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A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses of a

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Article in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics · September 2020

DOI: 10.1007/s10483-020-2653-9

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 Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed., 41(10), 1539–1560 (2020)

APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS (ENGLISH EDITION)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-020-2653-9

A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting

stresses of a multi-hole problem under both remote and arbitrary
surface stresses∗

Wei YI1 , Qiuhua RAO1,† , Wenbo MA2 , Dongliang SUN1 , Qingqing SHEN1
1. School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
2. College of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Xiangtan University,
Xiangtan 411105, Hunan Province, China
(Received Mar. 29, 2020 / Revised Jun. 17, 2020)

Abstract Based on the elementary solutions and new integral equations, a new
analytical-numerical method is proposed to calculate the interacting stresses of multiple
circular holes in an infinite elastic plate under both remote stresses and arbitrarily
distributed stresses applied to the circular boundaries. The validity of this new
analytical-numerical method is verified by the analytical solution of the bi-harmonic
stress function method, the numerical solution of the finite element method, and
the analytical-numerical solutions of the series expansion and Laurent series methods.
Some numerical examples are presented to investigate the effects of the hole geometry
parameters (radii and relative positions) and loading conditions (remote stresses and
surface stresses) on the interacting tangential stresses and interacting stress concentration
factors (SCFs). The results show that whether the interference effect is shielding (k < 1)
or amplifying (k > 1) depends on the relative orientation of holes (α) and remote stresses
(σx∞ , σy∞ ). When the maximum principal stress is aligned with the connecting line of
two-hole centers and σy∞ < 0.5σx∞ , the plate containing two circular holes has greater
stability than that containing one circular hole, and the smaller circular hole has greater
stability than the bigger one. This new method not only has a simple formulation and
high accuracy, but also has an advantage of wide applications over common analytical
methods and analytical-numerical methods in calculating the interacting stresses of a
multi-hole problem under both remote and arbitrary surface stresses.
Key words new analytical-numerical method, interacting stress, multi-hole problem,
remote stress, arbitrary surface stress
Chinese Library Classification O343.4, TU45
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 74A10, 78B05, 74H10

∗ Citation: YI, W., RAO, Q. H., MA, W. B., SUN, D. L., and SHEN, Q. Q. A new analytical-numerical
method for calculating interacting stresses of a multi-hole problem under both remote and arbitrary
surface stresses. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition), 41(10), 1539–1560 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-020-2653-9
† Corresponding author, E-mail: raoqh@csu.edu.cn
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51474251, 51874351,
and 11502226), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China (No. 2019JJ50625), and
the Key Research and Development Plan of Hunan Province of China (No. 2017WK2032)
©Shanghai University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
1540 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

1 Introduction

In underground and geotechnical engineering, such as multilateral wells and buried tunnels
and pipes, the situations of stresses applied on the surfaces of circular holes are very
common[1–3] . When trains move through tunnels and water flows through pipes, these buried
tunnels and pipes are often subject to both geostresses and nonlinearly distributed surface
stresses[4]. Under the action of remote and arbitrary surface stresses, the stress concentrations
induced by the project supported by the multiple holes may cause a decrease in the strength
and lead to failure of engineering[5–7] . Therefore, it is of great importance to calculate the
interacting stresses at the boundaries of circular holes under both remote stresses and arbitrary
surface stresses (including nonlinearly distributed surface stresses) for safety assessment and
optimization design of underground and geotechnical engineering concerned with the multi-hole
problem.
At present, there are three types of methods for studying the multi-hole problem in an infinite
elastic plate, i.e., the analytical methods, the numerical methods, and the analytical-numerical
methods. Most of the analytical methods, including the bi-polar coordinate method[8–9] , the
bi-harmonic stress function method[10–11] , and the conformal mapping method[12] , are used
to deduce the exact tangential stress solutions of two circular holes in an infinite plate only
under remote stresses. Later, these methods were developed to study the two-hole problem
under both remote and constant surface stresses[13–16] . These analytical methods are limited
to the two-hole problem under remote stresses or constant surface stresses. There might be
difficulty in dealing with the two-hole problem under arbitrary surface stresses or problems
with more than two holes[17] . With the rapid development of computers, the numerical methods
have an advantage in solving the multi-hole problem under complex loading conditions. For
example, the finite element method can be used to calculate the interacting stresses under
remote uniform stresses and arbitrary surface stresses, by the shape function interpolation
and Gaussian quadrature for the unknown field-variables of arbitrary nodes of elements in
the whole domain[18–19] . However, the method is time-consuming, since it not only needs to
build the model and refine the mesh for different geometry parameters of multiple holes, but
also applies the boundary conditions for different loading conditions (especially for nonlinearly
distributed surface stresses). Also, its calculation accuracy strongly depends on the refinement
of mesh. Thus, the analytical-numerical methods have attracted interest of many researchers.
Currently, most of the analytical-numerical methods focus on the study of multi-hole problem
in an infinite plate only under remote stresses. For example, the Laurent series expansion
method (by Isida and Igawa[20]), alternating the method combined with the iteration technique
(by Ting et al.[21] ), and the singular integral equation method (by Horii and Nemat-Nasser[22] )
were used to calculate the interacting tangential stress distributions of the multiple circular
holes with special array (zig-zag, periodicity, and rhombus), and the body force method and the
series expansion method (by Duan et al.[23] ) were applied to calculate the interacting tangential
stresses of the multiple randomly distributed circular holes with different sizes. Ting et al.[24]
used the alternating method combined with the iteration technique to derive the approximate
stress solutions under remote stresses by simplifying the multiple circular hole problem into
a system of single circular hole problems. Series expansion and Laurent series methods of
Meguid and Shen[25] were presented to study interacting stresses under remote stresses, where
two kinds of series need to be solved. Obviously, these analytical-numerical methods are only
concerned with the multi-hole problem under remote uniform stresses regardless of the arbitrary
surface stresses. Although there are few studies related to the calculation of multi-hole stress
distributions in an infinite plate under both remote stresses and surface stresses by using the
complex boundary integral method with singularity (Wang et al.[26] ), the surface stress is only
constant, and furthermore the singular integral equations are difficult to solve.
In this paper, a new analytical-numerical method is presented to calculate the interacting
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1541

