Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The incremental in-plane Green-Lagrange strain tensor was measured near a stationary crack tip in a cyclically work-hardened copper single crystal. Measurements were made on the surface of a four-point bend specimen, using a finite-deformation laser moiré interferometer. The measurement showed the existence of a narrow asymptotic field beyond a distance of 300 μm from the crack tip. The inner boundary of the asymptotic zone was almost fixed at a characteristic distance ahead of the crack tip. This length scale is thought to arise from a microstructural evolution near the crack tip. The inhomogeneous hardening due to glide-band clustering and patchy slip in a small volume near the crack tip triggered such an evolution. The outer boundary of the asymptotic zone radially grew with the increasing load. The deformation field was found to be very sensitive to additional mode II loading.