Received: 1 August 2018 Revised: 15 September 2018 Accepted: 6 October 2018

DOI: 10.1111/ffe.12948

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Stress intensity factors for cracks emanating from a circular

hole in an infinite quasi‐orthotropic plane

Mojtaba Hajimohamadi | Rahmatollah Ghajar

Mechanical Properties Research Lab

(MPRL), Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of
Technology, No. 17, Pardis St., Mollasadra
Ave., Vanak Square, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence
Rahmatollah Ghajar, Mechanical
Properties Research Lab (MPRL), Faculty
of Mechanical Engineering, K.N. Toosi
University of Technology, No. 17, Pardis
St., Mollasadra Ave., Vanak Square,
Tehran, Iran.
Email: ghajar@kntu.ac.ir
Abstract
An infinite quasi‐orthotropic plane with a cracked circular hole under tensile load-
ing at infinity is studied analytically. To this end, complex variable theory of
Muskhelishvili is used. In addition, to obtain analytical functions, a new conformal
mapping is proposed and expanded to series expressions. Stress intensity factors
(SIFs) for two unequal cracks emanating from a circular hole are obtained. To val-
idate the analytical SIFs in a quasi‐orthotropic plane, the results are compared with
FEM and the results of isotropic plane. The SIFs for small cracks in a quasi‐
orthotropic and an isotropic plane are different, because of difference between stress
concentrations in points which cracks emanate from the hole. However, the results
of quasi‐orthotropic plane converge to isotropic plane for the large cracks. There-
fore, the SIFs of the large cracks in a quasi‐orthotropic plane can be replaced by
the results of the center crack with equivalent length in an isotropic plane.

KEYWORDS
complex variable theory, quasi‐orthotropic, cracked circular hole, stress intensity factor

1 | INTRODUCTION
The quasi‐orthotropic plane is a special case of the orthotropic
plane with equal roots of characteristics equation.1,2 In the
literature, this material is also referred to as specially
orthotropic or pseudo‐isotropic materials.3-5 On the other
hand, the plane containing holes is commonly used in struc-
tures. The fatigue cracks usually are initiated in the stress con-
centration (SC) areas due to the holes. Since stress intensity
factors (SIFs) are important parameters in the damage toler-
ance and fracture analysis, many researchers have investi-
gated SIFs for cracks emanating from different types of holes.
For the first time, Bowie6 presented the SIFs for equal
cracks emanating from a circular hole. Hasebe and Ueda7
investigated one crack emanating from a corner of a square
hole in an infinite plane. Using the boundary element
method, Yan8-11 obtained SIFs for the cracks emanating from
the different shape of the holes. Teh and Brennan12 used the
weight function method to present SIFs for edge cracks ema-
nating from a notch. Crack surface displacement of the
cracks emanating from the circular hole in an infinite and
finite width plate was obtained by Tong and Wu.13 Proposing
weight function approach, Xu et al14 examined SIFs and
crack opening displacement for unequal cracks emanating

Nomenclature: aR, Right crack length; aL, Left crack length; Ak, Aj, Constant coefficients of approximated mapping function; B1, B2, C2, Coefficients which
defined by stresses at infinity; C, Eik , Coefficients of approximated mapping function; Ex, Ey, Elastic modulus in x and y directions; f 01 ; f 02 , External forces on the
boundary; Gxy, Shear modulus; KI, Mode I SIF; KII, Mode II SIF; KI, R, Mode I SIF of right crack; KI, L, Mode I SIF of left crack; KI0, Mode I SIF of equivalent
center crack; KII0, Mode II SIF of equivalent center crack; l1, l2, Crack lengths on the unit circular hole; M, N, Parameters of crack length in mapping function;
P; P, Points that crack emanating from the circular hole; Q, Part of mapping function; R, Radius of circular hole; sj, Roots of the characteristic equation; w*,
Including orthotropic properties; αk, αj, Constant coefficients of approximated mapping function; β, Angel of loading at infinity; β1, Ratio of orthotropic
modulus; Υi, Coefficient of approximated mapping function; λ, Parameter of magnitude of hole; σ, Stress at infinity; νxy, Poisson's ratio; Φ, Ψ, Χ, φ, ψ,
Holomorphic functions; ωcc, Mapping function of cracked circle hole in quasi‐orthotropic plane.

Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct. 2018;1–9. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ffe © 2018 Wiley Publishing Ltd. 1
2 HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR

from a circular hole. Based on the Muskhelishvili method,

Hajimohamadi and Ghajar15 presented SIFs for two unequal
cracks emanating from an elliptical hole in an infinite plane.
The mentioned studies above are limited to the isotropic
materials. For the anisotropic materials, there are also few
works. Wang and Yau16 investigated equal cracks emanat-
ing from a circular hole in an off‐axis unidirectional fiber‐
reinforced composite. They used the J‐integral method to
obtain SIFs. Using the modified mapping‐collocation
method, Cheong and Hong17 presented SIFs for equal cracks
emanating from a circular hole in an infinite orthotropic
plate. Kamel and Liaw18 combined superposition and com-
plex variable method to present SIFs for a cracked circular
hole in an infinite anisotropic plate. Using the boundary
element method, Sollero et al19 investigated the mixed mode
of cracks due to circular holes in a finite anisotropic plate.
Based on the conformal mapping method, Beom and Jang20
investigated a crack emanating from an apex in an infinite
anisotropic wedge under anti‐plane shear loading. Using
the complex variable method of Muskhelishvuli, Sharma
and Dave21 presented SIFs for hypocycloidal holes in an
infinite symmetrical anisotropic plane. FIGURE 1 Infinite orthotropic plane with cracked circular hole
Most of the previous solutions are limited to the cases under far field tensile loading
with equal crack lengths. To the best of author's knowledge,
a quasi‐orthotropic plane containing a cracked hole is not in which Gxy is the shear modulus and νxy is the Poisson's
reported in the literature. In the present study, unequal cracks ratio. Equation 1 can be written as a multiplication of
emanating from the circular hole in a specially orthotropic four linear differential operators of the first order as
plane, namely, quasi‐orthotropic are investigated.
D1 D 2 D3 D 4 U ¼ 0 (3a)
The cracks and the surface of the hole are assumed
traction free. A new conformal mapping is proposed and ∂ ∂
approximated to series expression. The mapping function Dj ¼ − sj ; j ¼ 1; 2; 3; 4 (3b)
∂y ∂x
transforms the exterior of the unit circle onto the exterior
of a circle with two unequal cracks in the quasi‐orthotropic where the parameters sj are the roots of the following
plane. Based on the complex variable theory, SIFs for characteristic equation22:
different crack lengths are obtained. The analytical results a11 s4 þ ð2a12 þ a66 Þs2 þ a22 ¼ 0: (4)
are compared with the finite element method.
Lekhnitskii22 showed that the roots of this equation are
complex. For quasi‐orthotropic material, the real part of
2 | THEORY OF COMPLEX VARIABLE IN
the roots are equal to zeros and imaginary part of the
AN ORTHOTROPIC PLANE
two roots are equal to β1 (ie, s1 = s2 = iβ1). For the
quasi‐orthotropic material, there is a relation between
The infinite orthotropic plane under tensile loading at
the properties as follows1:
infinity is shown in Figure 1. Parameters Ex and Ey are
the elastic modulus in the x and y directions, respectively. 1 2νxy 2
− ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi: (5)
In the case of plane stress of orthotropic plane when the Gxy Ex Ex Ey
principle axes of orthotropic are directed along the x and y axes,
As an example, two materials with quasi‐orthotropic
the stress function U(x, y) satisfies the following equation22:
properties are presented in Table 1.3
∂4 U ∂4 U ∂4 U
a22 þ ð 2a 12 þ a 66 Þ þ a 11 ¼0 (1) TABLE 1 Properties of two quasi‐orthotropic materials3
∂x 4 ∂x 2 ∂y2 ∂y4
Material Ex (psi) Ey (psi) νxy Gxy (psi)
where the parameters are defined as
1 1 νxy 1 Titaniom 15.07 e6 20.8 e6 0.1966 6.78 e6
a11 ¼ ; a22 ¼ ; a12 ¼ − ; a66 ¼ (2)
Ex Ey Ex Gxy Graphit 1.5 e6 40 e6 0.0075 4 e6
HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR 3

