Fatigue fracture in thin plates subjected to tensile and shearing loads - Crack tip fields, J integral and preliminary experimental results

In one scenario of a crack in an airplane fuselage, the crack is subjected to cyclic tensile and out of plane shearing loads. To predict the fatigue crack growth in such a situation, experiments are being performed to measure the crack growth rate in laboratory specimens subjected to similar loadings. The mechanics of this problem are reviewed, the energy release rate is calculated and designs for an experiment are discussed along with some preliminary experimental observations.