Computers & Slructures Vol. 39. No. 5. pp.

483487,
Printed in Great Britain.

1991
0

004s7949/91
$3.00 + 0.00
1991 Pergamon Press

pk

A FINITE ELEMENT MODEL OF CRACKED PLATES

AND APPLICATION TO VIBRATION PROBLEMS
GUAN-LIANG QIAN, SONG-NIAN Gu and JIE-SHENG
JIANG
Vibration Research Center, Northwestern Polytechnical University Xian, Shaanxi Province,
Peoples Republic of China
(Received 28 March

1990)

Abstract-In
this paper, the vibration behaviour of cracked plates is investigated. The stress intensity
factor (SIF) of finite plate with a through crack under bending, twisting and shearing is estimated first;

the element stiffness matrix of plate with a crack is derived from integration of SIF. A finite element model
(FEM) of cracked plates is consequently established. Applying the FEM to a simply-supported square
plate and cantilever plate with a through crack, the eigenfrequencies are determined for different crack
lengths. The results in this paper show good agreement with those by the previous investigators and
experimental data of the present paper.

INTRODUCTION
The study of the vibrational behaviour of structure
with crack is a problem of great practical interest.
Only a few papers have been published on the
vibration analysis of finite cracked plate so far. The
vibrational behaviour of cracked rectangular plate
was first investigated by Stahl and Keer [ 11.In papers
[2] and [3], after applying double finite Fourier transformation to the differential equation governing the
problem and using the inversion theorem, it was
found that a system of integral equations possesses
the unknown discontinuities of the deflection and
slope across the crack. The unknown quantities are in
turn expanded into Fourier series. The unknown
infinite sequences of Fourier coefficients are obtained
by applying the condition that the bending moment
and shear force across the crack are zero. This kind
of method can only be feasible with cracked plate
with simply-supported edges on one pair of opposite
edges. For more complex structures, application of
finite element techniques comes naturally.
If the finite element method is used as usual for
vibration analysis, it is necessary for much of the
finite element mesh in the vicinity of the crack tip to
be divided because of stress concentration in the
crack tip. This is a disadvantage for solving dynamic
problems because computer time is drastically increased. For this reason, a new finite element model
is proposed in the present paper for structure with
crack.
The present finite element method is a generalization of the one developed in paper [4] to two-dimensional structure. The additional strain energy of crack
is related to the stress intensity factor describing the
intensity of the stress concentration. The flexibility
coefficient may be expressed by the stress intensity
factor and then the stiffness matrix of the plate
element with crack can be obtained easily. The stress

intensity factor has been studied in great detail in

fracture mechanics, but no known solution exists yet
for the stress intensity factor of finite plate with
through crack. In this paper the stress intensity
factors of finite plate with through crack under
bending, twisting and shearing are estimated approximately. Finally, as an illustration, eigenfrequencies of
cantilever and simply-supported square plate with
through crack are calculated, and the results are
compared with those of other investigators and
experimental data.
ESTIMATION OF STRESSINTENSITYFAffORS FOR
FINITE PLATE WITH THROUGH CRACK

No known solution exists for the stress intensity

factors of finite plate with through crack under
bending, twisting and shearing. The approximate
formulae are derived in this paper.
Assuming that an infinite plate of uniform thickness h contains a through crack of length 2a, and the
crack surfaces are subjected to equal and opposite
arbitrary bending M, and twisting M,,, as shown in
Fig. 1, the stress intensity factors can be written as [S]

For a plate subjected to a bending and shearing

load on four nodes of the plate as shown in Fig. 2a,
in order to simulate the case of infinite plate, it is
assumed that the length of plate is much longer than
that of the crack, i.e. H, L $ a. The case of external
forces in Fig. 2a is substituted in Figs. 2b and 2c.
The shearing P, bending moment M? and twisting
483

G. L. QIAN ef al.

484

Twisting:M,=$P8+P,,+P,(g+x)

(5)
Shearing:

moment MXYon crack surfaces in Fig. 2c are equal to

internal forces produced by the external force in
Fig. 2a at the crack position. It is easily obtained
within the linear elastic range according to the
principle of superposition:

(6)

KIk=;;

P9+P,2+(P,+P,,); &ii

K,lk
= -;

P,+ P,,+(P,- P,,,;

+(P,+ P,,); &ii.

K,=K,+K,,
where K,, Kb and Kc are stress intensity factors
corresponding to structure, as shown in Figs 2a and
2c, respectively. The structure as shown in Fig. 2b is
equivalent to one without crack, i.e. Kb= 0, and
consequently K,= Kc.The problem of solving the
stress intensity factor of the original structure
(Fig. 2a) is transformed into the problem of solving
the one of structure, as shown in Fig. 2c.
From equilibrium conditions, the distributed load
on the crack surface can be written as

MY= k

(P, + P,,).

Neglecting the shearing effect, substituting MY and

MXYinto eqns (1) and (2) and integrating, we have

Fig. 1.

