Opening and contact zones of an interface crack in a piezoelectric bimaterial under combined compressive-shear loading

A plane problem for a tunnel electrically permeable interface crack between two semi-infinite piezoelectric spaces is studied. A remote mechanical and electrical loading is applied. Elastic displacements and potential jumps as well as stresses and electrical displacement along the interface are presented using a sectionally holomorphic vector function. It is assumed that the interface crack includes zones of crack opening and frictionless contact. The problem is reduced to a combined Dirichlet–Riemann boundary value problem which is solved analytically. From the obtained solution, simple analytical expressions are derived for all mechanical and electrical characteristics at the interface. A quite simple transcendental equation, which determines the point of separation of open and close sections of the crack, is found. For the analysis of the obtained results, the main attention is devoted to the case of compressive-shear loading. The analytical analysis and numerical results show that, even if the applied normal stress is compressive, a certain crack opening zone exists for all considered loading values provided the shear field is present. It is found that the shear stress intensity factor at the closed crack tip and the energy release rates at the both crack tips depend very slightly on the magnitude of compressive loading.     

On a moving interface crack with a contact zone in a piezoelectric bimaterial

An inplane problem for a crack moving with constant subsonic speed along the interface of two piezoelectric materials is considered. A mechanically frictionless and electrically permeable contact zone is assumed at the right crack tip whilst for the open part of the crack both electrically permeable and electrically insulated conditions are considered. In the first case a moving concentrated loading is prescribed at the crack faces and in the second case an additional electrical charge at the crack faces is prescribed as well. The main attention is devoted to electrically permeable crack faces. Introducing a moving coordinate system at the leading crack tip the corresponding inhomogeneous combined Dirichlet–Riemann problem is formulated and solved exactly for this case. All electromechanical characteristics at the interface are presented in a closed form for arbitrary contact zone lengths, and further, the transcendental equation for the determination of the real contact zone length is derived. As a particular case of the obtained solution a semi-infinite crack with a contact zone is considered. The numerical analysis performed for a certain piezoelectric bimaterial showed an essential increase of the contact zone length and the associated stress intensity factor especially for the near-critical speed region. Similar investigations have been performed for an electrically insulated crack and the same behavior of the above mentioned parameters is observed.     

An electrically conducting interface crack with a contact zone in a piezoelectric bimaterial

A plane problem for an electrically conducting interface crack in a piezoelectric bimaterial is studied. The bimaterial is polarized in the direction orthogonal to the crack faces and loaded by remote tension and shear forces and an electrical field parallel to the crack faces. All fields are assumed to be independent of the coordinate co-directed with the crack front. Using special presentations of electromechanical quantities via sectionally-analytic functions, a combined Dirichlet–Riemann and Hilbert boundary value problem is formulated and solved analytically. Explicit analytical expressions for the characteristic mechanical and electrical parameters are derived. Also, a contact zone solution is obtained as a particular case. For the determination of the contact zone length, a simple transcendental equation is derived. Stress and electric field intensity factors and, also, the contact zone length are found for various material combinations and different loadings. A significant influence of the electric field on the contact zone length, stress and electric field intensity factors is observed. Electrically permeable conditions in the crack region are considered as well and matching of different crack models has been performed.     

Elastoplastic fracture of an isotropic plate with a crack under biaxial loading

Institute of Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 25, No. 7, pp. 86–91, July, 1989.     

Delayed fracture of an isotropic viscoelastic material with a crack under cyclic loading

The delayed fracture of an isotropic viscoelastic plate is examined as a process involving the subcritical propagation of a straight normal-rupture crack during fatigue loading. Calculations are based on the modified {ie165-1} of fracture, it being assumed that the size of the prefracture zone ahead of the moving crack remains constant. This zone is also assumed to be small compared to the size of the crack itself. Solutions for a time-dependent crack length are given both for media which undergo quasi-viscous flow (an integral operator with an Abelian kernel is used) and for media whose creep curves have a horizontal asymptote (an integral operator with a kernel in the form of the fractional-exponential function of Yu. N. Rabotnov is used). S. P. Timoshenko Institute of Mechanics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 60–64, February, 1999.     

