hole on crack running in PMMA plate under dynamic loading

The influence of original prefabricated empty hole on dynamic crack propagation was studied. The dynamic behavior of crack propagation due to the impacting of drop hammer on the defective PMMA medium of manufactured hole defect (different extent of left shift, respectively, for L = 110 mm, L = 111.25 mm and L = 112.5 mm) was conducted using the test system of digital laser dynamic caustics (DLDC). The stress intensity factor and velocity at the running crack tip were analyzed. Moreover, the recently developed distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) was validated using the experimental data. It was found that the numerical modeling can reproduce the experimentally observed phenomena. Combining the experimental and numerical results, it can be concluded that the influence of empty hole defects of brittle materials on dynamic fracturing is great.