Crack-tip fields in elastic-plastic material under plane stress mode I loading

Results on the crack-tip fields in an elastic power-law hardening material under plane stress mode I loading are presented. Using a generalized asymptotic expansion of the stress function, higher-order terms are found which have newly-discovered characteristics. A series solution is obtained for the elastic-plastic crack-tip fields. The expansion of stress fields contains both the r(ti)sigma(pq)((i))(theta; t(i)) and Re[r(tk)sigma(rs)((k))(theta; t(k))] terms where t(i) is real and t(k) is complex; the terms sigma(pq)((i))(theta; t(k)) and sigma(rs)((k))(theta; t(k)) are real and complex functions of theta respectively. Comparing the results with that for the plane strain mode I loading shows that: (I) the effect of higher-order solutions on the crack-tip fields is much smaller; and (2) the path independent integral J also controls the second-order or third-order term in the asymptotic solutions of the crack-tip fields for most of the engineering materials (1 < n < 11) in plane stress, while the J-integral does not control the second and the third-order terms for the plane strain mode I case for n > 3. These theoretical results imply that the crack-tip fields can be well characterized by the J-integral, and can be used as a criterion for fracture initiation under plane stress mode I loading. This is in agreement with existing full field solutions and experimental data that J at crack growth initiation is essentially independent of in-plane specimen geometry. The comparison confirms the theoretical asymptotic solutions developed in this study.