A numerical analysis of cracks emanating from a square hole in a rectangular plate under biaxial loads

This note concerns with stress intensity factors of cracks emanating from a square hole in rectangular plate under biaxial loads by means of the boundary element method which consists of the non-singular displacement discontinuity element presented by Crouch and Starfied and the crack tip displacement discontinuity elements proposed by the author. In the boundary element implementation the left or the right crack tip displacement discontinuity element is placed locally at corresponding left or right crack tip on top of the constant displacement discontinuity elements that cover the entire crack surface and the other boundary. The present numerical results illustrate that the present approach is very effective and accurate for calculating stress intensity factors of complicated cracks in a finite plate and can reveal the effect of the biaxial load and the cracked body geometry on stress intensity factors. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.