The temperature field induced by the dynamic stresses of a transverse crack in periodically layered composites

The temperature field induced by the dynamic application of a far-field mechanical loading on a periodically layered material with an embedded transverse crack is investigated. To this end, the thermoelastically coupled elastodynamic and energy (heat) equations are solved by combining two approaches. In the first one, the dynamic representative cell method is employed for the construction of the time-dependent Green’s functions generated by the displacement jumps along the crack line. This is performed in conjunction with the application of the double finite discrete Fourier transform on the thermomechanically coupled equations. Thus the original problem for the cracked periodic composite is reduced to the problem of a domain with a single period in the transform space. The second approach is based on wave propagation analysis in composites where full thermomechanical coupling in the constituents exists. This analysis is based on the coupled elastodynamic-energy continuum equations where the transformed time-dependent displacement vector and temperature are expressed by second-order expansions, and the elastodynamic and energy equations and the various interfacial and boundary conditions are imposed in the average (integral) sense. The time-dependent thermomechanically coupled field at any observation point in the plane can be obtained by the application of the inverse transform. Results along the crack line as well as the full temperature field are given for cracks of various lengths for Mode I and Mode II deformations. In particular the temperature drops (cooling) at the vicinity of the crack’s tip and the heating zones at its surroundings are generated and discussed.     

An indirect boundary element method for three-dimensional dynamic fracture mechanics

Indirect boundary element methods (fictitious load and displacement discontinuity) have been developed for the analysis of three-dimensional elastostatic and elastodynamic fracture mechanics problems. A set of boundary integral equations for fictitious loads and displacement discontinuities have been derived. The stress intensity factors were obtained by the stress equivalent method for static loading. For dynamic loading the problem was studied in Laplace transform space where the numerical calculation procedure, for the stress intensity factor K_I(p), is the same: as that for the static problem. The Durbin inversion method for Laplace transforms was used to obtain the stress intensity factors in the time domain K_I(t). Results of this analysis are presented for a square bar, with either a rectangular or a circular crack, under static and dynamic loads.     

Dynamic stress intensity factors of two 3D rectangular permeable cracks in a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material under a time‐harmonic elastic P‐wave

The dynamic behavior of two 3D rectangular permeable cracks in a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material is investigated under an incident harmonic stress wave by using the generalized Almansi's theorem and the Schmidt method. The problem is formulated through double Fourier transform into three pairs of dual integral equations with the displacement jumps across the crack surfaces as the unknown variables. To solve the dual integral equations, the displacement jumps across the crack surfaces are directly expanded as a series of Jacobi polynomials. Finally, the relations among the dynamic stress field and the dynamic electric displacement filed near the crack edges are obtained, and the effects of the shape of the rectangular crack, the characteristics of the harmonic wave, and the distance between two rectangular cracks on the stress and the electric intensity factors in a piezoelectric composite material are analyzed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Non-local theory solution of a mode-I crack in a piezoelectric/piezomagnetic composite material plane

The non-local theory solution of a mode-I permeable crack in a piezoelectric/piezomagnetic composite material plane was given by using the generalized Almansi’s theorem and the Schmidt method in this paper. The problem was formulated through Fourier transform into two pairs of dual integral equations, in which the unknown variables are the displacement jumps across the crack surfaces. To solve the dual integral equations, the displacement jumps across the crack surfaces were directly expanded as a series of Jacobi polynomials. Numerical examples were provided to show the effects of the crack length and the lattice parameter on the stress field, the electric displacement field and the magnetic flux field near the crack tips. Unlike the classical elasticity solutions, it is found that no stress, electric displacement and magnetic flux singularities are present at the crack tips in piezoelectric/piezomagnetic composite materials. The non-local elastic solution yields a finite hoop stress at the crack tip, thus allowing us to use the maximum stress as a fracture criterion.     

