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.