Partial closure of cracks at the interface between a layer and a half space

Abstract

The paper treats the crack at the interface between a layer and a substrate. Using a formulation based on dislocations, the problem is reduced to a pair of singular integral equations which can be solved numerically. It is found that a large contact zone exists whenever the interface transmits shear. The dependence of the contact zone size on the load parameters is determined for several combinations of materials. Also the shapes of the open part of the crack are shown for illustration.