System and method for determining characteristics of a crack

A method for determining characteristics of a crack in a material, the presence of the crack being detected beforehand in an area of presence of the material by using a non-destructive process, the method comprising:

• determining at least two initial mechanical loads applied to the material, each mechanical load being defined by a vector field of known amplitude,
• applying a plurality of crack-opening mechanical loads to the material, each opening mechanical load being a linear combination of the at least two initial mechanical loads,
• measuring, using at least one measuring instrument, a relative displacement of a first point with respect to a second point induced by each opening mechanical load, the first and second points being located in the area of presence of the crack, each measuring instrument being associated with a pair of first and second points,
• applying a plurality of crack-closing mechanical loads to the material, each closing mechanical load being a linear combination of the at least two initial mechanical loads,
• measuring, using each measuring instrument, the relative displacement of the first point with respect to the second point induced by each closing mechanical load, and
• estimating a direction of the crack in a predefined plane, by computer means, as a function of the amplitude of each opening and closing mechanical load applied to the material and of the relative displacements measured by the measuring instrument(s).