A theoretical study has been carried out to solve the problem of four circular-arc cracks (located on the circumference of a circle) with coalesced yield zones in an infinite elastic perfectly plastic plate. The most significant part of the crack configuration is the coalesced yield zones between pairs of cracks. A well known complex variable method is used to derive closed form expressions for stress intensity factor, displacement components and crack opening displacement. A numerical study is also carried out in this paper to investigate the effect of coalesced yield zones on the load bearing capacity of the plate when the boundary of the plate is subjected to different types of stress profiles.
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