Plane-strain mixed-mode near-tip fields in elastic perfectly plastic solids under small-scale yielding conditions

Within the context of the small-strain approach, plane-strain mixed-mode near-tip fields of a stationary crack in an elastic perfectly plastic Mises solid under small-scale yielding conditions are examined by finite element methods. Steady-state stress fields in the immediate vicinity of the crack tip are obtained as the remote loading of the elastic K-field increases. Asymptotic crack-tip solutions consisting of constant stress sectors, centered fan sectors, and an elastic sector are then constructed accordingly. The asymptotic crack-tip stress solutions agree well with the numerical results for a whole spectrum of mixed-mode loadings. Our mixed-mode near-tip solution with an elastic sector differs from that of Saka et al. by one (plastic) constant stress sector situated between the elastic sector and the neighbouring fan sector. The effect of the existence of the elastic sector on the near-tip fields is discussed in the light of the computational results. The plastic mixity factor of the near-tip field is given as a function of the elastic mixity factor of the prescribed K-field. This function is well bounded by that of the perfectly plastic limit of the corresponding solutions for power-law hardening materials given by Shih. Some issues pertaining to the numerical procedures such as the implementation of the small-scale yielding assumption are also addressed.