tangential stresses of multiple circular holes in an infinite elastic plate under both remote and
arbitrary surface stresses. First, a new integral equation method is proposed to determine the
distributed pseudo-tractions on each circular boundary based on the first elementary solution of
single circular hole under the concentrated forces. Then, the interacting stresses are calculated
by the obtained pseudo-tractions, the second elementary solution of single circular hole subject
to uniform stresses along the arc of the circular boundary and the superposition principle.
Finally, some numerical examples are given to verify the validity of the newly proposed
method and to investigate the effect of hole geometry parameters and loading conditions on the
interacting stresses and the interacting stress concentration factors (SCFs).

2 A new analytical-numerical method

As shown in Fig. 1, an infinite, isotropic, and elastic plate contains K randomly distributed
circular holes with different radii ak (k = 1, 2, · · ·, K). The plate is subject to uniform stresses
at infinity, i.e., σx∞ , σy∞ , and τxy
∞ ∞
= τyx , and the circular boundaries are subject to arbitrarily
distributed radial and shear stresses (rk , sk ), where the compressive stress is defined as positive.
Set a global Cartesian coordinate system xOy and a local polar coordinate systems Ok rk at the
kth circular hole center Ok , where the x-axis is horizontal, and the anti-clockwise direction of
θk is defined as positive, 0  θk < 2π. The main purpose of this paper is to present a general
method to obtain the interacting tangential stresses at the boundaries of the circular holes since
it is the most important stress in engineering[12,15].
ĸ
Z

ĸ
YZ
B

ĸ
YZ S ĸ
YZ
4 B
ĸ ĸ
Y Y
BL SL
S


L 4
0L
Z SL
4L
ĸ
YZ

ĸ
0 Z
Y

Fig. 1 An infinite, isotropic, and elastic plate with K randomly distributed circular holes under
remote stresses and arbitrary surface stresses on the circular holes

2.1 Elementary solutions

For studying the interaction of multiple circular holes, it is necessary to determine the radial
and shear tractions at any point of the fictitious circle, induced by the concentrated forces first
and then by the uniform stresses on the boundary of the single circular hole.
2.1.1 A single circular hole subject to the concentrated forces
Figure 2 shows that a single circular hole with the radius a is subject to concentrated radial
R and shear S forces at any point z0 (a, θ) on the circular boundary in an infinite elastic plate.
Set the global Cartesian xOy and polar coordinate system Or at the center O of the circular
hole, and the local polar coordinate system O r at the center O of the fictitious circle.
The radial σr and shear σr α tractions at any point z (z = x+iy) of the fictitious circle can
be obtained by our previous work[27] as follows:

σr − iσr α = ϕ1 (z) + ϕ1 (z) − e2iα (zϕ1 (z) + ψ1 (z)), (1)
1542 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

Z
S'
S [
S'
[
3 0' S' '

4

B 0 Y

Fig. 2 A single circular hole subject to concentrated forces on the circular boundary

where
⎧
⎪
⎪ (R + iS)eiθ  −κ 
⎪
⎪ ϕ1 (z) = ln z + ln(aeiθ − z) ,
⎪
⎪ 2π 1+κ
⎪
⎨ −iθ  
(R − iS)e 1
ψ1 (z) = ln z − ln(aeiθ − z) (2)
⎪
⎪ 2π 1+κ
⎪
⎪ iθ  
⎪
⎪ (R + iS)e κ a2 a2
⎪
⎩ + + ,
2π 1 + κ z2 z(aeiθ − z)

in which κ is the material parameter related to Possion’s ratio ν. κ = 3 − 4ν for the plane stress
problem, and κ = (3 − ν)/(1 + ν) for the plane strain problem.
When R = 1 and S = 0, we have

