EngineeringFractureMechanicsVol. 55, No. 3, pp.

355-361, 1996
Pergamon Copyright© 1996ElsevierScienceLtd.
Printed in Great Britain.All rightsreserved
PII: S0013-7944(96)00031-8 0013-7944/96 $15.00+ 0.00

DEPENDENCE OF STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR ON

LOADING CONDITION

Y. Z. CHEN
Division of Engineering Mechanics, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang
Jiangsu, 212013, People's Republic of China

NORIO HASEBE
Department of Civil Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showaku, Nagoya
466, Japan

AbsUaet--Tbe problem of a centrally cracked rectangular plate is taken as a sample problem to evaluate
the dependence of the stress intensity factor on the loading condition. The total loading applied on the
upper and lower edges is assumed to be 2bp (2b--the width of the plate). With the condition of the same
total applied loading 2bp along the upper and lower edges, the following conditions are imposed: (a)
uniform tension with intensity p, (b) a pair of concentrated forces with intensity bp, (c) a type of
tension-compr.~ssion loading. A novel weight function approach is used to evaluate the stress intensity
factor at the crack tip. From the numerical solution it is found that, with the condition of h/b = 3.0 (h/b
being the height width ratio of the plate) the maximum deviation of the stress intensity factor from the
uniform tension case is 5.8% in the concentrated force loading case, and with the same condition the
dependence of the stress intensity factor on the loading condition is negligible in the tension-compression
loading case. However,in the case ofh/b < 1.5, the relevant dependence is significant. Copyright (¢.31996
Elsevier Science Ltd.

I. I N T R O D U C T I O N
THE SAINT-VENANI principle is a general principle and is widely used in elasticity [1]. However, the
principle can not be used in the case that the loading boundary becomes a considerable portion
of the total boundary. Generally, the stress intensity factors depend on the loading condition, even
though the total loading is the same.
The problem of a centrally cracked rectangular plate is taken as a sample problem to evaluate
the dependence of the stress intensity factor on the loading condition. The total loading applied
on the upper or lower edges is assumed to be 2bp (2b--the width of the plate). Along the upper
and lower edges the following loading conditions are imposed: (a) uniform tension with intensity
p, (b) a pair of concentrated forces with intensity bp, (c) a type of tension-compression loading.
Concerning the solution technique, a complex variable function method was suggested to solve
the problem of a centrally cracked plate [2]. If the loading is the concentrated forces on the outer
boundary, the relevant solution should be obtained by superposition of three particular solutions.
Also, the usual boundary collocation technique is not convenient to solve the boundary value
problem with the concentrated forces applied on the boundary [3].
Recently, a novel weight function approach is suggested to evaluate the stress intensity factor
at the crack tip [4~. The merit of the weight function is that, once a particular boundary value
problem is solved, all the boundary value problems with the same geometry can be solved
immediately. In this paper the dependence of the stress intensity factor on the loading condition
is evaluated by the suggested weight function approach.

2. ANALYSIS
To solve the centrally cracked plate problem, a novel weight function formulation is
suggested [4]. The outline of the formulation is introduced below.
In the complex variable function method in plane elasticity, the stresses (tr, a,, a , ) , the
resultant force functions (X, Y) and the displacements (u, v) can be described by two complex
potentials qb(z) and co(z) [4, 5]
355
356 Y. Z. CHEN and N. HASEBE

~Y Uniform tension
P\ IY (U)

F!
, J
tt ttt E

2h '
; B[,,_~Oa_J
A r P
X
_._~ i ¢ __i_L_,
Fig. I. An internal crack problem. I
C {, 2b ............. D

Fig. 2. A centrally cracked rectangular plate in uniform

tension p.