An analytically-numerical approach for the analysis of an interface crack with a contact zone in a piezoelectric bimaterial compound

An interface crack with an artificial contact zone at the right-hand side crack tip between two dissimilar finite-sized piezoelectric materials is considered under remote mixed-mode loading. To find the singular electromechanical field at the crack tip, an asymptotic solution is derived in connection with the conventional finite element method. For mechanical loads, the stress intensity factors at the singular points are obtained. As a particular case of this solution, the contact zone model (in Comninou’s sense) is derived. A simple transcendental equation and an asymptotic formula for the determination of the real contact zone length are derived. The dependencies of the contact zone lengths on external load coefficients are illustrated in graphical form. For a particular case of a short crack with respect to the dimensions of the bimaterial compound, the numerical results are compared to the exact analytical solutions, obtained for a piezoelectric bimaterial plane with an interface crack.     

Subsonic semi-infinite crack with a finite friction zone in a bimaterial

Propagation of a semi-infinite crack along the interface between an elastic half-plane and a rigid half-plane is analyzed. The crack advances at constant subsonic speed. It is assumed that, ahead of the crack, there is a finite segment where the conditions of Coulomb friction law are satisfied. The contact zone of unknown a priori length propagates with the same speed as the crack. The problem reduces to a vector Riemann–Hilbert problem with a piece-wise constant matrix coefficient discontinuous at three points, 0, 1, and ∞. The problem is solved exactly in terms of Kummer's solutions of the associated hypergeometric differential equation. Numerical results are reported for the length of the contact friction zone, the stress singularity factor, the normal displacement u₂, and the dynamic energy release rate G. It is found that in the case of frictionless contact for both the sub-Rayleigh and super-Rayleigh regimes, G is positive and the stress intensity factor K_II does not vanish. In the sub-Rayleigh case, the normal displacement is positive everywhere in the opening zone. In the super-Rayleigh regime, there is a small neighborhood of the ending point of the open zone where the normal displacement is negative.     

The thermoelastic equilibrium of a transversally isotropic medium with an elliptic crack under symmetric loading

The stress intensity factors (SIFs) are evaluated for flat elliptical cracks located in a transversally isotropic material (cracks are assumed perpendicular to the transtropy axis) under an arbitrary load and symmetric temperature. The SIFs for an elliptical crack in a transversally isotropic medium are determined using the formulas (derived by the author in his previous studies) of transition from an isotropic to transversally isotropic material and the relative problem for an isotropic medium. It is proved that these formulas can be employed for an arbitrary homogeneous transversally isotropic material (no matter whether the roots of some characteristic equation of the material are real or complex) with an arbitrary flat crack or a system of coplanar flat cracks, including elliptical ones, under an arbitrary load and symmetric temperature. A transversally isotropic material with two coplanar elliptical cracks is considered as an illustrative example. The dependences of the SIFs on the parameters of cracks and their arrangement at a decreasing temperature are presented. S. P. Timoshenko Institute of Mechanics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Kiev. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 96–105, April, 2000.     

On interface crack models with contact zones situated in an anisotropic bimaterial

Summary A boundary value problem for two semi-infinite anisotropic spaces with mixed boundary conditions at the interface is considered. Assuming that the displacements are independent of the coordinate x ₃, stresses and derivatives of displacement jumps are expressed via a sectionally holomorphic vector function. By means of these relations the problem for an interface crack with an artificial contact zone in an orthotropic bimaterial is reduced to a combined Dirichlet-Riemann problem which is solved analytically. As a particular case of this solution, the contact zone model (in Comninou's sense) is derived. A simple transcendental equation and an asymptotic formula for the determination of the real contact zone length are obtained. The classical interface crack model with oscillating singularities at the crack tips is derived from the obtained solution as well. Analytical relations between fracture mechanical parameters of different models are found, and recommendations concerning their implementation are given. The dependencies of the contact zone lengths on material properties and external load coefficients are illustrated in graphical form. The practical applicability of the obtained results is demonstrated by means of a FEM analysis of a finite-sized orthotropic bimaterial with an interface crack. Received 19 October 1998; accepted for publication 13 November 1998     

Contact zone assessment for a fast growing interface crack in an anisotropic bimaterial

Summary A plane strain problem for a crack with a frictionless contact zone at the leading crack tip expanding stationary along the interface of two anisotropic half-spaces with a subsonic speed under the action of various loadings is considered. The cases of finite and infinite-length interface cracks under the action of a moving concentrated loading at its faces are considered. A finite-length crack for a uniform mixed-mode loading at infinity is considered as well. The associated combined Dirichlet-Riemann boundary value problems are formulated and solved exactly for all above-mentioned cases. The expressions for stresses and the derivatives of the displacement jumps at the interface are presented in a closed analytical form for an arbitrary contact zone length. Transcendental equations are obtained for the determination of the real contact zone length, and the associated closed form asymptotic formulas are found for small values of this parameter. It is found that independently of the types of the crack and loading, an increase of the crack tip speed leads to an increase of the real contact zone length and the correspondent stress intensity factor. The latter increase significantly for an interface crack tip speed approaching the Ragleigh wave speed.     

