Some Axially Symmetric Stress Distributions in Elastic Solids containing Penny-shaped Cracks

Abstract

This paper concludes the investigation of axially symmetric stress distributions in elastic solids containing penny-shaped cracks, commenced in previous papers (1), (2), by considering the stress distribution in a circular beam containing a crack opened by internal pressure or by uniform tension. The method of analysis, developed in the previous papers, is to first seek a representation of the displacement at a point of the beam as a sum of two terms, one of which is a representation of the displacement due to the crack in an otherwise unbounded infinite solid whilst the second is a general representation of the displacement in an undamaged beam, and then to show that this representation satisfies the conditions on the crack and the curved surface of the beam provided an unknown function occurring in it is the solution of a certain Fredholm integral equation. This equation holds whatever the ratio of the radius of the crack to that of the beam, but is most readily solved by iteration when this ratio is small, this solution being a perturbation on that for a crack in an infinite solid.