a , + a,, = 4 R e [ ~ ( z ) ]

a.,.- a., + 2ia,,. = 2( - 4~(z) - (z - ,O~'(z) + fl(z)) (l)

f = - Y + iX = 4~(z) + (z - zT)~'(z) + co(z) (2)
2G(u + iv) = x~b(z) - (z - ~?)~b'(z) - og(z), (3)
where

q~(z) = qV(z), fl(z) = co'(z) (4)

a n d G is the s h e a r m o d u l u s o f elasticity, x = 3 - 4 v for the p l a n e strain problem,

x = (3 - v)/(1 + v) for the p l a n e stress p r o b l e m a n d v is P o i s s o n ' s ratio.
In the a n a l y s i s we d e n o t e

q~(z) = S,(x,y) + iS2(x,y). (5)

After some manipulations, for the b o u n d a r y v a l u e p r o b l e m s h o w n in Fig. I, we o b t a i n the

f o l l o w i n g e q u a l i t y [4]

-frS~,)aonjdS=£Re[(K,A-iKza)(~o+g,a)+(K,B-iK2a)(~o-~,a) 1, (6)

w h e r e a,,nj is the b o u n d a r y t r a c t i o n in the p h y s i c a l p r o b l e m (Fig. 1), K,A -- iK2^ a n d g m - iK2a

are the stress i n t e n s i t y factors at the tips A a n d B, respectively, a is the h a l f c r a c k length.
In eq. (6), the f u n c t i o n Se> (i = 1,2) is the i n v e s t i g a t e d w e i g h t f u n c t i o n a n d it is c o m p o s e d o f

S ~ = S,~, + S~¢~ (i = 1,2). (7)

A / ~ j - f i e l d is d e r i v e d f r o m the f o l l o w i n g c o m p l e x p o t e n t i a l [4]

~b~,(z) - eo + etz do + ~tz

X(z) ' o~,~,,(z)- X(z) ' (8)

Table 1. The calculated E;A(h/b,a/b) values [see Fig. 2 and eq. (12)]
a/b
h/b 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
0.5 1.000 1.045 1.174 1.371 1.630 1.966 2.422 3.035 3.737 4.281
t 1.000 1.046 I. 175 I. 371 1.629 1.967 2.424 3.04
1.0 1.000 1.014 1.055 1.123 1.216 1.332 1.476 1.661 1.941 2.595
tl.000 1.014 1.055 1.123 1.216 1.334 1.481 1.68
1.5 1.000 1.007 1.029 1.066 1.121 1.199 !.311 1.480 1.773 2.493
2.0 1.000 1.006 1.024 1.057 1.107 1.180 i.287 1.454 1.752 2.497
3.0 1.000 1.006 !.023 1.054 1.101 1.171 1.276 1.444 1.752 2.509
t In handbook [71.
 Dependence of stress intensity factor on loading condition 357

Loadig 2.2p I.,o~g

2bp Case ~2p ~ Case
F
I
[ 3 c, v~ , E rc,
2.4p

l Ca •

2.6p
F Ibp bPl E
z (73 I i
W__b ~
2.8p

, q F z ~ E TC,
• 1.5b "~ 3.0p

,L_
(a) Co)
Fig. 3. Various loading cases on the edge, (a) the concentratedloading case, (b) the tension--compression
loading case.

where e0 and et take a complex value in general and

X(z) = ~ - a 2 (taking the branch Lim X ( z ) / z = 1). (9)
z~ao

The fit-field is a siagular field in the sense that the displacements have an order O(r-t/2) at the
vicinity of the crack tip. From the notation shown by eq. (5) and the function Stpt~(z) in eq. (8)
we can get S~at~ immediately.
A particular physical fl2-field is introduced. In the fl:-field the tractions applied along the outer
boundary F have the same magnitude but opposite direction as those derived from the fl~-field.
The complex potentials for the fl2-field can be assumed in the form [4]

M M

ok(z) = ~., (a., + i b . . ) X ( z ) z " - ' + ~., (c,. + id,.)z"