 
For the quasi‐orthotropic material, Equation 1 can be 1 ∞ σ∞
written as B2 ¼ σ y − x2 (12b)
2 β1
∂4 U ∂4 U ∂4 U
þ 2 þ ¼0 (6) τ xy ∞
∂x 41 ∂x 21 ∂y21 ∂y41 C2 ¼ (12c)
β1
where the parameters x1 and y1 are obtained from the
affine transformation as where the stress components at infinity are expressed as

σ
z1 ¼ x 1 þ iy1 (7a) σ∞
x ¼ ð1 þ cos2βÞ (13a)
2

σ
x 1 ¼ x ; y1 ¼ β1 y (7b) σ∞
y ¼ ð1 − cos2βÞ (13b)
2
where β1 is defined as
σ
 14 τ∞
xy ¼ sin2β: (13c)
Ex 2
β1 ¼ : (8)
Ey The parameter β is the angle of tensile loading σ, with
respect to the x axis. The function φ0(ζ) is expressed as15
Therefore, the problem of a quasi‐orthotropic plane
may be solved similar to the isotropic problem. The solu- 1 ωðtÞ φ′0 ðtÞ 1 f 01 þ if 02
tion of Equation 6 is expressed by two analytical complex φ 0 ðζ Þ ¼ ∫ dt − ∫ dt¼Iðζ Þ − H ðζ Þ
2πi γ ω′ ðt Þ t − ζ 2πi γ t − ζ
functions as22
(14)
U ðx 1 ; y1 Þ ¼ Re½z1 Φðz1 Þ þ Χðz1 Þ: (9)
where the functions Iðζ Þ and Hðζ Þ are the first and sec-
In Equation 9, parameter z1 is the mapping function ond terms in the right‐hand side of Equation 14, respec-
and is defined in the next section. The stress components tively. The functions f 01 and f 02 are defined according to
are expressed as follows1: the boundary condition of the crack and hole surfaces
as follows22:
σx  
þ σ y ¼ σ x 1 þ σ y1 ¼ 4 Re Φ′ ðz1 Þ (10a)
β1 2 f 01 þ if 02 ¼ −2B1 ωðζ Þ − ðB2 − iC 2 Þωðζ Þ: (15)

Note that in Equation 15, the function ωðζ Þ is the con-

σx τ xy jugate of ω(ζ).
σy − 2 þ 2i ¼ σ y1 − σ x1 þ 2iτ x1 y1
β1 β1
¼ 2z1 Φ′′ ðz1 Þ þ 2Ψ′ ðz1 Þ: (10b) 2.1 | Mapping function
Thus, it is necessary to find the holomorphic func- The mapping function that transforms the exterior of a
tions Φ(z1) and Ψ(z1) in order to obtain the stress unit circle (in ζ‐plane) onto the exterior of a circular hole
field. Assuming Φ(z1) = Φ(ω(ζ)) = φ(ζ) and with unequal cracks in an isotropic plane is expressed as15
Ψ(z1) = Ψ(ω(ζ)) = ψ(ζ), the holomorphic function is
   
defined as15 1
ω 1 ðζ Þ ¼ λ M ζ þ þ N þ Q ðζ Þ (16a)
ζ
φ ðζ Þ ¼ B 1 ω ðζ Þ þ φ 0 ð ζ Þ (11a)

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u "   2 #
ψðζ Þ ¼ ðB2 þ iC 2 Þωðζ Þ þ ψ0 ðζ Þ (11b) u1 1
Qð ζ Þ ¼ ζ t 2 M ζ þ þN −1 (16b)
ζ ζ
where ω(ζ) is the mapping function and the parameters
B1, B2, and C2 are related to the loading and are defined
as
   
1 ∞ σ∞ 1 1 1
B1 ¼ σ y þ 2 x
(12a) M ¼ 2 þ l1 þ l2 þ þ (16c)
4 β1 8 1 þ l1 1 þ l2
4 HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR

