Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruc

A boundary collocation method for cracked plates

Y.H. Wang a, L.G. Tham b,*
, P.K.K. Lee b, Y. Tsui b

a
Department of Civil Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Rock Engineering Center, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
Received 4 October 2002; accepted 8 July 2003

Abstract
A boundary collocation method is developed for analyzing cracked thin plates. Complex stress functions which
satisfy the equilibrium equations of an infinite domain having a single crack are first derived. As the functions have also
satisfied the stress singularity at the crack tips, it is only necessary to enforce the stress functions to satisfy the boundary
conditions along the edges of the plates and the surfaces of the cracks, if there is more than one crack. This is achieved
by the collocation least square approach. The unknown coefficients of the stress functions having been determined, the
stress intensity factors can then be computed according to the related formulae. Examples of rectangular and circular
plates with a different number of cracks and under different loadings are used to demonstrate the accuracy, versatility
and advantages of the method.
Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Bending plate; Stress intensity factors; Complex stress functions; Boundary collocation method

1. Introduction ones. As most bending plates can be treated as thin

In the design of structures, such as aircraft, the tol-
erance of the structures to flaws is very limited. There-
fore, one has to carry out fracture analyses in many
cases. To predict the growth of a crack, it is necessary to
calculate its stress intensity factors (SIFs). For plane
fracture problems, different numerical methods for
computing SIFs have been proposed, and the results can
be found in handbooks [1–4]. On the other hand, not
many results of cracked plates, especially plates of finite
dimensions, have been published. It may be due to the
fact that the theory of plate bending is more complicated
than that of plane problems. Furthermore, different
theories for describing the plate bending behaviour are
available. Among them, Kirchhoff’s theory and Reiss-
ner’s theory are the common ones [5]. The former is used
for thin plates and the latter can also be used for thick
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2959-1965/2589-2668;
fax: +852-2559-5337.
E-mail address: hrectlg@hkucc.hku.hk (L.G. Tham).
plates, Kirchhoff’s theory is adopted in this paper.
The stress field around the crack tips of a thin plate
(Kirchhoff plate) was first obtained by Williams [6].
Since then, the SIFs of cracked Kirchhoff plates had
been solved by various authors. They were first calcu-
lated in the pioneering work of Sih et al. [7], and had
been incorporated into handbooks [1,4]. Most of these
analytical solutions are usually for infinite plates [8,9],
and therefore, their applications are limited. For finite
cracked plates, the finite element method was used to
obtain the SIFs [10–18]. However, this method usually
involves a large number of unknowns and is not suited
to simulating the stress concentration at the crack tips.
To overcome the difficulties, the integral equation
method had been developed to solve two-dimensional
fracture problems [19]. Keer et al. used this method to
analyze cracked bending plates [3,20].
Furthermore, the boundary collocation method
(BCM), an efficient method for analyzing continuous
media, was used by some investigators to analyze plate
problems. As it makes use of the exact solutions of the
governing differential equations, the approximations are

0045-7949/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0045-7949(03)00324-9
2622 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630

restricted to the boundaries. Such approximations are in which E is the Young’s modulus, m the Poisson ratio
usually accomplished at discrete points on the bound- and t the thickness of the plate.
aries. As the method does not require any discretization It can be shown readily that the moments are:
of the domain, it can easily be applied to problems
2 
having irregular domains and arbitrary boundary con- ow o2 w
Mx ¼
D þ m ð2aÞ
ditions. BCM was first used by Barta [21] in 1937 to ox2 oy 2
analyze thin square clamped plates under uniformly
distributed loads and concentrated loads. Since then, a
2 
ow o2 w
number of papers in which BCM were applied to plate My ¼
D þm 2 ð2bÞ
bending problems have been published. Conway [22] oy 2 ox
considered triangular, hexagonal as well as square
plates. Leissa et al. [23] treated uniformly loaded o2 w
clamped and simply supported polygonal plates. Con- Mxy ¼
Dð1
mÞ ð2cÞ
ox oy
way and Farnham [24] and Leissa and Clausen [25]
presented results for circular plates having mixed The shear forces are:
boundary conditions. A comprehensive review of BCM

