Pseudo plane stress plastic field for mode I crack growth

The pseudo plane stress field for a mode I crack growth is analyzed for both perfectly plastic and power law hardening plastic materials. When finite strain is taken into account, it is found that for perfectly plastic materials, the plastic domain is a narrow strip ahead of the crack tip. For power law hardening plastic material, the plastic domain contains a strip and a region ahead of the strip. The fracture criterion is discussed. The energy dissipated in the plastic strip is found to be proportional to the square of the thickness. Singular solutions to the field are ruled out by analysis.