Interactions between a curved crack and a circular boundary (Q1064854)

The author investigates the problem of determining the stress intensity factors at crack tips for two cases: (i) a disc containing a concentric arc crack, and (ii) an infinite plate with a circular hole and a concentric crack. The analysis uses a special form of the alternating method in which the key roles are played by some simple coefficients. These coefficients are used to establish equivalent procedures that reduce the original interaction problems between a curved crack and a circular boundary exactly to the plane problems of a single curved crack in an infinite plate. Making use of the equivalent procedures, the alternating cycles can be carried on, and the values of stress intensity factors are obtained. A number of numerical results of stress intensity factors of a curved crack within or outside a circular boundary are presented to provide some useful data in engineering and demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the equivalent procedures.