Thermal fracture analysis in orthotropic materials by XFEM

Abstract

This paper discusses the thermal fracture analysis of anisotropic materials under thermal shock based on the classic theory of thermoelasticity in the framework of the Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM). A new set of tip enrichment functions for the temperature field in anisotropic materials is proposed. To this end, an analytical solution for the temperature distribution around an insulated crack in an anisotropic medium under uniform heat flux is extracted using the complex variable method. The tip enrichment functions are extracted using the near tip temperature distribution. Generally, the tip enrichment functions of temperature are similar to displacement ones, except that they are dependent on thermal properties. The Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs) are computed using the interaction integral method. The effect of the direction of material properties on the time variation of the temperature distribution in a cracked medium and SIFs is studied. Also, the crack propagation in an orthotropic material under thermal shock is investigated.