The transient fracture behavior for a functionally graded layered structure subjected to an in-plane impact load

The transient fracture behavior of a functionally graded layered structure subjected to an in-plane impact load is investigated. The studied structure is composed of two homogeneous layers and a functionally graded interlayer with a crack perpendicular to the boundaries. The impact load is applied on the face of the crack. Fourier transform and Laplace transform methods are used to formulate the present problem in terms of a singular integral equation in Laplace transform domain. Considering variations of parameters such as the nonhomogeneity constant, the thickness ratio and the crack length, the dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) in time domain are studied and some meaningful conclusions are obtained.The project supported by the National Science Foundation for Excellent Young Investigators (10325208), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10432030) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2004036018)The English text was polished by Ron Marshall.