Interface flaw extension under in-plane loadings

Abstract

The wave propagation problem associated with symmetric extension of a stress-free crack at a constant rate along the interface of perfectly bonded elastic half-spaces under uniform in-plane loadings is considered. Because no characteristic length appears in the problem formulation, homogeneous function techniques are applied and approximate solutions are obtained as single integrals of complex functions. As in the corresponding static problem, the values of all the field variables undergo rapid oscillations near the crack edges. This behavior can be interpreted as interpenetration of the half-space materials in a small region near the crack edges.