was compiled by Kolodziej [26]. Recently, Hutchinson o o2 w o2 w
Qx ¼
D þ ð3aÞ
[27] reviewed the applications of BCM in bending, ox ox2 oy 2
buckling and vibration analyses of plates.
BCM is also an efficient tool for solving plane crack

problems of various geometries and loading conditions o o2 w o2 w
Qy ¼
D þ ð3bÞ
[28–31]. In this paper, BCM is further extended so that it oy ox2 oy 2
can be applied to bending analysis of cracked plates.
Stress functions satisfying the governing equations of
the bending plate are derived. As the stress functions 2.2. Representation of the displacement, moments and
also satisfy the r
1=2 singularity of the stress components forces by complex stress functions
at the crack tips, only the boundary conditions along the
edges of the plates and surfaces of the cracks, if the Muskhelishvili first solved plane elasticity problems
plates contain more than one crack, have to be enforced using complex stress functions [32]. Later, Lekhnitskii
in the solution process. The boundary conditions can be extended the complex solutions to bending problems
enforced at selected points by the collocation method. [33–35].
Forcing the stress functions to satisfy the boundary To analyze a given plate, a new variable z ¼ x þ iy
conditions, the unknown coefficients of the stress func- and its conjugate
z ¼ x
iy are introduced. The z-plane
tions are determined and the SIFs can then be computed is chosen to coincide with the mid-surface of the plate.
according to the related formulae. The normal of the z-plane is denoted by x3 with
In the present paper, this approach is used to analyze
h=2 6 x3 6 h=2, in which h is the thickness of the plate.
plates which contain a single crack or multiple cracks. It can be shown that the deflection of the plate can be
The edges of the plates can be straight or curved and written in terms of complex functions /ðzÞ and vðzÞ [33–
have different support conditions. 36]
w ¼ Re½
z/ðzÞ þ vðzÞ ð4Þ

2. Basic theory For convenience, we define

2.1. Basic formulae of thin plate wðzÞ ¼ v0 ðzÞ

According to the theory of bending of thin plates [5], UðzÞ ¼ /0 ðzÞ

the deflection w can be determined by the following
differential equation:
WðzÞ ¼ w0 ðzÞ
4
r w ¼ q=D ð1Þ
It can be shown readily that these functions are an-
where q is the total transverse load per unit area of the alytic or holomorphic in the region occupied by the
plate, D the flexural rigidity and is equal to: plate.
Substituting (4) into (2), the moments (Mx , My and
Et3 Mxy ) can be written in terms of the above complex stress
D¼
12ð1
m2 Þ functions as [33–36]
 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630 2623

1
m ow
Mx ¼
D ð1 þ mÞ½UðzÞ þ UðzÞ þ ½
zU0 ðzÞ ¼0 ð12bÞ
2 on

þ zU0 ðzÞ þ WðzÞ þ WðzÞ ð5aÞ (2) Simply supported edge
w¼0 ð13aÞ

1
m
My ¼
D ð1 þ mÞ½UðzÞ þ UðzÞ
½
zU0 ðzÞ Mn ¼ Mno ¼ 0 ð13bÞ
2

þ zU0 ðzÞ þ WðzÞ þ WðzÞ ð5bÞ (3) Free edge
Mn ¼ Mno ð14aÞ
ð1 þ mÞ
Mxy ¼
iD ½
zU0 ðzÞ þ WðzÞ
zU0 ðzÞ
WðzÞ ð5cÞ Mns ¼ Mnso ð14bÞ
2
From (3) and (4), the shear forces (Qx and Qy ) can be Qn ¼ Qno ð14cÞ
re-written as
Qx ¼
2D½U0 ðzÞ þ U0 ðzÞ ð6aÞ
where n is the normal to the edge of the plate. Mn , Mns
and Qn are the normal moment, the tangential moment
Qy ¼
2iD½U0 ðzÞ
U0 ðzÞ ð6bÞ and the shear force acting along the edges of the plates.
Mno , Mnso and Qno are the prescribed values of the cor-
In a more compact form, the moments and forces can
responding moments and shear force.
be represented by
The above equations of the boundary conditions can
Mx þ My ¼
2ð1 þ mÞD½UðzÞ þ UðzÞ ð7Þ also be expressed in terms of the complex stress func-
tions and the details are given as follows.
My
My þ 2iMxy ¼ 2ð1
mÞD½
zU0 ðzÞ þ WðzÞ ð8Þ From (4), (12a) and (13a), that is w ¼ 0, can be re-
written as
Qx
iQy ¼
4DU0 ðzÞ ð9Þ Re½
z/ðzÞ þ vðzÞ ¼ 0 ð15Þ
It can be shown readily that the deflection of the plate For ow ¼ 0, that is (12b), it is necessary to define the
on
consists of two parts, namely the general solution and the derivatives of the deflections in the curvilinear coordi-
particular solution. Having determined the general so- nates:
lution, one can proceed to obtain the particular solution
ow ow ox ow oy
which depends on the loadings acting on the plates. ¼ þ ð16aÞ
For the case of concentrated load P acting at z0 of the on ox on oy on
plate, the particular solution is [5,37]
ow ow ox ow oy
P ¼ þ ð16bÞ
w ¼ ðz
z0 Þð
z