A surface crack in a graded coating bonded to a homogeneous substrate under dynamic loading conditions

The elastodynamic problem of a surface crack in a graded coating bonded to a homogeneous substrate under dynamic loading is considered. The coating is graded along the thickness direction and modeled as a nonhomogeneous medium with an isotropic stress-strain law. The problem is solved under the assumption of plane strain or generalized plane stress conditions. The crack surfaces are subjected to arbitrary dynamic loadings which give rise to mixed fracture modes which turn out to be uncoupled due to the fact that the crack axis is parallel to the material gradient. Using integral transforms, the resulting mixed-boundary value problem is reduced to a set of two uncoupled singular integral equations which are solved numerically to obtain the crack-tip stress intensity factors. The main objective of the paper is to study the effect of the coating thickness and nonhomogeneity parameter on the crack tip dynamic stress intensity factors for the purpose of gaining better understanding on the behavior of graded coatings.     

Impact response of a strip composite with a finite crack

The dynamic response of a central crack in a strip composite under normal impact is analyzed. The crack is oriented normally to the interfaces. Laplace and Fourier transform techniques are used to reduce the elastodynamic problem to a pair of dual integral equations. The integral equations are solved by using an integral transform technique and the result is expressed in terms of a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. A numerical Laplace inversion routine is used to recover the time dependence of the solution. The dynamic stress intensity factor is determined and its dependence on time, the material properties and the geometrical parameters is discussed.     

A study of asymmetrically loaded griffith crack in an infinite anisotropic medium

The two dimensional problem of a Griffith type crack whose surfaces are subjected to asymmetrical loading in an infinite anisotropic elastic medium is studied. The analysis is based on the integral transform method and the finite Hubert transform technique of dual integral equations. Closed form solutions of displacement components along the line of the crack and the formulae for the stress components at a general point are obtained. The near crack tip approximations to stress components are also presented in detail.     

Dynamic response for non-homogeneous piezoelectric medium with multiple cracks

A general procedure to analyze the dynamic response of non-homogeneous piezoelectric medium containing some non-collinear cracks is developed. It is assumed that all the material properties only depend on the coordinates y (along the thickness direction). The assumption is made that the non-homogeneous medium is composed of numerous laminae with their surfaces perpendicular to the thick direction. The solution method is based upon the Fourier and Laplace transforms to reduce the boundary value problem to a system of generalized singularity equations in the Laplace transform domain. The singular integral equations for the problem are derived and numerically solved by weight residual value method. The time-dependent full field solutions are obtained in the time domain. As numerical illustration, the stress and electric displacement intensity factors for a three-layer plate specimen with two cracks are presented. It is found that the stress and electric fields are coupled in the crack plane ahead of the crack tip for non-homogenous piezoelectric materials.     

Weight Function for a Crack in a Two-dimensional Orthotropic Medium Under Impact Shear Loading

The paper examines the elastodynamic response of an infinite two-dimensional orthotr- opic medium containing a central crack under impact shear loading. Laplace and Fourier integral transforms are employed to reduce the problem to a pair of dual integral equations in the Laplace transformed plane. These equations are reduced to integral differential equations, which have been solved in the low frequency domain by iterations. To determine time dependence, these equations are inverted to yield the dynamic stress intensity factor (SIF) for shear point force loading that corresponds to the weight function for the crack under shear loading. It is used to derive SIF for polynomial loading.     

Two collinear unequal cracks in a poled piezoelectric plane: Mode I case solved by a new approach of real fundamental solutions

The purpose of the present work is to study the problem of two collinear unequal cracks in a piezoelectric plane under mode I electromechanical loadings via a new approach. For the first time, real fundamental solutions are derived for in-plane piezoelectric governing equations. The cracks are simulated by continuously distributed generalized dislocations and Cauchy singular integral equations are established from the solution of a generalized point dislocation. Both the theorectical derivation and numerical computations are validated by the exact solution in a special case. Parametric studies are conducted to reveal the effects of crack space, crack length, electric loading and remanent electric displacement on energy release rate. It is found that negative electric displacement loading can decrease both the total energy release rate (TERR) and the mechanical strain energy release rate (MSERR), implying that it has a shielding effect on cracks definitely. Positive electric displacement loading can enhance MSERR, but meanwhile it can enhance or reduce TERR depending on the magnitude of the electric loading factor. The effect of a remanent electric displacement along the poling direction is equivalent to that of a positive electric field loading and should be considered in engineering design.     

