On the effect of the residual stresses on the crack opening displacement in a cracked sheet

The residual stress and displacement fields caused by localized plastic flow near a mode I crack tip in a sheet under plane stress conditions are investigated. The present study founds on the classical Dugdale scheme of the plastic flow localization. The residual stress field is considered to be induced by reversed plastic flow near the crack tip caused by an unloading. As it is found the residual stresses around the crack compress the crack tip, while the residual tensile stresses in a distant from the crack tip zone occur. It is shown the maximum residual tensile stresses can reach the significant value of the one third of the yield limit. The length of the compressed plastic zone and the residual displacement distributions are obtained. The exact formula for the residual crack opening displacement to estimate the crack closure is found. Then the next loading of the cracked plate is considered. It is shown that the second loading causes the origin of two plastic zones localized near the crack tip and at the point, where the maximum residual tensile stresses are concentrated. Again, according to the Dugdale scheme of the plastic localization, both the plastic flow zones are modelled as narrow stripes on the line extending the crack. To determine three non-dimensional parameters, characterizing the position of the segment-like plastic flow zones, a non-linear system of equations is obtained and analyzed. The exact formula for the crack opening displacement after a loading–unloading cycle is obtained. An asymptotic analysis (as the linear dimension of the distant plastic flow zone compared with the actual crack length is small) is given. It shows that the effect of the distant plastic flow zone appears as some complementary crack closure.