Fem-calculation of the stress intensity factors of a circular arc crack under uniaxial tension

• Published in: Engineering fracture mechanics Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 91 - 104
• Main Authors: Heitzer, J., Mattheck, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tarrytown, NY Elsevier Ltd 1989; Oxford Elsevier
• Subjects: cracks; Exact sciences and technology; finite element method; Fracture mechanics (crack, fatigue, damage...); Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); loading; Physics; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Finite element method; Stress intensity factor; Friction; Mechanical contact; Traction; Circular shape; Crack
• ISSN: 0013-7944; 1873-7315
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-7944(89)90057-X

The stress intensity factors under mixed mode conditions of a circular arc crack loaded externally by uniaxial tension are extracted using the filter technique. The accuracy of the method is checked by comparing the calculated K- values to those obtained from a complex potential formulation given by Muskhelishvili. For crack lengths for which the analytical solution is no longer valid because of crack surface overlapping, the filter technique together with interface elements are successfully applied to extract the K- factors from this contact problem. K- Factors from an arc crack with non-vanishing friction between the crack surfaces are also presented and compared to the zero friction and to the analytical solution. The FEM-solution covers a larger range of crack geometries than the analytical description.