¢n=l m=l

M M
to(z) = ~ (a,~ - i b , , ) X ( z ) z m - ' - ~ (c,~ - idm)z '~ . (10)
m=l m=l

The involved undetermined coefficients am, b,,, c, and d~, can be evaluated by some numerical
approach [4].
The following four particular cases are of interest to evaluate the individual stress intensity
factor
KLA [taking e0 = 1/2, et = l / 2 a in eqs (6) and (8)]
K2A [taking e0 -- - i/2, et = - i/2a in eqs (6) and (8)] . (ll)
Kja [taking e0 = - 1/2, et = l / 2 a in eqs (6) and (8)]
K2B [taking e0 = - i/2, et = i/2a in eqs (6) and (8)]

After the function Saat is obtained, the stress factors at the crack tips can be evaluated by simply
performing integration.

3. N U M E R I C A L RESULTS
The dependence of stress intensity factors on the loading condition is illustrated by the
calculated numerical results. As mentioned before, the problem of a centrally cracked rectangular
plate is taken as a sample problem (Fig. 2). Various loading conditions at the upper and lower
358 Y . Z . CHEN and N. HASEBE

Table 2. The calculated F,^(h/b, a/b) values [see Fig.3(a) and eq. (13), C,, C:, C~, C4, C~ being the loading condition
in Fig.3 (a)].
a/b 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
h/b = O.5
Ci 3.484 3.514 3.584 3.662 3.755 3.938 4.311 4.912 5.550 5.656
~3.692 3.675 3.641 3.630 3.699 3.905 4.304 4.915
C2 2.180 2.259 2.474 2.768 3.098 3.474 3.954 4.576 5.199 5.373
C~ 0.305 0.394 0.655 1.064 1.578 2.157 2.799 3.515 4.220 4.629
C, - 0.060 - 0.057 - 0.037 0.037 0.208 0.518 0.996 1.658 2.467 3.334
Cs - 0.509 - 0.512 - 0.525 - 0.555 - 0.607 - 0.662 - 0.647 - 0.402 0.320 1.750
h/b = 1.0
CI 1.919 1.922 1.933 1.951 1.975 2.008 2.055 2.130 2.287 2.788
"1"1.925 1.927 1.933 1.944 1.962 1.989 2.033 2. I 18
C2 1.645 1.654 1.680 1.719 1.769 1.827 1.896 1.992 2.176 2.741
C~ 1.021 1.038 1.090 1.171 1.275 1.395 1.531 1.698 1.958 2.617
C4 0.399 0.418 0.476 0.574 0.711 0.888 1.108 1.382 1.752 2.463
Cs - 0.143 - 0.127 - 0.078 0.010 0.144 0.331 0.582 0.913 1.384 2.301
h/b = 1.5
C, 1.301 1.303 1.312 1.328 1.355 1.401 1.476 1.606 1.855 2.521
"1"1.292 1.294 1.301 1.315 1.341 1.387 1.466 1.608
C2 1.211 1.215 1.226 1.246 1.279 1.331 1.414 1.555 1.822 2.524
C~ 1.008 1.015 1.034 1.069 1.120 1.193 1.300 1.466 1.763 2.505
C4 0.808 0.818 0.850 0.904 0.982 1.087 1.228 1.424 1.735 2.153
(.'~ 0.603 0.615 0.652 0.714 0.802 0.921 1.080 1.303 1.662 2.480
h/b = 2.0
C, 1.079 1.083 1.098 I. 125 1.168 1.233 1.330 1.485 1.766 2.48 I
"11.065 1.070 1.084 1.111 1.154 1.221 1.326 1.506
C: 1.047 1.052 1.068 1.096 1.140 1.206 1.306 1.466 1.759 2.496
C~ 0.988 0.994 1.011 1.042 1.091 1.162 1.269 1.439 1.746 2.513
(;4 0.957 0.964 0.986 1.023 1.078 1.157 1.271 1.443 1.746 2.491
C, 0.921 0.928 0.952 0.993 1.053 1.139 1.260 1.440 1.753 2.511
h/b = 3.0
C~ 1.024 1.029 1.047 1.077 1.123 1.191 1.291 1.450 1.740 2.460
C2 1.005 1.011 1.028 1.059 1.106 1.176 1.279 1.444 1.747 2.492
C~ 0.975 0.981 0.998 1.029 1.077 1.150 1.259 1.435 1.758 2.547
C~ 0.986 0.992 1.009 1.040 1.087 1.158 1.266 1.439 1.758 2.539
C~ 1.058 1.064 1.081 1.111 1.157 1.222 1.318 1.469 1.746 2.439
1" In handbook [7].