σr − iσr α = grr (θ, z) − igrs (θ, z) = ϕ1 (z) + ϕ1 (z) − e2iα (zϕ1 (z) + ψ1 (z)), (3)
⎧
⎪ eiθ  −κ 
⎪
⎨ ϕ1 (z) = ln z + ln(aeiθ − z) ,
2π 1 + κ
(4)
⎪
⎪ e−iθ  1  eiθ  κ a2 a2 
⎩ ψ1 (z) = ln z − ln(aeiθ − z) + + ,
2π 1 + κ 2π 1 + κ z 2 iθ
z(ae − z)

where grr (θ, z) and grs (θ, z) are the radial and shear tractions at any point z of the fictitious
circle caused by the unit radial force at any point (a, θ) of the circular boundary, respectively.
When R = 0 and S = 1, we have

σr − iσr α = gsr (θ, z) − igss (θ, z) = ϕ1 (z) + ϕ1 (z) − e2iα (zϕ1 (z) + ψ1 (z)), (5)
⎧
⎪ ieiθ  −κ 
⎪
⎨ ϕ1 (z) = ln z + ln(aeiθ − z) ,
2π 1 + κ
−iθ   ieiθ  κ a2  (6)
⎪
⎪ −ie 1 a2
⎩ ψ1 (z) = ln z − ln(aeiθ − z) + + ,
2π 1+κ 2π 1 + κ z 2 z(aeiθ − z)

where gsr (θ, z) and gss (θ, z) are the radial and shear tractions at any point z of the fictitious
circle caused by the unit shear force at any point (a, θ) of the circular boundary, respectively.
2.1.2 A single circular hole subject to uniform stresses
Figure 3 shows a single circular hole (radius a) subject to uniform radial P and shear Q
stresses along the arc z1 z2 of the circular boundary in an infinite elastic plate. Set the global
rectangular xOy and polar coordinate system Or at the center O of the circular hole, and the
local polar coordinate system O r at the center O of the fictitious circle.
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1543
'

S'
Z [
S' '

2 0'

[ 1 [




 S

B 0 Y

Fig. 3 A single circular hole subject to uniform stresses along the arc of the circular boundary
Based on the complex variable method of Muskhelishvili[28] , the tangential σ α traction at
any point z (z = x+iy) of the fictitious circle can be solved.
According to the conformal mapping functions
z = w(ζ) = aζ, z1 = aeiθ1 , z2 = aeiθ2 , (7)
the analytical functions ϕ1 (ζ) and ψ 1 (ζ) can be given in the following forms:
⎧
⎪
⎪
1
⎨ ϕ1 (ζ) = − (fx + ify ) ln ζ + ϕ0 (ζ),
2π(1 + κ)
κ (8)
⎪
⎪
⎩ ψ1 (ζ) = (fx − ify ) ln ζ + ψ0 (ζ),
2π(1 + κ)
where fx and fy are the known forces on the circular boundary in the x- and y-directions,
respectively, which need to satisfy the following stress boundary conditions:

fx + ify = (−P + iQ)(z2 − z1 ),
(9)
fx − ify = (−P − iQ)(z 2 − z 1 ),
and the analytical functions ϕ0 (ζ) and ψ 0 (ζ) are
⎧  f (σ)
⎪
⎪ 1 (fx + ify ) ln σ (fx − ify )σ 2 
⎨ ϕ0 (ζ) = − 2πi
⎪ + + dσ,
γ σ−ζ 2π(σ − ζ) 2π(1 + κ)(σ − ζ)
 f (σ)  (10)
⎪
⎪ 1 (fx − ify ) ln σ (fx + ify ) ϕ0 (ζ)
⎪
⎩ ψ0 (ζ) − − + dσ − ,
2πi γ σ − ζ 2π(σ − ζ) 2π(1 + κ)(σ − ζ)σ 2 ζ
where
⎧
⎪
⎪
⎨ f (σ) = i (fx + ify )ds = −(P + iQ)z,
(11)
⎪
⎪
⎩ f (σ) = −i (fx − ify )ds = −(P + iQ)z,

and the overbar represents a complex conjugate.

Substituting Eqs. (7) and (9)–(11) into Eq. (8) yields
⎧
⎪
⎪ (−P + iQ)  κa(eiθ1 − eiθ2 )
⎪ ϕ1 (z) =
⎪ − (z − aeiθ2 ) ln(aeiθ2 − z)
⎪
⎪ 2πi 1 + κ
⎪
⎪ 
⎪
⎪ − ae iθ1 iθ1
− z) ,
⎨ + (z ) ln(ae
−(P + iQ)  a(e−iθ1 − e−iθ2 ) a2  aeiθ2 − z 
(12)
⎪
⎪ −iθ2 iθ2
⎪
⎪ ψ1 (z) = ln z − ln + ae ln(ae − z)
⎪
⎪ 2πi 1+κ z aeiθ1 − z
⎪
⎪  (−P + iQ)  a2  aeiθ2 − z  κ(eiθ1 − eiθ2 ) a3 
⎪
⎪
⎩ − ae−iθ1 ln(aeiθ1 − z) + ln − .
2πi z aeiθ1 − z 1+κ z2
1544 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

Thus, the tangential σ α traction at any point z (z = x+iy) of the fictitious circle can be
obtained as follows:

σα = Re(ϕ1 (z) + ϕ1 (z) + e2iα (zϕ1 (z) + ψ1 (z))), (13)

where Re represents the real part of the complex number.

