Nonlinear mechanics of cracks subjected to indentation

Abstract

The paper presents the application of a boundary element technique to study the behaviour of plane cracks that are located at corner regions of an elastic solid and open during indentation. In particular, the surfaces of the planes on which indentation takes place also exhibit Coulomb frictional responses and degradation in the friction angle with plastic energy dissipation. An incremental boundary element formulation, in which special singularity elements model the behaviour at the crack tip, is used to examine the crack problems. The methodology is applied to investigate the mode I stress intensity factor at the crack tip located at the base of a V-notch in a test specimen.Key words: indented cracks, boundary element modelling, Coulomb friction, stress intensity factors