edges are assumed. As mentioned before, the fl~-field has a definite form which was shown by
eq. (8). For the fl2-field, 47 terms are truncated in eq. (10) and 47 unknowns [am, b,,, c~, (m = l,
2 .... 12), dm (m = 2, 3 .... 12)] are evaluated by using the weight residue approach in an integration
form [4]. In addition, the Simpson rule with 100 divisions is used to evaluate the integral in
eq. (l 1) [6].

2.6
FIA h/b=1.5

F,A 3 2.2
2.5 h/b-l.0

2
1.8

1.5
1.4 CI

0.5 I C3
C,
0
-0.5 0.61 . . . . . . .
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
0.8 0.9 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9
a/b a/b
Fig. 4. The calculated F,^(h/b, a/b) values in the case ofh/b Fig. 5. The calculated F,^(h/b, a/b) values in the case ofh/b
= 1.0. [see 9 . (13), the loading conditions U, C,, C2, C3, C, = 1.5 [see eq. (13), the loading conditions U, C,, C2, Cj, C,
and Cs referred to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3(a)]. and C~ referred to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3(a)].
 D e p e n d e n c e o f stress intensity factor on l o a d i n g c o n d i t i o n 359

2.6 2.6
Fj^ h/b=2.0
2.2
Fl^
2.21.41.8 h/b=3"O
1.8

1.4

q c~ c~.~/..~"

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9

a/b 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9
a/b
Fig. 6. The calculated F~^(h/b, a/b) values in the case ofh/b
Fig. 7. The calculated F~^(h/b, a/b) values in the case
= 2.0 [see eq. (13), the l o a d i n g c o n d i t i o n s U, C , C:, C~, C4
a n d C5 referred to Fig. 2 a n d Fig. 3(a)].
ofh/b = 3.0 [see eq. (13), the loading c o n d i t i o n s U, C,, C,,
C~, C~ a n d Cs referred to Fig. 2 a n d Fig. 3(a)].

Loading case l--the uniform tension case (U)

In the first case (Fig. 2), the uniform tension with intensity p is assumed at the upper and lower
edges. The h/b ratio (height width ratio) is changed from 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and the ratio a/b is
c h a n g e d from 0.1, 0.2 ..... 0.9. T h e calculated results are expressed by

K,, = E,,(h/b,a/b)pw/-~. (12)

The calculated E~A values are listed in Table 1.

T a b l e 3. The calculated G~^(h/b, a/b) values [see Fig. 3(b) and eq. (15), TC, TC:, TC~, TC4, TCs being the l o a d i n g c o n d i t i o n
in Fig. 3(b)].
a/b 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
h/b = 0.5
TCI - 0.518 - 0.509 - 0.474 - 0.383 - 0.208 0.072 0.484 1.069 1.862 2.888
TC2 - 0.952 - 0.954 - 0.946 - 0.886 - 0.737 - 0.473 - 0.075 0.500 1.318 2.481
TC~ - 1.386 - 1.399 - 1.417 - 1.389 - 1.265 - 1.018 - 0.634 - 0.068 0.775 2.075
TC~ - 1.820 - 1.844 - 1.889 - 1.892 - i.793 - 1.563 - 1.193 -0.637 0.231 1.668
TCs - 2.254 - 2.289 - 2.361 - 2.395 - 2.321 - 2.109 - 1.752 - 1.205 - 0.313 1.261
h/b = 1.0
TCI 0.187 0.207 0.268 0.371 0.517 0.708 0.946 1.245 i.651 2.427
TC~ - 0.047 - 0.025 0.042 0.154 0.315 0.527 0.792 1.123 1.564 2.374
TC3 - 0.281 - 0.258 - 0.185 - 0.063 0.113 0.346 0.638 1.001 1.478 2.321
TC, - 0.515 - 0.490 - 0.412 - 0.280 - 0.088 0.165 0.484 0.879 1.391 2.268
TC~ - 0.750 0.722 - 0.639 - 0.497 - 0.290 - 0.016 0.330 0.757 !.304 2.215