z0 Þ ln½ðz
z0 Þð
z

z0 Þ ð10Þ os ox os oy os
16pD
For other complex transverse loadings such as patch Assuming that # is the angle between n and the x-
load, the particular solution can be obtained by inte- axis, we have
grating (10). If the loading is uniformly distributed and oy ox
has a magnitude of q0 , it can be shown readily that [5,37] ¼ ¼ cos #
os on
q0 2 2
w ¼ z
z ð11Þ ox oy
64D ¼
¼
sin #
os on
2.3. Boundary conditions Combining (16a) and (16b), we have


ow ow ow ow i#
The coordinate axes for a point on the edge of a plate þi ¼ þi e ð17Þ
ox oy on os
can be taken in the directions of the tangent s and the
normal n. There are three common boundary condi- Using (4) and (17), (12b) can be rewritten as [33–36]
tions:
/ðzÞ þ z/0 ðzÞ þ wðzÞ ¼ 0 ð18Þ
(1) Built in edge
If the moments are prescribed ((13b), (14a) and
w¼0 ð12aÞ (14b)), it is necessary to the transform the Mx , My and
2624 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630

Mxy , which are given by (5), into Mn and Mns by the
following equations [5]:
Mn ¼ Mx l2 þ My m2 þ 2Mxy lm ¼ Mno
Mns ¼
ðMx
My Þlm þ Mxy ðl2
m2 Þ ¼ Mnso
problem. Depending on the boundary conditions, dif-
ferent approaches are adopted to obtain the solutions.
If the boundary conditions are defined by known
ð19Þ moments and shear forces, it is better to assume UðzÞ
and XðzÞ directly and then obtain /ðzÞ and xðzÞ. In the
ð20Þ present analysis, they are defined as

where l and m are the direction cosines. 1 X

M XM
UðzÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Ek zk
1 þ Fk zk
1 ð24aÞ
Similarly, the shear force can be represented as z2
a2 k¼1 k¼1

Qn ¼ Qx l þ Qy m ð21Þ !
1 X
M XM

where Qx and Qy are determined by the complex stress XðzÞ ¼ j pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Ek zk
1
Fk zk
1 ð24bÞ
z2
a2 k¼1 k¼1
function UðzÞ as given in (9).
From the above analysis, it is obvious that all
where Ek and Fk are complex constants, M is the number
boundary conditions can be represented by complex
of the summation terms, and j is related to Poisson’s
stress functions.
ratio by
3þm
j¼

3. Stress functions 1
m
On the other hand, it is better to assume /ðzÞ and
In the analysis, the functions wðzÞ and WðzÞ are xðzÞ directly if the deflection is defined along the
written in terms of another two new complex functions boundary, that is
[33–36]
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi X
M X
M
xðzÞ ¼ zUð
zÞ þ wð
zÞ ð22Þ /ðzÞ ¼ z2
a2 Ek zk
1 þ F k zk ð25aÞ
k¼1 k¼1

XðzÞ ¼ x0 ðzÞ ¼ zU0 ð
zÞ þ Uð
zÞ þ Wð
zÞ ð23Þ !