When P = 1 and Q = 0,

σα = frt (z1 z2 , z) = Re(ϕ1 (z) + ϕ1 (z) + e2iα (zϕ1 (z) + ψ1 (z))), (14)
⎧
⎪ 1  κa(eiθ1 − eiθ2 ) 
⎪
⎪ ϕ1 (z) = − − (z − ae iθ2
) ln(ae iθ2
− z) + (z − ae iθ1
) ln(ae iθ1
− z) ,
⎪
⎪ 2πi 1+κ
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨
1  a(e−iθ1 − e−iθ2 )
ψ1 (z) = − ln z + ae−iθ2 ln(aeiθ2 − z) − ae−iθ1 ln(aeiθ1 − z) (15)
⎪
⎪ 2πi 1 + κ
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ κ(eiθ1 − eiθ2 ) a3 
− ,
1+κ z2

where frt (z1 z2 , z) is the tangential traction at any point z of the fictitious circle caused by the
unit radial uniform stress along the arc z1 z2 of the circular boundary.
When P = 0 and Q = 1,

σα = fst (z1 z2 , z) = Re(ϕ1 (z) + ϕ1 (z) + e2iα (zϕ1 (z) + ψ1 (z))), (16)
⎧
⎪ 1  κR(eiθ1 − eiθ2 ) iθ2 iθ2 iθ1 iθ1

⎪ ϕ
⎪ 1 (z) = − (z − Re ) ln(Re − z) + (z − Re ) ln(Re − z) ,
⎪
⎪ 2π 1+κ
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨
1  R(e−iθ1 − e−iθ2 ) 2R2  Reiθ2 − z 
ψ1 (z) = − ln z − ln + Re−iθ2 ln(Reiθ2 − z) (17)
⎪
⎪ 2π 1 + κ z Re iθ1 − z
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ κ(eiθ1 − eiθ2 ) R3 
− Re−iθ1 ln(Reiθ1 − z) + ,
1+κ z2

where fst (z1 z2 , z) is the tangential traction at any point z of the fictitious circle caused by the
unit shear uniform stress along the arc z1 z2 of the circular boundary.
2.2 Integral equation and numerical solution
The key to treat the original multi-hole problem (see Fig. 1) is to obtain the unknown
tractions on all circular boundaries based on the first elementary solutions in Eqs. (3)–(6).
As presented in Fig. 1, when an infinite plate containing multiple circular holes is subject
to both remote uniform stresses (σx∞ , σy∞ , and τxy ∞
) and arbitrary surface radial and shear
stresses (rk (θk ) and sk (θk )) on the kth circular holes, there exist the unknown radial and
shear tractions (Rk (θk ) and Sk (θk )) on all of circular boundaries due to the interaction of
multiple circular holes. These unknown tractions are called pseudo-tractions[22] . According to
the superposition principle, the known tractions of the kth circular hole (caused by the remote
stresses and surface stresses) can be considered as a superposition of the following two parts (see
Fig. 4): (i) the unknown radial and shear pseudo-tractions (Rk (θk ) and Sk (θk )) acting on the
boundary of the kth hole itself; (ii) the additional radial and shear pseudo-tractions caused by
the unknown radial and shear pseudo-tractions (Rm (θm ) and Sm (θm )) acting on the boundary
of the mth circular hole (m = k). Combined with the stress boundary condition of the kth
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1545

circular hole, there are the following integral equations:

