Stress Intensity Factor and Energy Release Rate for Interfacial Cracks Between Dissimilar Anisotropic Materials

Abstract

The framework of fracture mechanics analysis for interface cracks as outlined by Willis (1971) is recast into a form resembling the customary framework for cracks in homogeneous materials. Based on the complex-valued “stress concentration vector” introduced by Willis, a new definition of real-valued stress intensity factors is introduced. The definition is an extension to that for cracks in homogeneous materials and reduces to the one given recently by Rice for isotropic interface cracks. In terms of the new stress intensity factors, tractions ahead of the crack and the relative crack face displacements given by Willis are rewritten into real-form expressions. The energy release rate obtained by Willis is also expressed into a real form in terms of the stress intensity factors. The validity of using the stress intensity factors as parameters controlling fracture is discussed along the line advanced by Rice (1988).