Abstract
Finite element methods have been used to calculate the rate of release of strain energy caused by growth of an internal crack in some model elastic composites under tension. A layer of a linearly elastic material was considered, bonded between two flat or two spherical rigid surfaces. The reduction in strain energy caused by a small circular crack at the interface was found to be only about one-half of that due to a similar crack in the centre of the layer, in accord with the conjecture of Andrews and King. Cracks in the centre of a thin layer bonded between flat surfaces caused about the same release of energy as a crack in the centre of a thick specimen under the same tensile stress. On the other hand, a crack in a thin layer bonded between two spherical surfaces caused a much larger rate of energy release, depending on the radius of the layer relative to its minimum thickness. Growth of an initial crack would thus occur at a small applied stress. For thin layers between both flat and spherical surfaces, the rate of release of energy decreased as the crack grew, indicating that the crack would stabilize at a finite size. These conclusions are in accord with some observations of cracks in thin elastic layers.
Published Version
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