For a single open crack in the bending plate as shown
in Fig. 1, based on the properties of holomorphic
functions, these functions can be solved from the
boundary values on either side of the mathematical slit
½
a; þa. One can easily note that it is a so-called Hilbert
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi X
M X
M
xðzÞ ¼ j z2
a2 Ek zk
1
F k zk ð25bÞ
k¼1 k¼1
With these complex functions, the load-free bound-
ary conditions along the crack surfaces are automati-
cally satisfied [36]. Therefore, one only has to enforce the
boundary conditions along the edges and it is achieved
by the BCM.
For plates with multiple cracks, the complex stress
functions will be composed of multiple stress functions
and the analysis is more complicated than that of a
single crack. Let us use the case as shown in Fig. 2 to
illustrate the solution procedures. In this case, the plate
has a pair of slant cracks and M0 is applied along the two
horizontal edges. The cracks are located with their
centers at points oj ðj ¼ 1; 2Þ. The crack lengths are
2aj ðj ¼ 1; 2Þ and the slant angles are aj ðj ¼ 1; 2Þ. The
complex stress functions are:
UðzÞ ¼ U1 ðz1 Þ þ U2 ðz2 Þ þ U3 ðzÞ ð26aÞ

XðzÞ ¼ X1 ðz1 Þ þ X2 ðz2 Þ þ X3 ðzÞ ð26bÞ

where U1 ðz1 Þ and X1 ðz1 Þ are assumed in the local coor-

dinates system x1 –o1 –y1 and they should satisfy the stress
singularity at the crack tips z1 ¼ a1 :
1 X
M
U1 ðz1 Þ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Ek1 zk
1
1 ð27aÞ
Fig. 1. The rectangular plate with a central crack. z21
a21 k¼1
 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630 2625

For plates with more than two cracks, a similar ap-

proach can be used to form the stress functions, and the
solution can be obtained by enforcing the conditions
along the edges of the plate and each crack surface.

4. Procedures

In the analysis, one has to choose some points on the

external boundaries of the plate for enforcing the
boundary conditions. For a multiple crack problem, it is
also necessary to choose some points on the crack sur-
faces. According to the support conditions, two or three
condition equations have to be satisfied at each point.
Assuming the total number of equations with real co-
efficients is N and there is only one crack, the coefficients
Ek and Fk ðk ¼ 1; . . . ; MÞ are to be determined. For cases
containing two cracks, the coefficients Ek1 , Ek2 and
Fk ðk ¼ 1; . . . ; MÞ are to be determined. If the total
number of the real unknown coefficients is L, N real
equations with L real unknowns can be obtained, that is
Fig. 2. Two cracks in a bending plate.
½AN L fX gL ¼ fF gN ð30Þ
!
1 X
M
where ½AN L is the matrix which can be determined by
X1 ðz1 Þ ¼ j pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Ek1 zk
1
1 ð27bÞ the coordinates of the collocation points; fF gN is the
z21
a21 k¼1
matrix of the known external moments, forces or de-
Similarly, U2 ðz2 Þ and X2 ðz2 Þ are assumed in the local flections of the boundary points; fX gL the matrix of the
coordinates system x2 –o2 –y2 and they should satisfy the real coefficients of the stress functions.
stress singularity at the crack tips z2 ¼ a2 : If the number of the equations, N , is equal to the
number of real unknowns, L, the equations can be
1 X
M
solved by inverting ½A. To improve the accuracy, more
U2 ðz2 Þ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Ek2 zk
1
2 ð28aÞ
z22
a22 k¼1 points are usually taken, that is, N > L, and the least
square method is employed to obtain the coefficients.
! Once the coefficients are determined, the bending
1 X
M
SIFs can then be calculated from the complex functions.
X2 ðz2 Þ ¼ j pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Ek2 zk
1
2 ð28bÞ
z22
a22 k¼1 For a single crack case, SIFs can be obtained by [7]
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
12 2pDð3 þ mÞ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
U3 ðzÞ and X3 ðzÞ are used to represent the global KI
iKII ¼
lim ½ ðz  aÞUðzÞ ð31Þ
h2 z!a
stresses and deformations, and assumed in the global
coordinates system x–o–y directly:
where KI and KII are the SIFs of the Mode I and Mode
X
M II,
pffiffiffirespectively. Note that Sih has not included the term
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
U3 ðzÞ ¼ Fk zk
1 ð29aÞ p in his definitions of the SIFs. If K0 ¼ M0 pa=h2 , the
k¼1
SIF coefficients for the right crack tip can be represented
! as
X
M
X3 ðzÞ ¼
j Fk zk
1 ð29bÞ KI KII 12Dð3 þ mÞ XM

