Use of the energy criterion of fracture to determine the shape of a slightly curved crack

An asymptotic formula is obtained for the total-energy increment during quasistatic growth of a semiin finite crack in an anisotropic elastic plane under complex loading. It is assumed that the shear loads are much larger than the tearing loads. The shape of the slightly curved crack was determined using the Griffith criterion in two versions: global and local. It is shown, in particular, that the first version leads to an improbable result. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 119–130, September–October, 2006.