h/b = 1.5
TCI 0.738 0.750 0.784 0.843 0.926 1.039 I. 188 1.395 1.723 2.472
TC2 0.661 0.674 0.713 0.777 0.869 0.990 1.150 1.368 1.705 2.461
TC3 0.585 0.599 0.641 0.711 0.811 0.942 !. 113 1.341 1.688 2.450
TC, 0.508 0.523 0.569 0.646 0.753 0.894 1.075 1.313 1.670 2.439
TCs 0.431 0.448 0.498 0.580 0.696 0.846 1.037 1.286 1.652 2.428
h/b = 2.0
TC~ 0.947 0.954 0.977 1.015 1.073 1.155 1.272 1.448 1.757 2.513
TC2 0.930 0.938 0.961 1.001 1.061 1.146 1.265 1.444 1.755 2.513
TC3 0.913 0.921 0.945 0.987 1.049 1.136 1.258 !.440 1.752 2.513
TC, 0.896 0.904 0.930 0.974 1.038 I. 127 1.252 1.435 1.750 2.513
TCs 0.879 0.888 0.914 0.960 1.026 I.I18 1.245 1.431 1.748 2.513
h/b = 3.0
TG 1.002 1.008 1.025 1.056 1.104 1.175 1.282 1.453 1.769 2.545
TC2 1.001 1.007 1.024 1.055 1.102 1.174 1.281 1.453 1.771 2.551
TC3 1.000 1.005 1.023 1.054 1.101 1.172 1.280 1.453 1.773 2.556
TC, 0.998 1.004 1.021 1.052 1.100 1.171 1.279 1.453 1.775 2.562
TC5 0.997 1.003 1.020 1.051 i.099 1.170 1.279 1.454 1.776 2.567
360 Y. Z. CHEN and N. HASEBE

GIA3 2.5
2.5 h/b=1.0 Gl^ h/b=l 5 j
2
1.5
15
1
0.5 I
(3
-0.5 0.5
-1
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 0
a/b 0.2 0.4 0.6
0.8 0.9
afo
Fig. 8. The calculated GLA(h/b,a/b) values in the case ofh/b
= 1.0 [see eq. (15), the loading conditions U, TC, TC2, TC~, Fig. 9. The calculated G~^(h/b, a/b) values in the case ofh/b
TC, and TC~ referred to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3(b)]. = 1.5 [see eq. (15), the loading conditions U, TC, TC,, TC3,
TC, and TC~ referred to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3(b)].

Loading case 2--the concentrated force case (C~ C2 C3 C4 C5)

In the second case, a pair of concentrated forces with intensity bp is applied at the upper edge
and the lower edge of the cracked plate [Fig. 3(a)]. The five particular loading cases are denoted
by C,, C2, C~, C4 and C5, respectively [Fig. 3(a)]. Similarly, the calculated results can be expressed
by

K,A = F . ^ ( h / b , a / b ) p x / ~ . (13)

The calculated F~A(h/b, a/b) values are listed in Table 2. Meantime, the normalized stress intensity
factors are also plotted in Figs 4 - 7, for h/b = 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0, respectively. From Table 2
we see that the maximum deviation of the stress intensity factor from the uniform tension case
is 5.8% in the case of h/b = 3.0. However, it is significant in the case of h/b <_ 1.5.