⎧
K
⎪
⎪
2π
⎪
⎪ r (θ ) + r ∞
(θ ) = R (θ ) + Rm (θm )grr,mk (θm , θk )am dθm
⎪
⎪ k k k k k k
⎪
⎪ m=1,m = k 0
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ K
⎪
⎪ 2π
⎪
⎪ Sm (θm )gsr,mk (θm , θk )am dθm ,
⎪
⎪
+
⎪
⎪ 0
⎪
⎪
m=1,m = k
⎪
⎨ 0  θk < 2π, k = 1, 2, 3, · · · , K,
(18)
⎪
⎪ K 2π
⎪
⎪ ∞
⎪
⎪ s k (θ k ) + s k (θ k ) = S k (θ k ) + Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θk )am dθm
⎪
⎪
⎪ m=1,m=k 0
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ K
⎪
⎪
2π
⎪
⎪ + Sm (θm )gss,mk (θm , θk )am dθm ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ m=1,m=k 0
⎪
⎪
⎩
0  θk < 2π, k = 1, 2, 3, · · · , K,
where rk∞ (θk ) and s∞k (θk ) are the known surface radial and shear stresses on the kth circular
hole caused by the remote uniform stresses, respectively, which have the same magnitudes as
the remote stresses but in the opposite direction.
⎧ −σx∞ − σy∞ σy∞ − σx∞
⎪
⎨ rk∞ (θk ) = + ∞
cos(2θk ) − τxy sin(2θk ),
2 2 (19)
∞ ∞
⎩ s∞ (θ ) = σy − σx sin(2θ ) − τ ∞ cos(2θ ).
⎪
k k k xy k
2
The regular kernel g can be calculated by the elementary solutions in Eqs. (3)–(6) and
has a definite physical meaning. For example, grs,mk (θm , θk ) indicates the effect of the unit
radial force at any point (am , θm ) (on the boundary of the mth circular hole) on the shear
2π
pseudo-tractions at any point (ak , θk ) (on the boundary of the kth circular hole); 0 grs,mk
(θm , θk ) am dθm indicates the effect of the unit uniform radial stress (on the boundary of the
mth circular hole) on the shear pseudo-traction at any point (ak , θk ) (on the boundary of
2π
the kth circular hole); 0 Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θk )am dθm indicates the effect of the distributed
radial stress Rm (θm ) (on the boundary of the mth circular hole) on the shear pseudo-traction
at any point (ak , θk ) (on the boundary of the kth circular hole); other terms in Eq. (18) have
the similar meaning.
ĸ
Z

ĸ
YZ
BN BN BN
ĸ ĸ
YZ SN






N YZ 3N






N 3N






N
Y BL BL 4N





BL 4N






4N






N  N N

SL




L 3L




L 3NHSS
NL

4NHTS
NL

4L




L ĸ 4L




L 3NHST
NL

4NHTT
NL
YZ

ĸ
Z

Fig. 4 Stress analysis of the kth circular hole

Based on the general form in the compound trapezoidal method[29] ,
b M
1
f (x)dx ∼
= (f (a)h + f (b)h) + f (xj )h, (20)
a 2 j=2
1546 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN
2π
and the integral 0
Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θk )am dθm in Eq. (18) can be written in the following
form:
2π
1
Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θki )am dθm ∼
= Rm (0)grs,mk (0, θki )ham + Rm (2π)grs,mk (2π, θki )ham
0 2
M
j j
+ Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θki )ham
j=2
M
j j
= Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θki )ωm , (21)
j=1

where
⎧
⎪ (i − 1)2π (j − 1)2π
⎨ θki = j
, θm = , i, j = 1, 2, 3, · · · , M,
M M (22)
⎪
⎩ ω = ha = 2πam .
m m
M
In Eq. (21), M is the number of discrete points on the circular boundary, ωm is the arc
j
length of adjacent discrete points on the mth circular boundary, and Rm (θm ) is the radial
pseudo-tractions along the jth arc on the mth circular boundary.
Similarly, these integral equations (18) can be reduced to the following algebraic equations
by the compound trapezoidal method,
⎧ K M
⎪
⎪
⎪ rk (θki ) + rk∞ (θki ) = Rk (θki ) +
⎪
j
Rm (θm )grr,mk (θmj
, θki )ωm
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ m=1,m=k j=1
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ K M
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ + Sm (θmj j
)gsr,mk (θm , θki )ωm , i = 1, 2, 3, · · · M,
⎪
⎨ m=1,m=k j=1
(23)
⎪
⎪ K M
⎪
⎪ i ∞ i i j j i
⎪
⎪ sk (θk ) + sk (θk ) = Sk (θk ) + Rm (θm )grs,mk (θm , θk )ωm
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ m=1,m=k j=1
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ K M
⎪
⎪ j j
⎪
⎩ + Sm (θm )gss,mk (θm , θki )ωm , i = 1, 2, 3, · · · M,
m=1,m=k j=1

where Rk (θki ) and Sk (θki ) are the radial and shear pseudo-tractions along the ith arc on the
kth circular boundary, respectively. Here, note that the points (ak , θki ) and (am , θm
i
) are the
midpoints of the ith arc on the kth and mth circular boundaries, respectively.
These algebraic equations can also be written in a matrix form as follows:
B = AX, (24)
where B is a known vector with 2KM tractions of rk (θki ) + rk∞ (θki ) and sk (θki ) + s∞ i
k (θk ) acting
on the ith arc (length ωm ) of the kth circular boundary, X is an unknown vector with 2KM
pseudo-tractions of Rk (θki ) and Sk (θki ) acting on the ith arc of the kth circular boundary, A is
the coefficient matrix with 2KM × 2KM elements obtained by Eqs. (3)–(6) in the form of
⎡ ⎤
A11 A12 · · · A1K
⎢ A21 A22 · · · A2K ⎥
⎢ ⎥
A=⎢ . .. .. ⎥ , (25)
⎣ .. . . ⎦
AK1 AK2 · · · AKK
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1547

in which the submatrix Aij (i = j, and i, j = 1, 2, · · ·, K) is an identity matrix which corresponds

