Solution of the elastic boundary value problems for a layer with tunnel stress raisers

A novel procedure for solving three-dimensional problems for elastic layer weakened by through-thickness tunnel cracks has been developed and is presented in this paper. This procedure reduces the given boundary value problem to an infinite system of one-dimensional singular integral equations and is based on a system of homogeneous solutions for a layer. Integral representations of single- and double-layer potentials are used for metaharmonic and harmonic functions entering in the singular integral equations. These representations provide a continuous extendibility of the stress vector while allowing a jump in the displacement vector in the transition through the cut.Expanding the potential and biharmonic solutions in the Fourier series over the thickness coordinate yields the integral representations of the displacement vector and stress tensor. The problem of reducing a denumerable set of the integral equations of the given boundary value problem to one-to-one correspondence with the set of unknown densities appearing in the Fourier’s coefficient representations has been settled efficiently. Numerical investigations show a rapid convergence of the proposed reduction procedure as applied to the solution of the infinite system of one-dimensional integral equations. Numerical examples illustrate the proposed method and demonstrate its advantages.