Loading case 3--the tension-compression loading case (TC~ TC2 TC~ TC, TCs)
In the third case, tension-compression loading is applied at the upper edge and lower edge
of the cracked plate [Fig. 3(b)]. A compression loading with intensity 2c~p is applied at the center
part of the edges and a tension loading with intensity 2(I + ~)p is applied at the side part of the
edges [Fig. 3(b)]. The resultant force will be

R = 2(1 + a)bp - 2otbp = 2bp, (14)

which is equal to the total force in the uniform tension case (Fig. 2). If choosing • = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6,
0.8 and 1.0, the corresponding loading case is denoted by T C , TC2, TC3, TC, and TCs, respectively.
Similarly, the calculated results can be expressed by

K,^ = G,^(h/b,a/b)pq/'~ . (15)

2.6
Gt^. IVb-2.0 2.6
2.2: Gl^
2.2
h/b=3u' 0 T C ~
1.8
1.4 FC~T
1.81 C ~ 1.4

1
0 0.2 0.4 016 0.8 0.9
a/b 0 012 0~4 0~6 018 0
Fig. 10. The calculated GtA(h/b, a/b) values in the case of
h/b = 2.0 [see eq. 05), Ihe loading conditions U, TC, TC2,
Fig. I I. The calculated G~^(h/b, a/b) values in thecase
of
h/b = 3.0 [see eq. (15), the loading conditions U, TC. TC.
TC;, TC, and TC~ referred to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3(b)]. TC, TC, and TCs referred to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3(b)].
 Dependence of stress intensity factor on loading condition 361

The calculated G~^(h/b, a/b) values are listed in Table 3. Meantime, the normalized stress intensity
factors are also plotted in Figs 8 - 11, for h/b = 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0, respectively. As before, from
the figures we see that the dependence of the stress intensity factor on the loading condition is
negligible in the case of h/b = 3.0. However, it is significant in the case of h/b < 1.5.

4. C O N C L U S I O N S
From the above mentioned analysis and numerical examples, the following conclusions can
be reached:
In the case of h/b > 3.0 (h/b being the height width ratio of the plate), the dependence of
the stress intensity factor on the loading condition is rather small, even though the loading
distribution is seriously deviated from the uniform tension. In the concentrated loading case
[Fig. 3(a)], the maximum deviation of the stress intensity factor from the.uniform tension case is
5.8% (see h/b = 3.0 case in Table 2). Meanwhile, in the tension-compression loading case
[Fig. 3(b)], the relevant deviation is negligible (see Fig. 11). However, the relevant dependence is
significant in the case of h/b < 1.5.
In addition, the presented numerical examples show how the Saint-Venant principle plays a
role in the concrete crack problem.

REFERENCES
[I] Sokolnikoff, I. S., Mathematical Theory of Elasticity. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1956.
[2] lsida, M., Arbitrary symmetric loading problems of centrally cracked rectangular plates. Trans. Jpn Soc. Mech. Engrs
1976, 42, 3019-3030.
[3] Chen, Y. Z., A mixed boundary problem of a finite cracked plate. Engng Fracture Mech. 1981, 14, 741-751.
[4] Chen, Y. Z. and H~sebe, N., Novel weight function approach for plane elasticity crack problem. Int. J Engng Science,
1996, to appear.
[5] Muskhelishvili, N. I., Some Basic Problems of Mathematical Theory of Elasticity. Noordhoff, Groningen, 1953.
[6] Hildebrand, F. B., Introduction to Numerical Analysis. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1974.
[7] Stress Intensity Factors Handbook, ed. Y. Murakami. Pergamon Press, New York, 1989.

(Recei~'ed 31 March 1995)