to the kth circular hole, and the submatrix Aij (i = j) means the effect of the jth circular hole
on the ith circular hole. Each term in the submatrix Aij (i = j) is given by the elementary
solution in Eqs. (3)–(6). It is related to their radii and relative center positions of the ith and
jth circular holes.
The transposed vectors of the known B and unknown X are
⎧  
⎨ B T = B1T B2T · · · BK T
,
  (26)
⎩ XT = XT XT · · · XT ,
1 2 K

and thus the unknowns, i.e., Rk (θki ) and Sk (θki ), can be uniquely determined by Eqs. (24)–(26).
2.3 The interacting stress
Based on the second elementary solutions in Eqs. (14)–(17) and the pseudo-tractions solved
by Eqs. (24)–(26), the interacting tangential stresses at the circular boundaries can be calculated
as follows.
As shown in Fig. 5, when an infinite plate containing multiple circular holes is subject to
both remote stresses (σx∞ , σy∞ , and τxy
∞
) and arbitrary surface stresses (rk (θk ) and sk (θk )) on
the circular holes, the interacting tangential stresses [σθ ]kA of any point A (ak , θki ) at the kth
circular boundary are equal to a superposition of the following three parts: (i) the tangential
stresses caused by the remote stresses in the infinite plate without any circular holes; (ii) the
interacting tangential stresses caused by the unknown radial and shear pseudo-tractions on the
kth circular boundary itself; (iii) the interacting tangential stresses caused by the unknown
radial and shear pseudo-tractions on the mth circular boundary.
 σ∞ + σ∞ σy∞ − σx∞ 
x y
[σθ ]kA = + cos(2θki ) − τxy ∞
sin(2θki )
2 2
M  
+ frt,A (θkj , θki )Rk (θkj ) + fst,A (θkj , θki )Sk (θkj )
j=1
K M  
j
+ frt,A (θm , θki )Rm (θm
j j
) + fst,A (θm , θki )Sm (θm
j
) , (27)
m=1,m=k j=1

where the unknown radial and shear pseudo-tractions (Rk (θki ) and Sk (θki )) can be calculated by
Eqs. (24)–(26). The function f is obtained from the elementary solutions in Eqs. (14)–(17), and
they have clear physical meanings. frt,A (θkj , θki ) indicates the effect of the unit radial tractions
along the jth arc of the kth circular hole on the tangential stress of any point A (ak , θki ) located
j
on the kth circular hole. fst,A (θm , θki ) indicates the effect of the unit shear tractions along
the jth arc of the mth circular hole on the tangential stress of any point A (ak , θki ) located on
the kth circular hole. In addition, the proposed method can also be applied to calculate the
interacting tangential stresses outside the boundary of the kth circular hole, since the point A
can be located on or outside the boundary of the kth circular hole.
It should be noted that the first elementary solutions in Eqs. (3)–(6) are used to analytically
derive the integral equations (18) to obtain the unknown radial and shear pseudo-tractions on
the circular boundaries without any assumptions. The boundary condition of single circular
hole is considered in the first elementary solutions, and thus the integral equations present no
singularity and can be easily solved by the numerical methods. Clearly, compared with the
complex boundary integral method with singularity[26], our method is simpler in solving the
integral equation mathematically. Moreover, the second elementary solutions in Eqs. (14)–(17)
are used to numerically calculate the interacting tangential stresses at circular boundaries. In
addition, from the theoretical viewpoint, the accuracy of stress solutions is restricted by the
1548 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

number of discrete points M in the numerical method but not the proposed method, and the
high-accuracy solutions can be obtained by choosing a greater number of the discrete points
M since the obtained elementary solutions are based on the exact analytical formulation. The
newly proposed method is a combination of the analytical method and numerical technique,
which is called the analytical-numerical method.
ĸ
Z

ĸ
YZ
BN
ĸ
YZ SN






N
ĸ
YZ
Y BL 4N






" N

SL




L
4L




L ĸ
YZ

ĸ
Z


ĸ
Z

ĸ
YZ
BN BN BN
ĸ
YZ ĸ
YZ
3N






N

Y BL BL BL 4N






" " " N

3L




L
ĸ 4L




L
YZ

ĸ
Z

Fig. 5 Superposition of interacting tangential stresses of any point A at the kth circular boundary

