On the elasticT-term of a main crack induced by near tip microcracks

Abstract

In the expansion form of the stress field near a crack tip, the nonsingular and constant stress acting parallel to the crack plane is called the elasticT-term, which is very important in fracture analysis. The elasticT-term of a main crack induced by near tip microcracks is analyzed. The original problem considered consists of a main crack accompanied by near tip microcracks, which are loaded remotely by the first three terms of the crack tip stress field expansion parameterized by stress intensity factorsKI∞,KII∞, and the nonsingular stress, i.e., theT-term,∞. With the principle of superposition, the problem can be reduced to a system of Fredholm integral equations which can be solved numerically. After obtaining the solution, the induced elasticT-term is evaluated. Several typical numerical examples are given and the results are shown in Figures, from which some useful discussion and conclusions are obtained.