Elastic Theory of

Fractures

Idealization of fracture for

mechanical analysis
Infinite length in x3 direction
Shape is constant in x3 direction
Homogeneous, isotropic and linear elastic

Stress tensor
Stress tensor at any point depends on

Position
Geometry of crack
Traction on crack faces
Remote state of stress
ij = fij (x1, x2, a and boundary conditions)

Displacements depend on
Position
Crack geometry
Traction on crack faces
Remote stress
Elastic moduli for stress boundary-value
problem
ui=gi(x1,x2,a,, and boundary conditions)

E=2 (1+)

Definitions
Boundary Value Problem
Stress, displacement and mixed

Traction
Force per unit area on a surface
Cauchys formula
Ti=ijnj

How to solve a BVP

Constitutive
Linear-elastic

Equilibrium
Quasi-static

Compatibility
Can combine with constitutive relations to get
harmonic form for first stress invariant

Solving the system in 2D

3 equations
2 equilibrium
1 compatibility

3 unknowns
Plane strain: 11, 12, 22

Boundary conditions for cracks

Stresses must match the far-field at x1 or x2 ->
Stresses must match crack-face tractions tractions at
x1=0+, |x2|a

Airys stress function

U=U(x1, x2, a, r11, r12, r22, c11, c12)
If U has the following relations, the equilibrium
conditions are satisfied
2U
2U
2U
11 = 2 , 11 =
, 22 = 2
x2
x1 x2
x1

Substitute these into

compatibility and get
biharmonic for U

U =0
4

Making the Airys stress function (even

more) complex
Muskhelishvili: The Airy stress
function can be expressed as two
functions of the complex variable
1
2

U(z) = Re[z(z) +(z)]

Z?
Re[ ] ? Im[ ] ?

Why? To make finding solutions

easier.

Nikoloz
Muskhelishivili

Using the complex Airys

functions
Take derivatives of the Airys stress functions to
get stresses
Use constitutive relations to get strains
Then find and to match boundary conditions

Westergaard

function

H. M. Westergaard
(1939): reduced the two
unknown functions to
one function, m , for a
crack using symmetry

The stress function

m(z) = Am[(z2-a2)1/2-z] + Bmz
I

Am= -iII
-iIII

(11r-11c)

1/2(11r+22r)

-i(12r-12c )

Bm =

-i(13r-13c)

First part:crack contribution

Second part: remote load
contribution

0
23r-i13r

But arent there simpler equations

out there?
Simpler relations have been
developed for the stress fields near
crack tips.
The Westergaard function gives the
stress field everywhere including the
crack tips.

Boundary Element
Method
Becker 1992. The Boundary Element Method in
Engineering: A Complete course, Mc Graw Hill
Crouch and Starfield, 1990 Boundary Element
Method in Solid Mechanics with applications in
rock mechanics and geological engineering,
Unwin Hyman

Discretization
Deformation of each small bit within the
body is solved analytically
Putting the bits together relies on
computation power of modern processors
Consider influence of neighboring bits
Principle of superposition

Discretization introduces error

How could you assess or minimize this error?

Solving a BVP
Prescribe
Geometry
Boundary conditions (stress or displacement)
Constitutive properties

Solve for stress and displacement/strain

throughout the body
Solution must be true to prescribed conditions

What are the different methods?

Finite Element Method
(FEM)
Boundary Element
Method (BEM)
Discrete Element
Method (DEM)
Finite Diffference
Method (FDM)
FromBecker

Finite element method

Approximates the governing
differential equations by solving the
system of linear algebraic equations
Mesh the body into equant
volumetric or planar elements
Computationally expensive with fine
grids but has a sparse stiffness
matrix
Handles heterogeneous materials
well

Boundary element method

Governing differential equations are
transformed into integrals over
boundaries. These integrals are
expressed as a system of linear
algebraic equations.
Boundaries discretized into linear or
planar equal sized elements
Computationally cheaper than FEM
(fewer elements) but has a full and
asymmetric matrix
Clunky for heterogeneous materials

Discrete Element Method

Caveat: only use when
Discretizes the body into
contact mechanics
particles in contact
dominate the deformation
Analyzes the contact
Does not incorporate stress
mechanics between each
singularity at crack tips
particle
Computationally expensive
with many elements
Handles heterogeneity very
well
Useful for specific problems
e.g. fault gouge,
deformation bands

Finite Difference Method

Solves governing differential equations by
differencing method
Mesh the body -- solves at internal points
Computationally cheap and easy to program
Cannot accurately incorporate irregular
geometries or regions of stress concentration
Appropriate for contact problems,heat and fluid
flow

Which method best for fractures?

Capturing the 1/r1/2 crack tip singularity
Fracture propagation

Crack tip singularity

Finite Element?
Special grid designed to
capture the 1/r1/2 crack tip
singularity
awkward and expensive

Boundary Element?
Each element is a
dislocation
A series of equal length
dislocations automatically
incorporates the r-1/2 crack tip
singularity

Fracture Propagation
Finite Element?
Fracture must be
remeshed and the
special crack tip
elements moved to a
new location
awkward

Boundary Element?
Add another element to
the tip of the fracture

Complicated fracture geometry

Boundary Element is hands down the best

Poly3d

IGEOSS
3D
Complex fractures
Linear elastic homogeneous rheology
Frictional faults
Nice user interface

Flamants solution
Deformation within a
half space due to two
point loads
One normal
One shear

wikipedia

Distributed load
Superpose Flamants
solution as you
integrate over the
distributed load

Rigid Die problem

What are the tractions that could
produce a uniform displacement?
Displacement along boundary
element i due to tractions on all
other elements, j=1 to N
Bij is the matrix of influence
coefficients
Effects of discretization and
symmetry

ij

uy (x,0) = B Ty
j=1

Fictitious Stress Method

Based on Kelvins problem
A point force within an infinite elastic solid
Similar to Flamants

Can be used for bodies of any shape

Leads to constant tractions along each element.

Displacement discontinuity
method
Constant
displacements
along each element
Better for bodies
with cracks
incorporates the
singularity in
displacement across
the crack

Displacement discontinuity
method
Displacement has a 1/r singularity
A series of constant displacement elements replicates the
1/r1/2 stress singularity at the crack tip.

Numerical procedure
The stresses on
the ith element due
to deformation on
the jth element

A is the boundary
influence
coefficient matrix

Numerical procedure
Sum the effects for
all elements

Numerical procedure
If you know
displacements
(displacement boundary
value problem) the
solution is found quickly.
If you have a mixed or
stress boundary value
problem, you need to
invert A to find the
displacements

Numerical procedure
Once you know
displacements and stresses
on all elements, you can find
the displacements at any
point within the body.
Flamants solution

Frictional slip
=c-
Inelastic deformation
Converge to solution

Penalty Method
Direct solver
Apply a shear and normal stiffness to elements to prevent
interpenetration (e.g. Crouch and Starfield, 1990)

Complementarity Method
Apply inequalities
Implicit solver (e.g. Maerten, Maerten and Cooke, 2010)

 Convergence for frictional slip

What about 3D elements

Cominou and Dundurs developed angular
dislocation.

Boundary integral method

Uses reciprocal theorem (Sokolnikoff) to solve
for unknown boundary conditions.