Stress intensity factors for curved and kinked cracks in plane extension

A singular integral equation containing the crack opening displacement (COD) is developed for solving plane elasticity problems. The crack may contain any number of kinks at different intervals and orientations, such as a saw-tooth shape. Cracks in the form of a sine wave can also be treated. The crack tip stress intensity factors are evaluated for a variety of crack shapes and the results are displayed graphically. The distance between the crack tips is found to be a dominant factor on the crack tip stress intensity while the angle between the tangent to the crack tip and load direction determines the proportion of Mode I and II stress intensity factors.