Comparison of the Griffith and Irwin Criteria for a Crack Asymmetrically Propagating in the Plane

Abstract

On the basis of asymptotic formulas for the stress intensity factors and strain energy and the variational formulations of the Griffith and Irwin criteria, we propose asymptotic models of quasistatic crack growth. Under certain conditions, the transition to asymptotic models violates the equivalence of these criteria typical of the complete variational formulations. This phenomenon is analyzed and explained for a specific problem of asymmetric growth of a rectilinear crack in the elastic plane used as an example.