The stress singularity of mode-i crack propagating with transonic speed

• Published in: Engineering fracture mechanics 1995-12, Vol.52 (6), p.977-985
• Main Author: Chung, Yen-Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Exact sciences and technology; Fracture mechanics (crack, fatigue, damage...); Fracture mechanics, fatigue and cracks; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Physics; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics
• ISSN: 0013-7944; 1873-7315
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-7944(95)00083-8

The transient problem of a mode-I centered crack propagating in an unbounded isotropic linear elastic body with the crack-tip speed larger than the S-wave speed and less than the P-wave speed is studied. The method of self-similar potentials with the function-theoretic approach has been successfully applied. Attention is focused on the stress singularity and it is found that the asymptotic solution of the stress field near the crack tips is of order −( sol1 2 + m) , where m = 0 for the crack-tip speed equal to the P-wave as well as S-wave speeds and m = 1 2 for the crack-tip speed equal to √2 of the S-wave speed. The possibility of the mode-I crack propagating with the transonic speed is also discussed from the physical point of view, even though the problem can be solved mathematically.