Bending:

P =;

P,+P,,+(P,+ P,,):

(7)

(8)

Equations (1) and (2), i.e. K,kand K,,k

are based on
classical Kirchhoff theory. They cannot correctly
reflect singularity around the crack tip because shear
deformation is neglected in the Kirchhoff theory. To
overcome the difficulties caused by classical theory,
Sih [5] has analysed the stress intensity factors using
Reissners theory. Sih has pointed out that there
exists a relationship between the stress intensity factor Kk based on classical theory and K, based on
Reissners theory as follows
(9)

(4)

(10)

(b)
Fig. 2. Dissolution

of external

load.

485

FEM of cracked plates

I
I

zo

05

h/am
Fig. 3. Variations of 4, and & with h/a.

I 0

h/am

where @, and @r are dependent on h/a and Poissons

ratio v. Numerical values of 0, -and Or are given
in Fig. 3 for various 1 (=h/aJlO)
and Poissons
ratio v. For the present case, the solution based on
Reissners theory is unknown, and the following
expressions are adopted to replace approximately
eqns (9) and (lo), i.e.

(15)

ESTABLISHMENT

(11)

(12)
The above-mentioned
statement is suitable for
infinite plate. It is also necessary to correct expressions (11) and (12) for finite plate. In [6] and [7],
solutions based on Reissners theory are calculated
for different plate thicknesses and crack lengths
under uniform bending. The variations of correction
coefficient with crack length-to-plate width ratio are
obtained in [6]. According to the results of [6], the
difference of the coefficient is small between h/a < 1
and h/a + 0 (thin plate). For a given curve of h/a = 0,
the correction coefficient f(s) is obtained through
polynomial interpolation:
f(s)=

1+0.01876s + 0.1825~~
+ 2.0424~~ - 2.4316s4,

(13)

where s = 2a/L. The interpolation error is smaller

than 1%.
In [8], stress intensity factors of opening-type
cracks (type I) and sliding-type cracks (type II) are
investigated using the finite element method. The
results show that the correction coefficient of finite
width for type I is approximately equal to that
for type II. Therefore K,, can be corrected by f(s)
as well. The stress intensity factors for finite plate
under bending, twisting and shearing can be rewritten
as

K, = @, g

&f(r)

(14)

OF THE FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

The stiffness of the structure will be reduced after

the crack appears. According to the principle of
Saint-Venant, the stress field is only affected in the
region adjacent to the crack. When structure analysis
is carried out by the finite element method, the
element stiffness matrix, except the cracked element,
may be regarded as unchanged under a certain limitation of element size. For the element with crack,
according to the additional strain energy of the crack
expressed by the stress intensity factor, the flexibility
coefficient can easily be derived by means of
Castiglianos theorem within the linear elastic range.
Therefore, the free-free stiffness matrix of the element
with crack can be obtained from equilibrium conditions and the principle of virtual work.
The four-nodal rectangular plate element of bending is adopted for the element without crack (Fig. 4).
The stiffness and mass matrix can be derived through
shape function which satisfies the displacement and
slope compatibility (see [9] for details).
Assume the stiffness matrix is
[K], =

1 :I21
;;:

22

(16)

12x12

II
Fig. 4. The four-nodal rectangular plate element of bending.

G. L.

486

QlAN et al.

The equilibrium

and the equation of statics is

(17)

{PI = Kl{6]*

where {P} = {P,, P,, . . . , P,2}T is the nodal force

vector and {S} = {a,, a,, . . . , ~3,~)~is the nodal displacement vector.
The 12 nodal forces are related by three equilibrium equations. Only nine of them are linearindependent. Nodal forces at nodes 2, 3 and 4 are
selected as independent ones

(18)

condition is

p,
[Ipf=

m2 x9P,I9

where the transformation

(25)

matrix [T] is

[Tl= [;;Tf-],,.,.
By the principle of virtual work, the stiffness matrix
of the cracked element may be derived as

= t~I[Cl-m

assuming that the characteristic

without crack is

(26)
equation

GKl - Aj[MI)tj} = {OI.

of plate

(27)

Supposing that the crack affects stiffness matrix only

(i.e. it does not affect mass matrix), then the characteristic equation of plate with crack is
In order to calculate flexibility matrix, node 1 is
constrained, i.e.

(41 = v4.
From eqn (18), we have

h-YPfJ

@,I =
{PrI =

(19)

([K] - n;[M]){u;}

The difference between [K], the system stiffness

matrix of cracked plate, and [K], the system stiffness
matrix of plate without crack, lies in that matrix [K],
is used to replace matrix [K], for the cracked element
in an assembly of system stiffness matrix of the
cracked plate.
NUMERICAL

[Cl, = k*l-.
flexibility coefficient is
a2wU)

Ci=

(i = 4,9

j =4,9)

(21)

ap,+3 ap,+r
Cb = 0

(otherwise i, j),

where WC) is additional

2

E
The additional

strain energy of the crack

ss
a

EXAMPLE

AND RESULTS

Figure 5 shows a simply-supported square plate of

length 10 cm and thickness 0.1 cm, with material
constants: Youngs modulus E = 2.04 x lo6 kg/cm2;
Poissons ratio v = 0.3: and densitv of mass
p = 0.796 x lo- kg s2/cmh. The plate is -divided into
nine elements. To demonstrate the validity of the
model and program, eigenfrequencies of plate without crack are calculated. The results are given in
Table 1. Characteristic eqns (27) and (28) are solved
for without crack and the through crack located on
the symmetry line y = B/2. Table 2 presents the ratio
of frequencies of cracked plate to one of plate without
crack.

h.2

(Kf + Kf,) dz da.

