Perturbation method to analyze the elastodynamic field near a kinked crack (Q1058369)

A perturbation procedure is presented which expresses the elastodynamic fields near a kinked crack in terms of a power series of \(\kappa\), where \(\kappa\) \(\pi\) is the kinking angle. Mode-III and mixed Mode I-II crack kinking of a semi-infinite crack have been considered. Each order in the approximation requires the field for a crack which propagates in its own plane, but where the crack faces are subjected to crack-face tractions which are related to the actual crack-kinking geometry. For crack kinking under stress-wave loading it was shown in an earlier paper [the authors and \textit{J. P. Dempsey}, ibid. 20, 395-410 (1984; Zbl 0531.73070)] that the lowest order approximation gives very good agreement with exact analytical and numerical results over a substantial range of kinking angles.