An interface crack with contact zones in a piezoelectric/piezomagnetic bimaterial

An interface crack with a frictionless contact zone at the right crack tip between two semi-infinite piezoelectric/piezomagnetic spaces under the action of a remote mechanical loading, magnetic and electric fluxes as well as concentrated forces at the crack faces is considered. Assuming that all fields are independent on the coordinate x ₂ co-directed with the crack front, the stresses, the electrical and the magnetic fluxes as well as the derivatives of the jumps of the displacements, the electrical and magnetic potentials are presented via a set of analytic functions in the (x ₁, x ₃)-plane with a cut along the crack region. Two cases of magneto-electric conditions at the crack faces are considered. The first case assumes that the crack is electrically and magnetically permeable, and in the second case the crack is assumed electrically permeable while the open part of the crack is magnetically impermeable. For both these cases due to the above-mentioned representation the combined Dirichlet–Riemann boundary value problems have been formulated and solved exactly. Stress, electric and magnetic induction intensity factors are found in a simple analytical form. Transcendental equations and a closed form analytical formula for the determination of the real contact zone length have been derived for both cases of magnetic conditions in the crack region. For a numerical illustration of the obtained results a bimaterial BaTiO₃–CoFe₂O₄ with different volume fractions of BaTiO₃ has been used, and the influence of the mechanical loading and the intensity of the magnetic flux upon the contact zone length and the associated intensity factors as well as the energy release rate has been shown.     

Delayed fracture of a transversally isotropic viscoelastic material with a crack under monotonically increasing loading

The delayed fracture of a transversally isotropic viscoelastic material due to slow subcritical growth of a flat normal-fracture macrocrack with a circular cross-section under monotonically increasing load is examined. The calculations employ the modified δ_C of fracture, which is based on the concept of constancy of the prefailure region. The investigation is carried out within the framework of the Boltzmann-Volterra theory for difference-type bounded resolvent operators, which describe the transversal isotropy of the viscoelastic deformational properties of the material. To find the analytical form of the kernel of an irrational function of a linear combination of the above-mentioned integral operators, the method of operator continued fractions is used. Analytical and numerical calculations are carried out for difference-type bounded resolvent operators with the kernel in the form of Rabotnov's fractional-exponential function. S. P. Timoshenko Institute of Mechanics. National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 35, No. 10, pp. 54–60, October, 1999.     

Modelling of crack growth under cyclic contact loading

The paper describes a general computational model for modelling of subsurface fatigue crack growth under cyclic contact loading of mechanical elements. The model assumes that the initial fatigue crack develops along the slip line in a single crystal grain at the point of the maximum equivalent stress. The position and magnitude of the maximum equivalent stress are determined with the Finite Element Analysis of the equivalent contact model, which is based on the Hertzian contact conditions with the addition of frictional forces. The Virtual Crack Extension method is then used for simulation of the fatigue crack propagation from the initial to the critical crack length, when the surface material layer breaks away and a pit appears on the surface. The pit shapes and relationships between the stress intensity factor and the crack length are determined for various combinations of contacting surface curvatures and contact loadings. The computational results show that the model reliably simulates the subsurface fatigue crack growth under contact loading and can be used for computational predictions of surface pitting for various contacting mechanical elements.     

Effect of contact interaction of the crack faces for a crack under harmonic loading

This paper is concerned with dynamic problems in fracture mechanics for elastic solids having cracks with contacting faces. The contact problem for a penny-shaped crack with a nonzero initial opening under normally incident harmonic wave is solved by the method of boundary integral equations. The solutions are compared with those that neglect the contact interaction of the crack faces. Results are presented for different values of the initial crack opening Presented at the 6th International Conference on Modern Practice in Stress and Vibration Analysis (Bath, United Kingdom, September 5–7, 2006). Published in Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 43, No. 7, pp. 125–131, July 2007.     

