A note on the use of high-speed infrared detectors for the measurement of temperature fields at the vicinity of dynamically growing cracks in 4340 steel

Energy dissipation near a dynamically growing crack causes increased temperature near the crack tip which may affect the fracture toughness of materials. Experiments were performed to measure crack-tip temperature distributions using a non-contact system of eight high-speed infrared detectors. Results show that regions with the highest temperatures occur at distances of approximately r(sub p)/4 from the crack tip.