k¼1
i ¼
Ek ak
2 ð32Þ

K0 K0 M0 k¼1

In the analysis, U1 ðz1 Þ, X1 ðz1 Þ, U2 ðz2 Þ and X2 ðz2 Þ have

to be transformed into the global coordinates system x– For multiple cracks, the SIFs at the crack tips of the
o–y. Combining these stress functions, the equilibrium right crack in Fig. 2 are:
equation and stress singularity at all crack tips can be pffiffiffiffiffiffi
12 2pDð3 þ mÞ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
satisfied. Unlike the single crack cases, one also has to KI
iKII ¼
lim ½ ðz1  aÞU1 ðz1 Þ
h2 z !a
1
enforce the stress free conditions along the crack sur-
faces by the boundary collocation method. ð33Þ
2626 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630

Table 1 11
Calculation parameters of the rectangular plate with a central
crack Present
10 [18]
Geometrical parameters (m)
Half height H ¼ 1:0
Half width W ¼ 1:0 9
Thickness h ¼ 0:01

KI/K0
Half crack length a ¼ 0:1–0.9 8
Material properties
Young’s modulus E ¼ 210 MPa 7
Poisson’s ratio m ¼ 0:3
Loading parameter 6
Moment on two end boundaries M0 ¼ 1:0
Calculation parameters 5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Number of summation terms M ¼ 20
Number of points on each boundary N1 ¼ 20 a/ W

Fig. 3. KI =K0 for different a=W ratios of the rectangular plate

with a central crack.

5. Numerical examples
5.1. Rectangular plate with a central crack
A rectangular plate with a central crack is considered
(Fig. 1). M0 is applied along the top and bottom edges of
the plate. The pertinent parameters adopted in the
analysis are listed in Table 1.
For such a rectangular plate, (7) and (8) can be used
to calculate Mxy and My along the horizontal edges and
Mx along the vertical edges. (9) can be used to calculate
Qx and Qy .
For different ratios of a=W (crack length/plate-
width), the calculated SIF coefficients are listed in Table
2. It can be seen that the Mode I SIF coefficient, KI =K0 ,
increases as a=W increases. In Fig. 3, the FEM results
[18] are compared to the present ones. The results ob-
tained by the two methods agree fairly well in the range
of a=W 6 0:5. For the limiting case of a=W ! 0, which
can be treated as an infinite plate with a central crack,
the theoretical result [7] is KI =K0 ¼ 6. From Fig. 3, it can
be seen that the present results also approach 6 as the
crack length decreases. This example demonstrates that
the present method is very accurate.
Due to the effect of the edges, KI =K0 also increases as
the crack length increases and the trend is similar to that
obtained by Kobayashi et al. [29] and Wang [31] for
plane crack problems. Obviously, the SIFs of finite
plates and infinite plates are very much different.
As the present fracture belongs to Mode I type, it is
not surprising to find that KII =K0 has very small values
(Table 2). The small values are mainly due to the round-
off errors, and therefore, they are still considered to be
satisfactory. Using a different number of summation
terms of the stress functions and collocation points, the
computed results are also satisfactory.
5.2. Circular plate with a central crack
Fig. 4 shows a circular plate with a crack at its center.
The radius of the plate is R and the length of the crack is
2a. A uniform moment of magnitude M0 is acting on the
circumference of the plate. Therefore, the boundary
conditions on the external boundary are:
Mn ¼ M0 ; Mns ¼ 0; Qn ¼ 0
In this case, (21) is used to calculate the shear force,
and (19) and (20) are used for computing the moments.
M and N are 20 and 80, respectively. Other parameters
are the same as those adopted in the previous example.
The solutions are obtained for different crack lengths.
The variation of the non-dimensional SIF, KI =K0 ,
with the crack width is shown in Fig. 5. From the figure,
it can be seen that when the crack length is small, KI =K0
approaches 6, which is the value obtained for an infinite
plate. KI =K0 increases as the ratio a=R increases. As it is
also a typical Mode I crack problem, KII is again zero.