 
1 1 1 in which
N¼ l1 − l2 þ − (16d) 2 3 2 3 2 3
4 1 þ l1 1 þ l2 2 3 4 3 4 2 4
61 47 63 17 647
where λ is related to the size of the hole. For the circle hole 6 3 7 6 4 7 6 7
p¼6 7; q ¼ 6 7; r ¼ 6 7: (20)
λ = R. Parameters l1 and l2 are the length of the cracks 41 2 45 42 4 15 445
emanating from the unit circle hole and are equal to aR/ 1 2 3 2 3 1 3
λ and aL/λ, respectively. To calculate the integral Iðζ Þ of
The arrays of matrices in Equation 20 are the index of
Equation 14, the Q(ζ) part of the mapping function is
Υ, for instance Υp(1, 2) = Υ3.
approximated to series expression as follows
0 1 Using the mapping function in the isotropic plane and
B 4 affine transformation, the new mapping function that
4 14 E ik C
Qðζ Þ ¼ Mζ B
@C þ ∑ ∑
C (17a) transforms the exterior of the unit circle onto the exterior
α k Υi A
i¼1 k¼1
1− of a cracked circular (cc) hole in the quasi‐orthotropic
ζ
plane are obtained as
14      
C ¼ 1 þ ∑ Ak 1
(17b) ωcc ¼ λ* 1 þ w* M ζ þ þ N þ 1 − w* Qðζ Þ
k¼1 ζ
where the parameters αk and Ak are presented in Table 2, which (21a)
are determined from the Hasebe and Horiuchi method.23
Parameters Υi are defined as λð1 þ β1 Þ ð1 − β1 Þ
λ* ¼ ; w* ¼ : (21b)
2 ð1 þ β 1 Þ
1 h pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffii
Υ1 ¼ − N − 1 − N 2 − 2N þ 1 − 4M 2 ; Υ2 ¼ Υ1 (18a) Note that the first and second derivatives of the new
2M
mapping function, ωcc, are calculated as
2   3
1 h pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffii
  M ζþ
1
þN
Υ3 ¼ − N þ 1 − N 2 þ 2N þ 1 − 4M 2 ; Υ4 ¼ Υ3 : (18b) 1 6 ζ 7
2M
ω′cc ðζ Þ ¼ λ* M 1 − 2 6 4 1 þ w* þ ð1 − wÞ 7
5
ζ Qðζ Þ
Moreover, the parameters E ik in Equation 17a are
defined as (22a)

3 14 Aj
E ik ¼ − C3 Ak þ C 2 Ak αk Υi ∑ ∑ (19)
s¼1j¼1 αk Υi − αj Υpði;sÞ

3 14 Aj 14 Am
− CAk ðαk Υi Þ2 ∑ ∑ ∑
s¼1j¼1 αk Υi − αj Υpði;sÞ n¼1 αk Υi − αn Υqði;sÞ

14 Aj 14 Am 14 An
þAk ðαk Υi Þ3 ∑ ∑ ∑
j¼1 αk Υi − αj Υpði;1Þ m¼1 αk Υi − αm Υqði;1Þ n¼1αk Υi − αn Υrði;1Þ

TABLE 2 Coefficients for approximate mapping function

k 1 2 3 4 5

Ak 1.5173 e − 08 9.4188 e − 08 5.1103 e − 07 2.3529 e − 06 1.1911 e − 05

αk 1 1 0.9999 0.9996 0.9989
k 6 7 8 9 10

Ak 5.3814 e − 05 2.7117 e − 04 0.0012 0.0063 0.0294

αk 0.997 0.9914 0.9761 0.933 0.8231
k 11 12 13 14

Ak 0.6548 0.0596 0.1105 7.1929

αk 0.2443 0.4692 0.5979 0.0298
HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR 5

2  3 
1 Substituting ζ ¼ δik into Equation 27 and solving the lin-
  M ζþ þN
2M 6 6ð1 þ wÞ þ ð1 − wÞ ζ 7
7 ear complex equations, the values of φ′0 δik are determined.
ω′′cc ðζ Þ ¼ λ* 4 5
ζ 3
Qðζ Þ