Subcritical growth of a crack in a transversally isotropic aging composite under long-term static loading

The problem of long-term fracture of an aging reinforced composite array having hexagonal symmetry and weakened by a flat circular macrocrack is considered based on the Boltzmann-Volterra principle and the theory of long-term fracture of viscoelastic bodies. The array is under the action of stationary tensile forces applied at infinity and normal to the crack plane. The Maslov-Arutyunyan operator is used to describe the aging strain properties of the array. The irrational functions of integral Volterra operators obtained during the solution are determined by expanding them into continued fractions. The crack growth equations derived are numerically solved for a specific material (ferroconcrete). Curves of the rupture life of the composite array, kinetics of crack growth, and safe loading are presented. S. P. Timoshenko Institute of Mechanics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 35, No. 12, pp. 72–79, December, 1999.     

Interface crack between isotropic Kirchhoff plates

In this work Kirchhoff plate theory is used to calculate the energy release rate function in delaminated isotropic plates. The approximation is based on the consideration of the equilibrium equations and the displacement continuity between the interface plane of a double-plate model. It is shown that the interface shear stresses are governed by a fourth order partial differential equation system. As an example, a simply supported delaminated plate subjected to a point force is analyzed adopting Lévy plate formulation and the mode-II and mode-III energy release rate distributions along the crack front were calculated by the J-integral. To confirm the analytical results the 3D finite element model of the delaminated plate was created, the energy release rates were calculated by the virtual crack-closure technique and the J-integral. The results indicate a good agreement between analysis and numerical computation.     

The stress intensity factor history for an advancing crack in a transversely isotropic solid under 3-D loading

The mode I extension of a half plane crack in a transversely isotropic solid under 3-D loading is analyzed. Firstly, the fundamental problem that the crack is subjected to a pair of unit point loads on its faces is considered. Transform methods are used to reduce the boundary value problem to a single integral equation that can be solved by the Wiener–Hopf technique. The Cagniard–de Hoop method is employed to invert the transforms. An exact expression is derived for the mode I stress intensity factor as a function of time and position along the crack edge. Based on the fundamental solution, the stress intensity factor history due to general loading is then obtained. Some features of the solutions are discussed through numerical results.     

Interface crack problem in layered orthotropic materials under thermo-mechanical loading

In the present paper, the behavior of an interface crack for a homogeneous orthotropic strip sandwiched between two different functionally graded orthotropic materials subjected to thermal and mechanical loading is considered. It is assumed that interface crack is partly insulated, and the temperature drop across the crack surfaces is the result of the thermal resistance due to the heat conduction through the crack region. The elastic properties of the material are assumed to vary continuously along the thickness direction. The principal directions of orthotropy are parallel and perpendicular to the crack orientation. The complicated mixed boundary problems of equations of heat conduction and elasticity are converted analytically into singular integral equations, which are solved numerically. The main objective of the paper is to study the effects of material nonhomogeneity parameters and the dimensionless thermal resistance on the thermal stress intensity factors for the purpose of gaining better understanding of the thermal behavior of graded layer.     

Subinterface crack in an anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial

In this paper, the problem of a subinterface crack in an anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial is analyzed. A system of singular integral equations is formulated for general anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial with kernel functions expressed in complex form. For commonly used transversely isotropic piezoelectric materials, the kernel functions are given in real forms. By considering special properties of one of the bimaterial, various real kernel functions for half-plane problems with mechanical traction-free or displacement-fixed boundary conditions combined with different electric boundary conditions are obtained. Investigations of half-plane piezoelectric solids show that, particularly for the mechanical traction-free problem, the evaluations of the mechanical stress intensity factors (electric displacement intensity factor) under mechanical loadings (electric displacement loading) for coupled mechanical and electric problems may be evaluated directly by considering the corresponding decoupled elastic (electric) problem irrespective of what electric boundary condition is applied on the boundary. However, for the piezoelectric bimaterial problem, purely elastic bimaterial analysis or purely electric bimaterial analysis is inadequate for the determination of the generalized stress intensity factors. Instead, both elastic and electric properties of the bimaterial’s constants should be simultaneously taken into account for better accuracy of the generalized stress intensity factors.     

Plane-strain state of an elastoplastic body with a crack under mixed-mode loading

A mixed-mode (I + II) crack model with a plastic strip on its continuation under plane strain is proposed. The stress components within the strip are determined from the yield conditions, stress limitation, and relationship between the normal stress components defined via the principal stress state. The crack parameters are analyzed for the Mises yield condition. In the quasibrittle case, the governing system of equations includes stress intensity factors K _I, K _II, and T-stresses