Table 2
SIFs for the central crack in a thin bending plate
a=W 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
KI =K0 6.0249 6.1042 6.2448 6.4603 6.7767 7.2434 7.9625 9.1624 10.9010
KII =K0 )0.00014 )0.00024 )0.00028 )0.00025 )0.00017 )0.00056 )0.000001 )0.00018 )0.00174
 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630
Fig. 4. The circular plate with a central crack.
Fig. 5. KI =K0 for different a=R ratios for the circular plate.
5.3. Rectangular plate with a slant crack
A plate with a slant crack is considered. As shown in
Fig. 6, the crack is slanting at an angle a with the x-axis.
In the analysis, a new coordinate system, x0 oy 0 , is used
so that the crack lies on the x0 axis, and the origin of the
coordinate system is at the crack center. (19)–(21) are
then used to form the boundary equations. The crack
length is fixed, a ¼ 0:2, and the slant angle varies from
)90° to 90°. Other parameters are the same as those
given in Section 5.1. The results are shown in Fig. 7.
In Fig. 7, it can be seen that KI =K0 has its maximum
values at a ¼ 0°. As the slant angle varies from 0° to 90°,
KI =K0 decreases from the maximum value to zero. On
the other hand, KII =K0 is zero at a ¼ 0°. The ratio in-
creases gradually as the slant angle increases and it
reaches its maximum when a ¼ 45°. Thereafter, it de-
creases and becomes zero when a is 90°.
2627
Fig. 6. A slant crack in the rectangular plate.
Fig. 7. SIFs for the slant crack in the rectangular plate.
For the negative slant angle, KI =K0 is symmetric to
that of the positive a. On the other hand, KII =K0 is
negative and anti-symmetric to that of the positive slant
angle. This agrees with the FEM results reported in [17].
Sih et al. has given the formulae of SIFs of the slant
crack in an infinite plate as [7]
KI =K0 ¼ 6 cos2 a KII =K0 ¼ 6 sin a cos a ð34Þ
Comparing the computed results of Fig. 7 with the
above formulae, it can be seen that the variations of
SIFs with the slant angle are similar. As the present
results are for finite plate, the present results (KII =K0 are
taken as the absolute values) are larger than those ob-
tained by (34).
5.4. A simply supported plate with a central crack
The fourth example deals with a simply supported
plate. It is subjected to a uniformly distributed load q0 .
2628 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630

0.50 For different slant angles, the calculated results of

0.45
KI =K0 and KII =K0 are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The
[20] trends of the curves are similar to those of the single
0.40
slant crack (Fig. 7). It is not unexpected because the
0.35 Present
interaction effect is insignificant as the cracks are small
and the distance between them is large.
KI /Ko

0.30
0.25 From Fig. 9, one can conclude that when the slant
angle increases, KI =K0 at Points A and B will decrease.
0.20
They have their maximum values at a ¼ 0° (that is, the
0.15 cracks are on the x-axis), and the minimum values at
0.10 a ¼ 90° (that is, the cracks are perpendicular to the x-
0.05 axis). Due to a larger interaction effect between the inner
0.00 points of the two cracks, it is not surprising to find that
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 the KI =K0 values at Point A (inner point) are larger than
a/ W those of Point B (outer point). When the crack lengths
Fig. 8. KI =K0 for different a=W ratios of the simply supported
plate.
7

