Yielding on inclined planes at the tip of a crack loaded in uniform tension

Abstract

Plane-strain yielding from a crack in an infinite elastic body is represented here by a distribution of edge dislocations on two planes inclined at angles ±ga to the crack plane, and the equilibrium condition is solved numerically. Approximate analytical expressions are obtained for the plastic-zone length, the crack opening displacement, and the J-integral, as functions of the applied stress and α. A comparison with a co-planar model of the plastic zone gives very similar results for α ≈ 65°. It is shown that fracture criteria based either on a critical crack opening displacement (COD) or on a critical value of J are always different, and the use of the former may lead to critical defect-sizes which are twice as large as those given by the latter. Furthermore, COD appears not to be a well-defined material property. The critical J criterion gives a fracture stress which is α-dependent : this may be responsible for deviations towards results of linear elastic fracture mechanics when post-yield fracture mechanics is used to analyse extensive yielding. The changes in the stress field of the crack due to the existence of the plastic zone are also discussed.