Evaluation of generalized stress intensity factors in anisotropic elastic multimaterial corners

Abstract

A least squares method has been developed to evaluate Generalized Stress Intensity Factors (GSIF) in 2D anisotropic linear elastic multimaterial corners. As characteristic exponents (order of stress singularities) and characteristic angular functions are evaluated first in a semi-analytical way, the only parameters to adjust in the least squares procedure are the GSIFs. Numerical examples are presented involving single and bi-material isotropic free-free corners for comparison purposes with other authors. The Boundary Element Method (BEM) has been used for numerical solutions of the presented problems. Although the procedure is tested in the present work, only with single and bimaterial isotropic free-free corner configurations, due to the easier possibility to compare with solutions of these problems by other authors, the proposed method is valid for any generic multimaterial corner configuration involving homogeneous anisotropic linear elastic materials.