Interfacial Edge Crack Research Articles

Energy release rate calculations for interface edge cracks based on a conservation integral

A certain conservation integral, the so called M-integral, recently exploited by L B. Freund in the calculation of stress intensity factors for cracks in homogeneous elastic media, is applied to the calculation of energy release rates for interface edge cracks. Specifically, for an edge crack along the interface between two elastic wedges of different opening angles and dissimilar elastic properties, and that is subjected to point loads at the apex, a relation is derived among the length of the crack, the energy release rate of the crack, the applied loads, the wedge angles and the material parameters.