Transient response of a functionally graded piezoelectric strip with a penny-shaped crack under electric time-dependent loading

Summary The dynamic fracture problem for a functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) strip containing a penny-shaped crack parallel to the free boundaries is considered in this study. It is assumed that the electroelastic properties of the strip vary continuously along the thickness direction of the strip, and that the strip is under time-dependent electric load. Integral transform techniques and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to the solutions of a system of singular integral equations. The stress and electric displacement intensity factors versus time are presented for various values of dimensionless parameters representing the crack size, the crack location and the material nonhomogeneity.     

Impact response of a finite crack in an orthotropic strip

Summary The elastodynamic response of a finite crack in an infinite orthotropic strip under normal impact is investigated in this study. The crack is situated symmetrically and oriented in a direction normal to the edges of the strip. Laplace and Hankel transforms are used to reduce the transient problem to the solution of a pair of dual integral equations in the Laplace transform plane. The solution to the dual integral equations is then expressed in terms of a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. Numerical values on the dynamic stress intensity factor for some fiber-reinforced composite materials are obtained and the results are graphed to display the influence of the material orthotropy.     

Scattering of SH waves by an arbitrarily orientated closed crack

The 2D problem of a time-harmonic plane shear horizontal (SH) wave scattered by a finite closed crack in an isotropic material is presented in the paper. The crack is arbitrarily orientated with regard to the incident wave. A spring model based on the assumption that the traction components on the crack surfaces are linearly related to the crack opening displacement (COD) is used to model the closed crack. The problem is formulated in a set of boundary integral equations which contains the CODs as unknowns. Numerical examples are presented for the CODs, elastodynamic stress intensity factors, and the scattered displacement field for various parameters, such as spring stiffness, crack sizes and crack orientations. The results show that both the crack closure and orientation have significant effects on the scattered displacement field for the closed crack.     

The mixed-type integral equations for transient elastodynamic plane crack problems

In the present paper, by use of the boundary integral equation method and the techniques of Green fundamental solution and singularity analysis, the dynamic infinite plane crack problem is investigated. For the first time, the problem is reduced to solving a system of mixed-typed integral equations in Laplace transform domain. The equations consist of ordinary boundary integral equations along the outer boundary and Cauchy singular integral equations along the crack line. The equations obtained are strictly proved to be equivalent with the dual integral equations obtained by Sih in the special case of dynamic Griffith crack problem. The mixed-type integral equations can be solved by combining the numerical method of singular integral equation with the ordinary boundary element method. Further use the numerical method for Laplace transform, several typical examples are calculated and their dynamic stress intensity factors are obtained. The results show that the method proposed is successful and can be used to solve more complicated problems.     

Fracture analysis of a piezoelectric layer with a penny-shaped and energetically consistent crack

The problem of an eccentric penny-shaped crack embedded in a piezoelectric layer is addressed by using the energetically consistent boundary conditions. The Hankel transform technique is applied to solve the boundary-value problem. Then two coupling Fredholm integral equations are derived and solved by using the composite Simpson’s rule. The intensity factors of stress, electric displacement, crack opening displacement and electric potential together with the energy release rate are further given. The effects of the thickness of a piezoelectric layer and the discharge field inside the penny-shaped crack on the fracture parameters of concern are discussed through numerical computations. The observations reveal that an increase of the discharge field decreases the stress intensity factor and the energy release rate. An eccentric penny-shaped crack is easier to propagate than a mid-plane one in a piezoelectric layer, and the geometry of the crack along with the layer thickness have significant influences on the electrostatic traction acting on the crack faces. The solutions for a penny-shaped dielectric crack in an infinite or a semi-infinite piezoelectric material can be obtained easily.     