(28)

(20)

wnlk*l-IP,~.

The flexibility matrix under a selected independent

system is

The additional

= {O}.

(22)

-h/2

ty
i_____-__
r-----l

flexibility matrix is
zo

[Cl, = [cJl9x9

(23)
111
____--_-I,a -I

and the total flexibility matrix is

[Cl = [Cl, + [Cl,.

(24)

Fig. 5. Simply-supported

square plate with a through crack.

FEM of cracked plates

Table 1

Table 3

1U-W
8.75
8.92
1.94

Order
Exact value
Present result
Relative error (%)

2 WI
13.84
14.15
2.24

Table 2
Crack lenath 2alB

0.2

0.1

Order

131
Present result

0.994
0.995

0.9990
0.9999

0.978
0.982

0.997
0.998

EXPERIMENTAL

VERIFICATION

In addition to the numerical verification of the

proposed method, an experimental verification is also
conducted. A cantilever square plate 24 cm long and
0.275 cm thick is used as a specimen. The plate is
made of aluminum, with Youngs modulus 0.67 x
lo6 kg/cm2, Poissons ratio v = 0.33 and mass density
p = 0.28 x lo- kg s*/cm. An accelerometer is attached to the plate at station 2 (Fig. 6). A hammer is
set up to excite the cantilever plate from stations 1 to
20 in turn. The transfer functions are obtained by
feeding the output acceleration signal and forcing the
function into the SD380Z signal analyser. In the
analyser, the input and output signals are digitized
and the Fast Fourier Transform of the signal is
performed. Then, the transfer functions are put into
an HP9858ZL computer to get eigenfrequencies. The
centre of the through crack is located at x = 9 cm and
y = 9 cm with a crack length 34 cm. The experimental
and theoretical results are listed in Table 3. The latter
is obtained by the finite element method in which the
plate is divided into 16 elements. It is observed that
the calculated and the experimental eigenfrequencies
are very close to each other.
CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, an approximate formulation, which

is used to calculate the stress intensity factor of finite
6
/

/
-- 2/

--

487

7/

--- l2/

II
/

16
17

Fig. 6. Cantilever square plate with a through crack and

distribution of measurement points.

Order
Theoretical result
Experimental result

0.9931
0.9917

0.9989
0.9981

0.9837
0.9807

plate with through crack under bending, shearing and

twisting, are obtained. A finite element model of
cracked plate is established. The results agree with
the ones of other investigators and our experimental
data quite well. It means that the method proposed
in this paper is feasible and has a good accuracy for
engineering practice.
The proposed method may also be used to calculate dynamic characteristics of finite plate with a
semi-elliptical surface crack. Its advantages are
simple, straightforward and take little computer time
because finite element mesh subdivision in the neighbourhood of the crack tip is unnecessary. The
suggested finite element model for cracked plate
provides a more efficient computational technique
for research of fault diagnosis of structures with
crack, and can be further used in any finite element
formulation to study static, dynamic and stability
behaviour of a structure.

REFERENCES

1. B. Stahl and L. M. Keer, Vibration and stability of

cracked rectangular plates. ht. J. Soli& Struct. 8,69-92
(1972).
2. Y. Hirano and K. Okazaki, Vibration of cracked
rectangular plates. Bull. JSME 23, 732-740 (1980).
3. R. Solecki, Bending vibration of a simply supported
rectangular plate with a crack parallel to one edge.
Engng Fruct. Mech. 18, 1111-1118 (1983).
4. G. L. Qian, S. N. Gu and J. S. Jiang, The dynamic
behaviour of beam with crack and crack detection.
J. Sound Vibr. 138, 233-243 (1990).
5. G. C. Sih, Handbook of Stress Intensity Factor. Lehigh
University, Bethlehem, P.A. (1973).
6. G. Yagawa and T. Nishioka, Finite element analysis of
stress intensity factors for plane extension and plate
bending problems. Int. J. Numer. Meth. 14, 727-740
(1979).
7. Y. Z. Li and C. T. Liu, Analysis of Reissners plate
bending fracture problem. Acta Mech. Sin. 15, 366-375
(I 983) (in Chinese).
8. J. Ahmad and F. T. C. Loo, Solution of plate bending
problems in fracture mechanics using a specialized finite
element technique. Engng Fract. Mech. 11, 661673
(1979).
9. G. L. Qian, The dynamic behaviour of structures
with crack and vibration diagnosis of fault. Doctoral
thesis, Northewstern Polytechnical University (1989)
(in Chinese).