3 Validation of the method

3.1 Validation by the analytical method

Since there exist only exact analytical solutions for an infinite plate containing two circular
holes, the exact solutions are considered for an infinite plate with two equal circular holes under
bi-axial stresses (by the bi-harmonic function method), and two unequal circular holes under
the surface radial stress (by the extending bi-harmonic function method) in order to illustrate
the accuracy of the new analytical-numerical method.
Figure 6 shows an infinite plate containing two equal horizontal-holes (a1 = a2 = 1) only
under the remote uniform stresses (σx∞ = σy∞ = 1), where the compressive stress is defined as a
positive one. Ling[9] and Hoang and Abousleiman[15] gave the analytical solutions of tangential
stresses at circular boundaries by using the bi-polar coordinate method and the bi-harmonic
stress function method, respectively. Table 1 lists our calculation results of tangential stresses
σ1θ at the boundary of Hole 1 for different s (s = 1, 2, 4, 8, 14) and M (the number of the
discrete point). Since the calculation results of Ref. [15] (with an accuracy of 10−6 ) have higher
accuracy than those of Ref. [9] (with an accuracy of 10−4 ), only the results from Ref. [15] are
tabulated in Table 1 for comparison (ν = 0.3). It is seen that when s is increased, the calculation
results of tangential stresses are close to those of the single circular hole under the same remote
stresses (σx∞ = σy∞ = 1). The larger M , the closer our solutions to the exact solutions. They
are almost the same when M  180. Therefore, numerical calculations in conditions of ν = 0.3
and M = 180 are carried out for the obtaining stress solutions of high accuracy in the following
example. 
Figure 7 shows an infinite plate containing two unequal horizontal holes (a1 = 0.5,
a2 = 1) only under the surface radial compressive stress on Hole 2 (R2 = p). Using
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1549

the extending bi-harmonic function method, Radi[14] examined the analytical solutions of
normalized tangential stresses σθ /p for the problem of two circular holes under a constant
surface stress. Figure 8 shows our results of normalized tangential stresses (σ1θ /p, σ2θ /p) at
the boundaries of Holes 1 and 2 for different s, as well as Radi’s results for comparison. It is
found that the interference effect between two circular holes becomes smaller as s increases.
The curves of the tangential stress distribution for Hole 1 have greater fluctuation than those
for Hole 2, since the radius of Hole 2 is 2 times bigger than that of Hole 1. The results obtained
by our method are in good agreement with those obtained by Radi.
ĸ
Z

Z

B B

Y ĸ
ĸ
Y

 
Y

0 0 0
T

Z
0 Y

ĸ
Z
Fig. 6 An infinite plate containing two equal circular holes under remote compressive stresses (a1 =
a2 = 1 and σx∞ = σy∞ = 1)

Table 1 Comparison of our solutions with those of Ref. [15] for the interacting tangential stress σθ
at the boundary of Hole 1
Present Ref. [15]
(analytical-numerical method) (analytical method)
s
M = 72 M = 180 M = 270 M = 360
θ1 = 0◦ θ1 = 180◦
θ 1 = 0◦ θ 1 = 180◦ θ 1 = 0◦ θ 1 = 180◦ θ 1 = 0◦ θ 1 = 180◦ θ 1 = 0◦ θ 1 = 180◦
1 2.865 2.250 2.883 2.254 2.885 2.255 2.886 2.255 2.887 2.255
2 2.401 2.155 2.407 2.157 2.411 2.158 2.411 2.158 2.411 2.158
4 2.151 2.079 2.155 2.080 2.155 2.080 2.155 2.080 2.155 2.080
8 2.048 2.032 2.049 2.033 2.049 2.033 2.049 2.033 2.049 2.033
14 2.017 2.014 2.018 2.014 2.018 2.014 2.018 2.014 2.018 2.014

Z

B
B



 Y
0 0 0
4

Z 3

0 Y

Fig. 7 An infinite plate containing two unequal horizontal holes under surface radial compressive
stress on Hole 2 (a1 = 0.5, a2 = 1, and R2 = p)

3.2 Validation by the analytical-numerical method

Currently, the analytical method has its limitation for studying problems with more than
two holes. In order to examine the application of the newly proposed method, the tangential
stress solutions by the series expansion and Laurent series methods are given for an infinite
plate containing more than two circular holes under remote stresses.
1550 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

 
0VS
TPMVUJPOT 0VS
TPMVUJPOT
 3FG
<> 3FG
<>




Q

Q
T








 

