Estimation of fracture parameters and stress field for edge cracks in finite elastically graded plates using boundary collocation

Summary The fracture parameters, stress intensity factor and T-stress are obtained for edge cracks aligned along the gradient in finite size elastically graded plates using the technique of boundary collocation. A scheme for extending the recently derived crack tip stress field for elastically graded materials is proposed. Using this extended stress field, the fracture parameters are evaluated for edge cracks subjected to far field tension and three point bending. The results for far field tension agreed well with published theoretical results over a good range of elastic gradients. The maximum shear stress calculated over the entire domain of the cracked plate using boundary collocation agrees very well with that obtained from finite element analysis. The efficacy of the extended stress field in capturing the effects of the elastic gradient on the stresses and fracture parameters is thus established in this study.