Strength of Materials, Vol. 31, No.

4, 1999

E V A L U A T I O N O F T H E STRESS INTENSITY F A C T O R
FOR CRACKS IN ELASTOMERS

V. V. K i r i e h e v s k i i a n d Yu. G. K o z u b UDC 539.3

We analyze the applicability of the method of the J-integral to the solution of problems of fracture
mechanics for structures made of low-compressible elastomers. The components of the J-integral are
computed by the method of equivalent three-dimensional integration. To take into account weak
compressibility, we use the finite-element moment scheme.

Elastomeric structures are extensively used in various fields of engineering as damping or sealing elements of
structures. It is clear that cracks affect the strength characteristics ofelastomeric structures but, even for sufficiently large
defects, structures of this type preserve their serviceability [1].
As a rule, under actual working conditions of elastomeric structures, one observes various complex phenomena
such as nonlinear deformation, viscoelasticity, dissipative heating, etc., whose effect on the distributions of stresses and
displacements may be significant. However, there are many cases important in practice where the distribution of stresses
in a cracked isotropic viscoelastic body does not depend on its rheological characteristics and coincides with the
distribution typical of the elastic body. The indicated features are observed under the conditions of plane strain or plane
stressed state [2].
Most often, the solution of problems of fracture mechanics is based on the application of a one-parameter
fracture criterion. As a criterion of this sort, it is customary to use either the stress intensity factor, or the J-integral, or
the crack tip opening displacement. For sufficiently rigid elastomers used in engineering, the role of the fracture criterion
can be played by the stress intensity factor. Energy methods and, in particular, a method based on the use of the
Eshelby-Cherepanov-Rice integral (J-integral), are extensively used for the evaluation of stress intensity factors. The
notion of the J-integral was introduced for the first time in the analysis of the characteristics of strain concentration in
the vicinity of a crack tip in a material with nonlinear behavior. The expression for the J-integral is deduced on the basis
of the law of conservation o f energy in the vicinity of the crack tip enclosed within a closed contour.
The J-integral can be used as a criterion of elastoplastic fracture despite the fact that, according to the analytic
results, it is applicable only in the region of nonlinear elasticity and strain plasticity [2].
As a rule, elastomeric structural elements are in a complicated three-dimensional stress-strain state. In the
vicinity of the crack tip, the level of strains in elastomers can be quite high and the stress-strain state near the crack front
is close to the plane strain state. The components of the J-integral are computed on the surface of a small tube enclosing
the crack front. In the case of finite-element discretization, the crack front represented in the form of a broken line is
enclosed within special finite elements [3]. The J-integral is defined in each segment of the crack front. Moreover, the
components of the J-integral are given by the formula

Jk 1 lim [(Wn k Oui "~ (l)

where k = 1, 2, u i and o 0. are components of the displacements and stresses in a coordinate system related to the
crack, nj are components of the line normal to an element of the contour dS, W is the density of strain energy, and Se
is the surface of a tube enclosing a section of the crack front of length h.

Lugansk Agricultural Institute, Lugansk, Ukraine. Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 4, pp. 81 - 85, July
- August, 1999. Original article submitted May 11, 1998.

0039-2316/99/3104-0389522.00 9 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 389

 $I S
r

s-function

Fig. 1. Integration region in the determination of the components of the J-integral.

The J-integral characterizes the rate of decrease in the potential energy of the body in the process of fracture.
The fact that the J-integral is independent of the integration path for both linearly and nonlinearly elastic and perfectly
plastic and elastoplastic bodies is an important advantage of this quantity.
The method of equivalent three-dimensional integration is one of the most efficient methods of finite-element
evaluation of the components of the J-integral [4]. In the present work, we consider a segment of the crack front
enclosed with a prismatic volume V. We make a hole of volume Ve around the crack front as indicated in Fig. 1. In the
region of volume (V -Ve ), we introduce a continuous dimensionless function of shape s which is nonzero on the surface
S e and equal to zero on the surfaces S, Sf, and S 2 . In the absence of plastic strains and bulk stresses and forces,
relation (1) for the evaluation of the components of the energy integral by the method of equivalent three-dimensional
integration can represented in the form

1 I IW Os _ Oui Os IdV+L(~k2 iWn2sdS ' (2)

Jk ---TV_Ve~ " OXk r OXk OXj f Sc

where f is the area of the s-function on the surface of a small tube.

