Interfacial Fracture Mechanics for Anisotropic Bimaterials

Abstract

This paper focuses on aspects of fracture mechanics of interface cracks in anisotropic bimaterials. In this case there is a coupling of all three crack-tip fracture modes in the natural interface-crack coordinate system, whereas in the isotropic case, mode 3 is decoupled from modes 1 and 2. This paper intends to shed light on how to interpret the crack-tip fields which are given explicitly along the interface in terms of two (real 3x3) bimaterial matrices W and D. A matric function Y is defined in terms of W and D which determines the coupling and oscillations in the cracktip fields. Explicit expressions for the crack-tip fields and the associated stress intensity factors are given as well as for the energy release rate. The finite (Griffith) interface crack is considered in detail.