The half length of the plate is H ¼ 1:2 and the other 6 Tip A
dimensions are the same as those in Section 5.1. The half Tip B
crack length, a, varies from 0.05 to 0.95. The complex 5
stress functions given by (25) are used for the analysis.
4
Note that this is also a Mode I fracture problem and
KI /Ko

the results of KI =K0 are shown in Fig. 8. For this ex- 3

ample, K0 is defined as
pffiffiffiffiffiffi 2
K0 ¼ q0 W 2 pa=h2
1
From the figure it can be seen that KI =K0 decreases as
0
a=W increases. When the crack tips are close to the edges 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
of the plate, KI =K0 decreases very fast. This is due to the α
fact that the supported edges can prevent the crack from
opening and being extended. The results obtained by Fig. 9. KI =K0 for different a in the rectangular plate with two
Keer et al. using the integral equation method [3,20] are cracks.
also shown in Fig. 8. It can be seen that the results
obtained by the two methods agree with each other.
5.0
5.5. Plate with two cracks 4.5 Tip A
4.0 Tip B
Using the Laurant series expansions of the complex
potential and a perturbation procedure, Isida has ana- 3.5
3.0
KII /K0

lyzed infinite plates with multiple cracks [8]. Unfortu-

nately, the method is only valid for infinite plates. 2.5
Furthermore, KII are not reported in Isida’s paper or 2.0
other handbooks.
In the present study, a plate with two cracks (Fig. 2) 1.5
is used as an example. The pair of slant cracks are lo- 1.0
cated symmetrically in the bending plate. It is assumed 0.5
that both cracks have length ð2aÞ of 0.2 and the distance 0.0
between the crack centers ðdÞ is 0.5. The slant angle 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
varies from 0° to 90°. The plate is subjected to moments α
M0 along the edges y ¼ H . The other parameters are
the same as before. The complex stress functions for Fig. 10. KII =K0 for different a in the rectangular plate with two
solving this problem are given by (27)–(29). cracks.
 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630
are larger and Point B is close to the boundary, the re-
sults may be different.
Fig. 10 shows that when a ¼ 0°, KII =K0 values are
zero. In this case, it is a Mode I fracture problem. As a
increases, KII =K0 values of Points A and B increases
initially. When a ¼ 45°, they will reach their maximum
values. Thereafter, they will decrease and they become
zero when a ¼ 90°.
6. Conclusions
Based on the complex variable theory, a set of stress
functions is proposed for calculating the SIFs of cracks
in a finite plate. As the governing equations in the do-
main and the stress singularity at the crack tips are
satisfied, one only has to enforce the boundary condi-
tions along the edges of the plates and the surfaces of the
cracks, if there is more than one crack. This is achieved
by using the boundary collocation method. Five exam-
ples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the
method. If the cracks are short, the present results agree
with those obtained by other methods. In general, the
SIFs of the finite plates are larger than those of the in-
finite plates. This is due to the interaction between the
cracks and the edges of the plates.
The numerical examples show that the present
method possesses many advantages, including high ac-
curacy, less computation time, and rapid convergence. It
can be used conveniently and extended to other crack
problems of the bending plates.
Acknowledgement
The financial support from The University of Hong
Kong is greatly appreciated.
References
[1] Sih GC. Handbook of stress intensity factors. Bethlehem:
Leheigh University; 1973.
[2] Tada H, Paris PC, Irwin GR. The stress analysis of cracks
handbook. Hellertown: Del Research Corp; 1973,1985.
[3] Rook DP, Cartwright DJ. Compendium of stress intensity
factors. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office; 1976.
[4] Murakami Y. Stress intensity factor handbook, vol. 2.
New York: Pergamon Press; 1987.
[5] Timoshenko S, Woinowsky-Krieger S. Theory of plates
and shells. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1959.
[6] Williams ML. The bending stress distribution at the base
of a stationary crack. J Appl Mech 1961;28:78–82.
[7] Sih GC, Paris PC, Erdogan F. Crack-tip stress-intensity
factors for plane extension and plate bending problems.
J Appl Mech 1962;29:306–12.
