Non-linear analysis of shallow cracks in smooth and notched plates Part 1: Analytical evaluation

Abstract

This is the first paper of two that deal with the non-linear analysis of shallow cracks. Simple formulae are given for estimating the J integral for a power-hardening elastic-plastic solid. The proposed equation for estimating J makes use of the linear elastic and the fully plastic solution to interpolate over the entire range from small- to large-scale yielding. The elastic geometry factor is obtained by means of the stress intensity factor. In the fully plastic formulation, the plastic geometry factors are obtained by considering a pure power-hardening solid, which reduces at one limit to an incompressible linear elastic solid, and at the other to a perfectly plastic solid. The solutions are given for three basic configurations: a double-edge-cracked plate under tension and bending; a notched plate under tension with a crack at the root of the notch; a single-edge-cracked plate under bending. Both force control and displacement control are considered. The accuracy of the formulae is assessed using the finite element calculations in Part 2.