Investigation of energy release rate under mode II loading in a rectangular orthotropic plate with a band crack using 3D finite element analysis

A rectangular plate containing a band crack and made of orthotropic elastic material is considered and the energy release rate (ERR) component in mode II at this crack front is investigated. It is assumed that the crack’s edge planes are parallel to the upper and lower face planes of the plate and the edge planes of the crack are loaded with uniformly distributed sliding forces. The corresponding boundary value problem is formulated within the scope of the three-dimensional linear theory of elasticity and the solution to this problem is found by employing 3D finite element method (3D FEM) modeling. Numerical results on the ERR for mode II and on the influence of the mechanical-orthotropic properties of the plate material are presented and discussed. In particular, it is established that the influence of the shear modulus in a plane which is simultaneously perpendicular to the crack’s front and crack’s plane on the ERR is more significant than that caused by the change of another modulus of the orthotropic material.