A study of free surface effects on through cracks under impact loading

This paper deals with the implementation of a three-dimensional time-domain boundary integral formulation for a center-crack, finite solid under symmetrically applied step loading. The BEM displacement time domain formulations have, hitherto, been limited to analyzing two-dimensional crack problems, though hypersingular formulations have been used to analyze finite cracks in infinite domains. In this paper, variation of dynamic stress intensity factor (DSIF) along the crack front for a stationary, through-thickness straight crack is studied for a finite solid under step loading. The state of stress is evaluated at the crack vertex, where crack front meets the free surface. The effect of free surface on DSIF is investigated. The effect of waves traveling in thickness direction is explained. It is possible to estimate accurately the critical intersection angle of the crack front with the free surface at which square-root singularity is restored at the crack vertex under step loading. A new partitioning scheme is proposed for spatial integration of elastodynamic kernels.     

Determination of Stress Intensity Factor for Cracks in Orthotropic Composite Materials using Digital Image Correlation

Abstract: This paper focuses on the application of the digital image correlation (DIC) technique to determine the stress intensity factor (SIF) for cracks in orthotropic composites. DIC is a full‐field technique for measuring the surface displacements of a deforming object and can be applied to any type of material. To determine the SIF from full‐field displacement data, the asymptotic expansion of the crack‐tip displacement field is required. In this paper the expansion of the crack tip displacement field is derived from an existing solution for strain fields. Unidirectional fibre composite panels with an edge crack aligned along the fibre were tested under remote tensile loading and the displacements were recorded using DIC. The SIF was calculated from the experimental data by fitting the theoretical displacement field using the least squares method. The SIF thus determined was in good agreement with theoretical results and therefore demonstrates the applicability of the derived displacement field and DIC technique for studying fracture in composites.     

Time-domain boundary element analysis of dynamic near-tip fields for impact-loaded collinear cracks

A time-domain boundary integral equation method has been developed to calculate elastodynamic fields generated by the incidence of stress (or displacement) pulses on single cracks and systems of two collinear cracks. The system of boundary integral equations has been cast in a form which is amenable to solution by the boundary element method in conjunction with a time-stepping technique. Particular attention has been devoted to dynamic overshoots of the stress intensity factors. Elastodynamic stress intensity factors for pulse incidence on a single crack have been computed as function of time, and they have been compared with results of other authors. For collinear macrocrack-microcrack configurations the stress intensity factors at both tips of the macrocrack have been computed as functions of time for various values of the crack spacing and the relative size of the microcrack.     

A solution method for finding dynamic stress intensity factors for arbitrarily oriented cracks in transversely isotropic materials

The transient elastodynamic response of a transversely isotropic material containing a semi-infinite crack under uniform impact loading on the faces is examined. The crack lies in a principle plane of the material, but the crack front does not coincide with a principle direction. Rather, the crack front is at an angle to a principle direction and thus the problem becomes more three-dimensional in nature. Three loading modes are considered, i.e., opening, in-plane shear and anti-plane shear. The solutions for the stress intensity factor history around the crack tip are found. Laplace and Fourier transforms together with the Wiener-Hopf technique are employed to solve the equations of motion directly. The asymptotic expression of stress near the crack tip leads to a closed-form solution for the dynamic stress intensity factor for each loading mode. It is found that the stress intensity factors are proportional to the square root of time as expected. Results given here converge to known solutions in transversely isotropic materials with a crack oriented along a principle direction and isotropic materials as special cases. The results of this analysis are used to find approximate strain energy release rates for dynamically loaded penny shaped cracks.     

Time-domain BEM for three-dimensional fracture mechanics

The present paper deals with time-domain analysis of three-dimensional transient dynamic crack problems. The time-domain formulation of the boundary element method for 3-D elastodynamic problems is used. Quarter-point and singular quarter-point elements represent displacements and tractions, respectively, near the crack front. Special attention is paid to integration and algorithms to preserve stability. Cracks in finite and unbounded regions under single and mixed mode dynamic loading conditions are studied. To the authors’ knowledge, no previous BE approach for 3-D elastodynamic crack problems based on the time-domain displacement representation exists.