In the elastic problem, the J-integral can be expressed via the stress intensity factors as follows:

Ji = I ( K ? +K~)++K21,
(3)
2
Jn = - ~ KIKII,

where /~ = E / [2(1 + v)] is the shear modulus and D is the effective modulus of elasticity equal either to the modulus of
elasticity E (in the plane stressed state) or to E / (1 - v 2 ) (under conditions of plane strain). For the determination of
the stress intensity factors, we use the relationship between the J-integral and the intensities o f elastic energy release
corresponding to the main types of fracture:
Jl = GI + GII + Gill, (4)

GII 1 = + g21'

GI n = 1 lim [ (Wil I n 2
h,_ oL " -~
(gUl nJ ) dS, (5)

where Win is the density of elastic strain energy:

1
WIII = O12e12 +013e13 +~O'llell. (6)

390
 KI KI Kl
2
2.5 9 5 /~ 5

r
3 ~

1.5 .d 3

~.~ 0.25 0.35 0.45 v

0.5 0.t 0.3 I./B
0.1 0.3 (D-d)/D
Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Fig. 2. Dependences of K I on the depth of a circular crack in a round bar: 1) analytic solution [3]; 2) two-
dimensional finite-element method [5]; 3) three-dimensional finite-element method (method of the J-integral).
Fig. 3. Dependences of K I on the length of an edge crack in a plate: 1) analytic solution; 2) two-dimensional
finite-element method; 3) three-dimensional finite-element method (method of the J-integral).
Fig. 4. Dependence of K I on Poisson's ratio for a plate with edge crack ( L / B = 0.5): 1) ordinary
finite-element method; 2) finite-element moment scheme; the effect of weak compressibility is taken into
account.

Thus, for the stress intensity factors, we obtain

1
K ,H = 2 4 3 (,/J, - J= -C n + 4J, + -Gin ),
(7)
KII I = ~ .

The efficiency of the proposed computational scheme can be checked by analyzing the following
methodological examples of structures with cracks:
Problem 1. A round bar (its diameter, height, and the diameter of the net section are denoted by D, 3D, and d,
respectively) with an external circular crack is subjected to coaxial tension. The tensile load a is equal to 1.0 MPa. The
material o f the bar has the following elastic characteristics: E = 1.0 MPa and v = 0.
The dependences of the stress intensity factor K I on the crack depth obtained by using the J-integral in the
three-dimensional case as well as the analytic and numerical solutions obtained in [5] for the two-dimensional case are
displayed in Fig. 2. The relative error of the evaluation of the stress intensity factor is equal to 9% for (D - d) / D = 0.1
and does not exceed 4% in all other cases.
Problem 2. A rectangular plate of length 6B, width B, and thickness 0.01B (for B = 2) with an edge crack is
subjected to the action of a tensile load a = 1.0 MPa. The material of the plate has the following elastic characteristics:
E = 1.0 MPa and v = 0. Figure 3 illustrates the dependence of the stress intensity factor on the length of the crack. It is
easy to see that the relative error does not exceed 6% for L = 0.1B and 4% for all other points. In the case of a plate
containing a crack of length L = 0.5B, we performed computations for the material whose Poisson's ratio varies f r o m 0
to 0.4999. The solutions were obtained by two methods, namely, by the ordinary finite-element method and by a special
finite-element method based on the finite-element moment scheme with regard for weak compressibility. The analysis of
the accumulated data (see Fig. 4) demonstrates that ifPoisson's ratio is higher than 0.46, then the ordinary finite-element
method gives wrong results for cracked structures (the conclusion concerning the inapplicability of this method for
structures without cracks and v > 0.495 was made in [6]). If the effect of weak compressibility is taken into account, then
it is possible to obtain a stable solution for v = 0.4999.
Problem 3. A compact specimen of length L, width b, and thickness 2t with a through crack is subjected to
tensile loading. The length of the through crack is equal to b / 2. A tensile load P is applied to the ends of the specimen.
Owing to the symmetry of the problem, we consider only a quarter of the specimen. The distributions of the stress

391
 2K I t-fb
P ~=8.499!
11 o=0.4~
~=0.49~ ".~ k

0.25 0.5 0.75 x/t

Fig. 5. Dependence of the stress intensity factor on the coordinate of a point of the crack front.

intensity factor along the crack front for materials with various values of Poisson's ratio are depicted in Fig. 5. The
numerical values of the stress intensity factor for compressible bodies are in good agreement with the data presented in
[7].
In conclusion, we note that the application of the finite-element moment scheme taking into account the effect of
weak compressibility enables one to use the method of equivalent three-dimensional integration for the evaluation of the
components of the J-integral for elastomeric structural elements with cracks.

REFERENCES

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Dumka, Kiev (1988).
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3. V. V. Kirichevskii, B. M. Dokhnyak, and Yu. G. Kozub, Construction of the Stiffness Matrix of a Special Finite
Element for the Solution of Problems of the Fracture Mechanics of Elastomers [in Russian], Lugansk
Agricultural Institute, Lugansk (1994), Deposited at the Ukrainian GNTB, 05. 08. 94, No. 1540, Uk94.
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Moscow (1980).
6. V. V. Kirichevskii and A. S. Sakharov, Nonlinear Problems of the Thermomechanics of Structures of Weakly
Compressible Elastomers [in Russian], Budivel'nyk, Kiev (1992).
7. G. P. Nikishkov and Yu. I. Smirnov, "Evaluation of the stress intensity factor based on the use of
three-dimensional condensation elements of the grid," Sopr. Mater. Teor. Sooruzh., 49, 64-68 (1986).

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