Hole Crack Problems in Infinite Elastic Plate in Tension

This paper deals with crack(s) emanating from a hole in infinite elastic plate in tension. Such a crack problem is called a hole crack problem for short. By extending Buckner’s principle suited for a crack to a hole crack problem in infinite plate in tension, here, the original problem (the hole crack problem in infinite plate in tension) is divided into a homogeneous problem (the one without hole crack) subjected to remote loads and a hole crack problem in an unloaded body with applied tractions on the surfaces of the hole and crack. Thus, the results in terms of the stress intensity factors (SIFs) can be obtained by considering the latter problem, which is analyzed easily by means of a hybrid displacement discontinuity (a boundary element method) proposed recently by Yan. Numerical examples are included to illustrate that the numerical approach is very simple and effective for analyzing the hole crack problem in infinite plate in tension. By using the proposed approach, three hole crack problems (i.e., a pair of cracks emanating from an elliptical hole, a pair of cracks emanating from a rhombus hole, and a crack emanating from a triangular hole in infinite plate in tension) are analyzed in detail. By changing the hole geometry form and the hole geometry parameters and by comparing the SIFs of the hole crack problem with those of the center crack problem, the effect of the hole geometry form and the hole geometry parameters on the SIFs is revealed. It is found that a hole has a shielding and an amplifying effect on the SIFs of crack(s) emanating from the hole. The shielding and amplifying effects varied with the hole geometry form and the hole geometry parameters.