Stress intensity factor analysis at an interfacial corner between anisotropic bimaterials under thermal stress

A numerical method using a path-independent H-integral based on the Betti reciprocal principle was developed to analyze the stress intensity factors of an interfacial corner between anisotropic bimaterials under thermal stress. According to the theory of linear elasticity, asymptotic stress near the tip of a sharp interfacial corner is generally singular as a result of a mismatch of the materials' elastic constants. The eigenvalues and the eigen functions are obtained using the Williams eigenfunction method, which depends on the materials' properties and the geometry of an interfacial corner. The order of the singularity related to the eigenvalue is real, complex or power-logarithmic. The amplitudes of the singular stress terms can be calculated using the H-integral. The stress and displacement fields around an interfacial corner for the H-integral are obtained using finite element analysis. A proposed definition of the stress intensity factors of an interfacial corner involves a smooth expansion of the stress intensity factors of an interfacial crack between dissimilar materials. The asymptotic solutions of stress and displacement around an interfacial corner are uniquely obtained using these stress intensity factors. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.