Mode I and mode II analyses of a crack normal to the graded interlayer in bonded materials

In this paper, the plane elasticity equations are used to investigate the in-plane normal (mode I) and shear (mode II) behavior of a crack perpendicular to and terminating at the interface in bonded media with a graded interfacial zone. The interfacial zone is treated as a nonhomogeneous interlayer with the continuously varying elastic modulus between the two dissimilar, homogeneous semi-infinite constituents. For each of the individual loading modes, based on the Fourier integral transform technique, a singular integral equation with a Cauchy kernel is derived in a separate but parallel manner. In the numerical results, the values of corresponding modes of stress intensity factors are illustrated for various combinations of material and geometric parameters of the bonded media in conjunction with the effect of the material nonhomogeneity within the graded interfacial zone.