Issue 32

N. Bisht et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 32 (2015) 1-12; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.32.01 1 Influence of crack offset distance on the interaction of multiple cracks on the same side in a rectangular plate Neeraj Bisht, P. C. Gope, Kuldeep Panwar College of Technology, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (263145), Uttarakhand, India. neerajbisht30@gmail.com A BSTRACT . In the present work finite element method has been employed to study the interaction of multiple cracks in a finite rectangular plate of unit thickness with cracks on the same side under uniaxial loading conditions. The variation of the stress intensity factor and stress distribution around the crack tip with crack offset distance has been studied. Due to the presence of a neighbouring crack, two types of interactions viz. intensification and shielding effect have been observed. The interaction between the cracks is seen to be dependent on the crack offset distance. It is seen that the presence of a neighbouring crack results in the appearance of mode II stress intensity factor which was otherwise absent for a single edge crack. It can be said that the proximity of cracks is non-desirable for structural integrity. The von-Mises stress for different crack orientations has been computed. Linear elastic analysis of state of stress around the crack tip has also been done. K EYWORDS . Finite element method; Crack interaction; Von-Mises stress. I NTRODUCTION he fracture mechanics theory can be used to analyse structures and machine components with cracks and to obtain an efficient design. The basic principles of fracture mechanics developed from studies of [1-3] are based on the concepts of linear elasticity. The interaction between multiple cracks has a major influence on crack growth behaviours. This influence is particularly significant in stress corrosion cracking (SCC), welding, riveting etc. because of the relatively large number of cracks initiated due to environmental effects. Pseudo – traction –electric – displacement –magnetic –induction method has been proposed [4] to solve the multiple crack interaction problems in the magneto elastic material. Most of the real life situations have the problem of multiple cracks and so it becomes imperative to study this interaction for an array of cracks, keeping this in mind interaction between two parallel cracks has been studied and a detailed analysis has been done in this regard. Since today, there have been over 20 approaches to calculate stress intensity factors. Some of these are the integral transform method [5], the Westergaard method [6],the complex variable function method [7], the singular equation integral method [8], conformal mapping [9], the Laurent series expansion [10], boundary collocation method [11], Green’s function method [12], the continuous distribution dislocation method [13], the finite element method [14], the boundary element method [15], the body force method [16] and the displacement discontinuity method [17]. The solutions of many of the fracture mechanics problems have been compiled in data hand books for stress intensity factors [18] and [19]. The configuration of multiple cracks is so complicated that a solution may not be available from the handbooks and literatures. The above mentioned methods with analytical features, which are usually suitable for special cases or very simple crack configurations, are not sufficient to obtain reasonable results for general orientations due to the multiple