The equilibrium field near the tip of a crack for finite plane strain of incompressible elastic materials

This investigation is concerned with the deformations and stresses in a slab of all-around infinite extent containing a traction-free plane crack, under conditions of plane strain. The analysis is carried out within the framework of the fully nonlinear equilibrium theory of homogeneous and isotropic incompressible elastic solids. For a fairly wide class of such materials and general loading conditions at infinity, assymptotic estimates appropriate to the various field quantities near the crack-tips are deduced. For a subclass of the materials considered, these results — in contrast to the analogous predictions of the linearized theory — lead to the conclusion that the crack opens up in the neighborhood of its tips even if the applied loading is antisymmetric about the plane of the crack, (e.g., Mode II loading). It is shown further that the non-linear global crack problem corresponding to such a loading in general cannot admit an antisymmetric solution.The results communicated in this paper were obtained in the course of an investigation supported in part by Contract N00014-75-C-0196 with the Office of Naval Research in Washington, D.C.