Stresses around a periodic array of planar cracks in an anisotropic bimaterial

Abstract

The problem of calculating the stress distribution around a periodic array of planar cracks in an anisotropic elastic half-space which adhere perfectly to another anisotropic half-space is considered. It is formulated in terms of a system of hypersingular integral equations with the crack-opening displacements as unknown functions. For a specific case involving transversely-isotropic materials, the integral equations are solved numerically through the use of a collocation technique and numerical values of useful quantities, such as the crack tip stress intensity factors, are computed.