Dynamic Behavior of an Orthotropic Material Containing a Central Crack

Abstract

Abstract The dynamic response of a central crack in an orthotropic material is investigated. The crack is situated along one of the principal axes of the material. The load is harmonic in time and normally applied to the crack surface. The Fourier transform is used to solve the dynamic fracture problem, and the results are simplified through a complete contour integration. The dynamic stress intensity factor is obtained in an exact expression in terms of the frequency factor and the material constants. The frequency factor is defined as the product of the wave frequency and the half-crack length, divided by the shear wave speed. Glass/epoxy and graphite/epoxy composite materials are used as example materials in calculating the numerical values of the stress intensity factors. The maximum values of the stress intensity factors are shown to be dependent on the value of the nondimensional frequency factor and the material anisotropy. The motion of the crack surface is also investigated. The crack surface distortion from the associated static crack shape also depends on the wave frequency and the orthotropic material constants.