0   1 3 | ST R E SS I NT E NSI T Y F A C T O R S
1
 2 M ζþ þN
1 B 1 ζ C
− λ* ð1 − wÞM 2 1− B C:
ζ2 @Qðζ Þ − ½Qðζ Þ 3 A Using the equation of SIFs in the isotropic plane and rela-
tion between stress fields as mentioned in the Appendix,
the SIFs of right and left cracks in quasi‐orthotropic plane
(22b) are expressed as
 
2.2 | Holomorphic function K II pffiffiffi φ′0 ð1Þ
KI þ i ¼ 2 π pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (28a)
β1 R ω′′cc ð1Þ
To obtain the holomorphic function, the functions Iðζ Þ and
Hðζ Þ of Equation 14 should be calculated. Using the Cauchy  
K II pffiffiffi φ′0 ð−1Þ
integral theorem and considering the approximate expression KI þ i ¼ 2 π pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi: (28b)
β1 L −ω′′cc ð−1Þ
for Q(ζ), the function Iðζ Þ is obtained. The mapping function
has one pole on ζ = 0. Moreover, according to the parameters The derivative of complex function φ′0(ζ) of Equa-
αk and Υi, there are 48 poles on ζ = αkΥi in the interior of the tion 27 and second derivative of mapping function ω ′ ′
unit circle. Therefore, the function Iðζ Þ is calculated as follows
cc(ζ) of Equation 22b are used to obtain SIFs as follows:
1 ωcc ðt Þφ′0 ðt Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
I ðζ Þ ¼ ∫ dt K II 2πM
2πi γ ω′cc ðt Þ t − ζ ¼ v2
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
KI þ
β1
i
u 3ffi
E ik ζ ik R u
4 14 φ′0 δik u6 2M þ N 7
*
¼ −λ 1 − w M ∑ ∑ *
: (23) u41 þ β qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 5
ζ − ζ ik ω′ δik t 1
2
i¼1 k¼3
ð2M þ N Þ − 1
The parameters ζ ik and δik are defined as × fð2B1 þ ðB2 − iC 2 Þð1 þ β1 ÞÞ
1 2 3
ζ ik ¼ αk Υi ; δik ¼ : (24) ! 2
φ′0δik Eik ζ ik
ζ ik 6 4 14
7 (29a)
þMβ1 ∑ ∑ 4 2B1 þ 2 5g
i¼1 k¼3 ω′ δik 1−ζ ik
The function Hðζ Þ, second function of Equation 14,
can be obtained as
  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
* M K II 2πM
H ðζ Þ ¼ −2λ ½B1 ð1 þ wÞ þ ðB2 − iC 2 Þ (25) KI þ i ¼ vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 3
ζ u
β1 L u
2 3 u6 −2M þ N 7
i
2 u41 − β qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ffi5
4 14 E k ζ k t
i
1
6 7
− 2B1 4λ* ð1 − wÞM ∑ ∑
2
i 5: ð−2M þ N Þ − 1
i¼1 k¼3 ζ −ζ k 1
× fð2B1 þ ðB2 − iC 2 Þð1 þ β1 ÞÞ
Substituting Equations 23 and 25 into Equation 14, 2 3
! 2
the function φ0(ζ) is obtained as φ′0 δik Eik ζ ik
64 14
7
  þMβ1 ∑ ∑ 4 2B1 þ 2 5g : (29b)
M i¼1 k¼3 ω′ δik 1 þ ζ ik
φ0 ðζ Þ ¼ −λð2B1 þ ðB2 − iC 2 Þð1 þ β1 ÞÞ
ζ
2 3 For a quasi‐orthotropic plane, containing a cracked
! i i 2
φ′ δ i Ek ζ k 7 circular hole under loading σ ∞ y ¼ σ mode I of SIF is
4 14
6
− λMβ1 ∑ ∑ 4 2B1 þ 0 k 5: obtained. Substituting σ ∞ ¼ σ, σ∞ ∞
i¼1 k¼3 ω′ δik ζ − ζ ik y x ¼ 0 and τ xy ¼ 0 into
Equation 12, the coefficients B1 = σ/4, B2 = σ/2, and
(26) C2 = 0 are obtained for this loading. The values of KI
The first derivative of function φ0(ζ) can be derived as for Titanium with properties of Table 1 are obtained.
  These results are compared with results of finite element
M
φ′0 ðζ Þ ¼ λð2B1 þ ðB2 − iC 2 Þð1 þ β1 ÞÞ 2 method as shown in Figure 2. It is noted that the mesh
2 ζ 3 geometry is partitioned to five rings of elements around
! i i 2
4 14
6
′
φ δ i E k ζ k 7 the crack tip for the contour integral calculations in
þ λMβ1 ∑ ∑ 4 2B1 þ 0 k 2 5: (27) FEM. The first ring is modeled with quadratic triangular
′
ω δk i
i¼1 k¼3 ζ −ζ ik elements to introduce a singularity at the crack tip and
6 HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR

FIGURE 2 Values of KI for two equal cracks (aR = aL) FIGURE 4 Comparison of KI for cracked circular hole in
emanating from a circular hole in titanium plane under σ ∞ graphite plane and cracked elliptical hole in isotropic plane11
y
[Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

quadratic quadrilateral elements are assigned to the

remainder of the contour integral region. The values of
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
SIFs are normalized by K I0 ¼ σ π ½R þ aR .
Figure 2 shows that the results of the present method
are in very good agreement with FEM. Also, in this
figure, the results of an isotropic plane with a cracked cir-
cular hole are presented. It is observed that the difference
between titanium results and isotropic is insignificant.
The similarity of titanium and isotropic results can be
related to the ratio of the elastic modulus in x and y
directions. According to the ratio of elastic modulus in
titanium, the parameter β1 = 0.92 are close to one.
Therefore, the same results for titanium and isotropic
are acceptable.

FIGURE 3 Values of KI for two equal cracks (aR = aL) FIGURE 5 Values of KI for two unequal cracks emanating from
emanating from a circular hole in graphite plane under σ ∞
y (A) right and (B) left of a circular hole in graphite plane [Colour
[Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR
Values of KI for graphite, other quasi‐orthotropic
material mentioned in Table 1, are presented in
Figure 3.
It can be seen from Figure 3 that the results of the
present method for graphite and FEM are in very good
agreement. However, there are some discrepancies
between graphite and isotropic plane for the cases with
small cracks. The different results are related to the large
differences between the elastic modulus in the x and y
directions. The parameter β1 for graphite is equal to
0.44. In addition, the SC factor has an effect on the SIFs.
Since SC of the point P on the circle hole without cracks
in graphite plan is more than the isotropic plane, the
higher SIFs for small cracks are acceptable. Also, for long
cracks aR/R > 2, the results of a cracked circular hole are
converged to the results of an equivalent center crack
problem in which aeq = R + aR.
Using the affine transformation in Equation 7, the
results of a cracked circular hole in a quasi‐orthotropic
FIGURE 6 Values of (A) KI and (B) KII for equal cracks
emanating from a circular hole in graphite plane [Colour figure
can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
7
plate are equivalent with a cracked elliptical hole in the
isotropic plate. So, a circle in an infinite graphite plate
is equivalent with an ellipse in an infinite isotropic
plate which aspect ratio is equal to β1 = 0.44. In
Figure 4, the results of a cracked circular hole in the
graphite plate are compared with the results of Yan11
for a cracked elliptical hole in the isotropic plane.
According to Figure 4, the results are in good agree-
ment. Since the results of Yan11 are presented for the
elliptical hole with aspect ratio = 0.5, there is some dis-
crepancy between the results in small cracks.
The results of KI for two unequal cracks emanating
from a circular hole in the quasi‐orthotropic plane
(graphite) are shown in Figure 5.
From Figure 5, it is observed that increasing the
length of one crack leads to the increase of the value of
KI for both cracks.
For loading angle β = π/4 with respect to the x axis,
the coefficient B1 = 0.77, B2 = − 1.04, and C2 = 1.13
FIGURE 7 Values of (A) KI and (B) KII for unequal cracks under
different angles of loading [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
8 HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR
are calculated from Equations 12 and 13. Substituting
these coefficients in Equation 29, the SIFs are obtained.
Values of KI and KII for equal cracks emanating from a
circular hole in graphite plane are shown in Figure 6.
As seen in Figure 6, the values of KI in this quasi‐
orthotropic plane are less than the isotropic plane, but
the result of KII is vice versa. Moreover, the figures show
that for long cracks, the results of the quasi‐orthotropic
plane converge to the isotropic plane.
A quasi‐orthotropic plane containing a cracked circu-
lar hole with aR/R = 1 and aL/R = 0.1 is considered.
Values of KI and KII for different directions of loading
(β) are shown in Figure 7.
The effect of load direction on the SIFs is shown in
Figure 7. The effect of small and large cracks is also
observed in these figures. According to Figure 7A, for
values of β less than 35, negative values for KI are
obtained in the small crack (left one). It is obvious that
this loading causes a compression stress in the points P
and P which cracks emanate from the hole. Therefore,
this compression stress leads to the negative values for
KI in small cracks. However, for large crack (right one),
the compression stress has no effect on the values of KI.
As seen in Figure 7B, KII is maximum in β = 45. For
β = 0 and β = 90, the values of KII are equal to zeros.
4 | CONCLUSION
The quasi‐orthotropic infinite plane containing a circular
hole with two unequal cracks was analyzed. The new for-
mula of SIFs was presented for the infinite plane under
remote tensile loading in arbitrary directions. To this
end, a new approximate mapping function was
combined with the Muskhelishvily formulation. The ana-
lytical results were compared with the finite element
method, and they were in very good agreement. The
results showed that the material properties were impor-
tant only for small cracks. For the large cracks in the
quasi‐orthotropic plane, the problem can be replaced by
the isotropic one. The reason of different results for small
cracks in the isotropic and quasi‐orthotropic plane can be
related to the difference between SCs around the hole.
ORCID
Rahmatollah Ghajar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3203-
733X
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HAJIMOHAMADI AND GHAJAR 9

pffiffiffiffiffiffipffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
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under antiplane shear. Int J Eng Sci. 2011;49(9):867‐880. z→z0

21. Sharma DS, Dave JM. Stress intensity factors for hypocycloidal
On the other hand, the values of σy and σxy, according
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to the stress function U described in Equation 9, are
expressed as
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∂2 U ∂2 U
23. Hasebe N, Horiuchi Y. Stress analysis for a strip with semi‐ σ y1 ¼ ¼ 2 ¼ σy ; σ y ¼ σ y1 (A5)
∂x 1 2 ∂x
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mapping function. Ing –Arch. 1978;47(3):169‐179.
24. Parker A. The Mechanics of Fracture and Fatigue: An Introduc-
tion. Spon Press; 1981. ∂2 U ∂2 U τ xy
τ x 1 y1 ¼ ¼ ¼ ; τ xy ¼ β1 τ x 1 y1 : (A6)
∂x 1 ∂y1 β1 ∂x∂y β1
How to cite this article: Hajimohamadi M, Substituting Equation A‐6 into Equation A‐4, the new
Ghajar R. Stress intensity factors for cracks SIFs are obtained as
emanating from a circular hole in an infinite quasi‐
orthotropic plane. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct. K I jnew ¼ K I (A7)
2018;1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.12948

K II
K II jnew ¼ : (A8)
A P P EN D I X A β1

The equation of SIFs in the isotropic plane is expressed Substituting Equations A‐7 and A‐8 into Equations
as15 A‐1 and A‐2, the SIFs of right and left cracks emanating
from the circular hole in quasi‐orthotropic plane are
pffiffiffi φ′0 ð1Þ expressed as
½K I þ iK II R ¼ 2 π pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (A1)
ω′′cc ð1Þ  
K II pffiffiffi φ′0 ð1Þ
KI þ i ¼ 2 π pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (A9)
β1 R ω′′cc ð1Þ

pffiffiffi φ′0 ð−1Þ

½K I þ iK II L ¼ 2 π pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi: (A2)
−ω′′cc ð−1Þ  
K II pffiffiffi φ′0 ð−1Þ
KI þ i ¼ 2 π pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi: (A10)
The mode I and mode II of SIF in isotropic plane are β1 L −ω′′cc ð−1Þ
define as24
pffiffiffiffiffiffipffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
K I ¼ lim 2π z − z0 σ y (A3)
z→z0