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Stress Solution at Crack Tip (Westergaard (1934) )

Westergaard established the procedure for computing stress near a crack tip in 1934. The process uses an Airy stress function to determine stress based on its partial derivatives. For Mode I cracks, the dominant near-crack-tip stress terms follow equations 25-27, where the expressions of K depend on the specific far-field load case and geometry. Similar analyses determine the key displacement equations for Mode II and Mode III cracks near the tip as well. The parameter c in the displacement equations depends on whether the situation involves plane deformation or plane stress.

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385 views

Stress Solution at Crack Tip (Westergaard (1934) )

Westergaard established the procedure for computing stress near a crack tip in 1934. The process uses an Airy stress function to determine stress based on its partial derivatives. For Mode I cracks, the dominant near-crack-tip stress terms follow equations 25-27, where the expressions of K depend on the specific far-field load case and geometry. Similar analyses determine the key displacement equations for Mode II and Mode III cracks near the tip as well. The parameter c in the displacement equations depends on whether the situation involves plane deformation or plane stress.

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theamanthe
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© © All Rights Reserved
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STRESS SOLUTION AT CRACK TIP [WESTERGAARD

(1934)]

General stress solution


The procedure for computing the stress state near a crack tip was established by Westergaard
(1934). We will limit ourselves to Mode I, and the summary of the procedure given below is
taken from the book by Gdoutos (2010).

The process bases on the Airy stress function concept, here used in its Cartesian form [note that
in Dahlberg & Ekberg (2002), pp. 73-74, a polar-form definition is used].

If we find a function that satisfies the equation

then the stress state is given by its partial derivatives:

For a plane-stress or plane-strain state, this is a very general statement, the only prerequisite of
which is that the material is linearly elastic. The general solution of Eq. (1) can be written

(3)

where (z) is a complex-valued function of the complex variable , which satisfies


the Cauchy-Riemann conditions

The overbar and double-overbar notations in Eq. (3) are defined by:

We start by performing the partial differentiations needed to set up the stress components [cf
Eqs. (2)]. Technique: Differentiate Eq. (3) and identify terms by the right members of Eqs. (4).
Summary:

Knowing this, we will now go to concrete crack cases.

Example 1: Large sheet with a central crack

 Westergaard made the following ansatz:

In the plane of the crack we have


, i.e.

Therefore, in the plane of the crack,


Here, one usually introduces a coordinate transformation as
shown on the left

by which

If we limit ourselves to cases where , this can be simplified:

which can be formally written

For a general z (i.e., not only for positions in the plane of the crack) , let us now do the same
thing:

We return to the Westergaard ansatz, Eq. (10):

With the same coordinate transformation, now more generally expressed as , we get

which, in analogy with (16), can be formalised as

In order to make this more easily readable, one usually introduces polar coordinates:

which gives
and

Therefore

and, analogously,

where (as a reminder)

Equations (25) → (27) are the dominant near-crack-tip terms of the Westergaard solution for
the stress state near the crack tip in this problem [Westergaard (1934)].
Example 2. Pair of concentrated forces on the crack surfaces

(29)

Example 3. Symmetric pairs of concentrated forces on the crack surfaces

(31)

Summary
The same procedures have been carried out for a large number of cases, always ending in the
stress expressions given in Eqs. (25) through (27), the only difference being the expressions of
. Thus, in summary for Mode I cracks:
Similar analyses for Mode II cracks lead to the following expressions

and for Mode III cracks one gets

Tables and diagrams of , and are found in textbooks and handbooks, for instance
Dahlberg and Ekberg (2002) or Sundström (2010)

DISPLACEMENT SOLUTION AT CRACK TIP


A similar procedure can be used for finding the displacements near the crack tip. Even for the
displacements it turns out that general solutions can be written for the three modes and that,
again, the information about actual far-field load case and ‘macro’ geometry comes into the
solution by only and , respectively. The displacement solutions for a Mode I crack
are

Note that in these equations, the parameter depends on whether the situation is plane
deformation or and plane stress:
For a Mode II crack:

and for a Mode III crack:

References
Dahberg T, Ekberg A (2002): Failure fracture fatigue, Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden
Gdoutos E E (2010): Fracture mechanics, an introduction, 2nd edition, Springer, Doordrecht,
the Netherlands
Sundström B (ed.): Handbook of solid mechanics, Department of Solid Mechanuics, KTH,
Stockholm, Sweden
Westergaard H M (1934): Stresses at a crack, size of the crack and the bending of reinforced
concrete, Proc. American Concrete Institute, 30, 93-102

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