2629
[8] Isida M. Interaction of arbitrary array of cracks in wide
plates under classical bending. In: Sih GC, editor. Plate
and shells with cracks. Leyden: Noordhoff; 1977. p. 1–43.
[9] van Vroonhoven JCW. Stress intensity factors for curvi-
linear cracks loaded by bending and torsional moments.
Int J Fract 1994;68:193–218.
[10] Barsoum RS. A degenerate solid element for linear fracture
analysis of plate bending and general shells. Int J Numer
Meth Eng 1976;10:551–64.
[11] Yagawa G, Nishioka T. Finite element analysis of stress
intensity fracture factors for plane extension and plate
bending problems. Int J Numer Meth Eng 1979;14:727–40.
[12] Ahmad J, Loo FTC. Solution of plate bending problems in
fracture mechanics using a specialized finite element
technique. Eng Fract Mech 1979;11:661–73.
[13] Murthy MVV, Raju KN, Viswanath S. On the bending
stress distribution at the tip of a stationary crack from
Reissner’s theory. Int J Fract 1981;17:537–52.
[14] Rhee HC, Atluri SN. Hybrid stress finite element analysis
of bending of a plate with a through flaw. Int J Numer
Meth Eng 1982;18:259–71.
[15] Chen WH, Chen PY. A hybrid-displacement finite element
model for the bending analysis of thin cracked plates. Int J
Fract 1984;24:83–106.
[16] Ye TQ, Gallagher RH. A singular finite element for
analysis of plate bending problem in fracture mechanics.
Int J Fract 1984;24:137–47.
[17] Chen WH, Shen CM. A finite element alternating ap-
proach to the bending of thin plates containing mixed
mode cracks. Int J Solids Struct 1993;30:2261–76.
[18] Jiang CP, Cheung YK. A special bending crack tip finite
element. Int J Fract 1995;61:57–69.
[19] Portela A. Dual boundary element analysis of crack
growth. Southampton, UK and Boston, USA: Computa-
tional Mechanics Publications; 1993.
[20] Keer LM, Sve C. On the bending of cracked plates. Int J
Solids Struct 1970;6:1545–9.
[21] Barta J. U€ ber die n€aherungsweise L€osung einiger zweidi-
mensionaler Elastizit€atsaufgaben. Zeitschrift f€ ur ange-
wandte Mathematik und Mechanik 1937;17:184–5.
[22] Conway HD. The approximate analysis of certain bound-
ary-value problems. J Appl Mech 1960;27:275–7.
[23] Leissa AW, Lo CC, Niedenfuhr FW. Uniformly loaded
plates of regular polygonal shape. AIAA J 1965;3:566–7.
[24] Conway HD, Farnham KA. Deflections of uniformly
loaded circular plates with combination of clamped simply
supported and free boundary conditions. Int J Mech Sci
1967;9:661–71.
[25] Leissa AW, Clausen WE. Deflection of a circular plate
having mixed boundary conditions. AIAA J 1967;5:
2287–8.
[26] Kolodziej JA. Review of application of boundary colloca-
tion methods in mechanics of continuous media. Solid
Mech Arch 1987;12:187–231.
[27] Hutchinson JR. Analysis of plates and shells by boundary
collocation. In: Beskos DE, editor. Boundary element
analysis of plates and shells. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-
Verlag; 1991.
[28] Gross B, Srawley JE. Stress-intensity factors for a single-
edge-notch tension specimen by boundary collocation of a
stress function. NASA TN D-2395; 1964.
2630 Y.H. Wang et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 2621–2630
[29] Kobayashi AS, Cherepy AS, Kinsal WC. A numerical
procedure for estimating the stress intensity factor of a
crack in a finite plate. ASME J Basic Eng 1964;86:681–4.
[30] Newman JC. An improved method of collocation for the
stress analysis of cracked plate with various shaped
boundaries. NASA TN D-6376; 1971.
[31] Wang YH. The elastic and elasto-plastic fracture analysis
by method of weighted residuals and elasto-viscoplasticity.
PhD Thesis, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong;
1988.
[32] Muskhelishvili NI. Some basic problems of mathematical
theory of elasticity. Leyden: Noordhoff; 1975.
[33] Lekhnitskii SG. Anisotropic plates. English translation of
the original Russian. New York: Gordon & Breach,
Science Publishers, Inc; 1968.
[34] Lekhnitskii SG. Theory of elasticity of an anisotropic
elastic body. Translated by Fern P. San Francisco: Holden-
Day, Inc., 1963.
[35] Savin GN. Stress concentration around holes. Oxford:
Pergamon Press; 1961.
[36] Liu CT, Jiang CP. Fracture mechanics for plates and
shells. Beijing: National Defense Press; 2000 (in Chinese).
[37] Qu QZ, Zhang Q, Ji QY, Liang XF. Theory of elastic plates.
Beijing: People’s Communication Press; 2000 (in Chinese).