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DŽ DŽ


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 /( )
B  Q C  Q

Fig. 8 Comparison of normalized tangential stresses (σ1θ /p, σ2θ /p) at the boundaries of Holes 1 and
2 between our method (solid line) and extending bi-harmonic function method[14] (solid point)
(color online)
Figure 9 presents an infinite plate containing four symmetrically distributed circular holes
and a central circular hole only under a remote compressive
√ stress (σ = 1), where a is the radius
of the circular hole (equal radius), and b (b = 3 2a/2) is the center-to-center distance between
the hole center and adjacent holes in horizontal and vertical directions. Figure 10 shows our
results of the interacting tangential stress σθ at the boundary of the central circular hole and
the results of Meguid and Shen[25] (by the series expansion and Laurent series methods) for
comparison. It can be found that because of symmetry, the locations of the maximum and
c t
minimum tangential stresses (i.e., the maximum compressive σm and the tensile stresses σm )
c t
are the same as those of the single circular hole (σsm , σsm ) under a remote compressive stress.
c t c t
σm and σm are larger than σsm and σsm , respectively. It indicates that the four symmetrically
distributed circular holes have an amplification effect on the central hole. It is also seen from
Fig. 10 that our results agree well with those obtained by the series expansion and Laurent series
methods, which manifests that the new analytical-numerical method is suitable for multi-hole
problems.
3.3 Validation by the numerical method
Since the interacting tangential stresses of multi-hole problems under nonlinearly distributed
surface stresses have not been studied by analytical and analytical-numerical methods, the finite
element method (by the ANSYS software) is adopted to calculate the interacting tangential
stresses for multi-hole problems under nonlinearly distributed surface stresses in order to further
prove the validity of the new analytical-numerical method.
As shown in Fig. 11, an infinite plate containing two unequal horizontal holes (a1 = 1,
a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ ) is subject to both remote stresses (σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.5) and
cosine-distributed surface radial stresses (R1 = cos θ1 , R2 = cos θ2 ) on Holes 1 and 2. For
solving the problem by ANSYS, the length and the width of the model are both 50, and the
element type is PLANE183. The distributed surface stresses are applied on the nodes of two
circular boundaries by setting two local polar coordinate systems at two hole centers and then
defining the cosine-function. Figure 12 presents the tangential stress distributions obtained
by our method as well as by ANSYS for comparison. Due to the symmetry of geometry and
stresses, only the tangential stress distributions at the above half boundary (i.e., 0◦  θ1  180◦ ,
0◦  θ2  180◦ ) are depicted in Fig. 12. It is seen that the interacting stresses by our method
c
agree well with those by ANSYS. The maximum compressive stress σ2m of Hole 2 is 1.6 times
larger than that of Hole 1 (σ1m ), while the minimum compressive stresses (σ1c min , σ2c min ) of the
c

two holes have almost the same values.

Obviously, the new analytical-numerical method has almost the same stress solutions as
the bi-harmonic stress function method, the series expansion and Laurent series methods, and
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1551

Z

B B 0VS
TPMVUJPOT
 3FG
<>

C
a Y 
0 
C 
B a


C C 

      
DŽ


/( )

Fig. 9 An infinite plate containing five Fig. 10 Comparison of the interacting

equal circular holes under
√ an axial tangential stresses σθ at the
compressive stress (b = 3 2a/2 and boundary of the central circular
σ = 1) hole between our method (solid line)
and series expansion and Laurent
series methods[25] (solid point)

the finite element method. On the other hand, our method has wider applications than the
bi-harmonic stress function method and the series expansion and Laurent series methods in
solving multi-hole problems under both remote and arbitrary surface stresses. Note here that
the proposed method and common methods are unsuitable for calculating interacting tangential
stresses of intersected or tangential multi-hole problems.

4 Numerical examples

Current studies of multi-hole problems mainly focus on the calculation of tangential stress
for an infinite plate containing two equal circular holes under remote uniform stresses and
radial surface stresses. For further studying the interacting tangential stresses and interacting
SCFs for two unequal circular holes under complex loading conditions, consider an infinite plate
containing two circular holes (radii a1 and a2 ) under both remote uniform stresses (σx∞ and σy∞ )
and surface radial stresses (R1 and R2 ), as shown in Fig. 13. The x1 -axis is aligned with the
connecting line of two hole centers (O1 and O2 ). Let α and s denote the relative orientation of
two circular holes and the hole spacing distance along the direction of the x1 -axis, respectively,
ν = 0.3, and M = 180. The interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) and the interacting SCFs
c t c t
(k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) of different holes (a1 , a2 , s, α) under different loading conditions (σx∞ ,
∞
σy , R1 , R2 ) are calculated in order to investigate the interference effects of the hole radii and
relative positions, remote stresses, and surface stresses on the interacting tangential stresses
c c c t t t
and interacting SCFs, where k1m = σ1m /σs1m and k1m = σ1m /σs1m represent compressive and
c t
tensile SCFs on Hole 1, respectively, σs1m and σs1m are the maximum compressive and tensile
stresses on the single circular hole 1 under both remote stresses σx∞ , σy∞ and radial stress R1
c c c t t t
on its boundary, k2m = σ2m /σs2m and k2m = σ2m /σs2m represent the maximum compressive
c t
and tensile SCFs of Hole 2, respectively, and σs2m and σs2m are the maximum compressive and
tensile stresses on the single circular hole 2 under both remote stresses σx∞ , σy∞ and radial stress
R2 on its boundary.
1552 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN
ĸ
Z



)PMF

Z
)PMF


B
B 
ĸ



 Y ĸ
Y Y
0 0 0 
T
3 
3
Z

0 Y

      
DŽ
ĸ
Z

/( )

Fig. 11 An infinite plate containing Fig. 12 Comparison of the interacting

two unequal horizontal holes tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the
under remote stresses and boundaries of two unequal circular
cosine-distributed surface radial holes between our method (solid
stresses (a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, line) and the finite element method
σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.5, R1 = cos θ1 , and (dotted line) (color online)
R2 = cos θ2 )

4.1 Effects of the hole radius

Figure 14 shows the interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of circular
holes 1 and 2 for various radii a2 of Hole 2 (a2 = 0.1, 0.4, 0.7, 1.0), where a1 = 1, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ ,
σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R1 = R2 = 0.2 (compressive stress). For Hole 1 (see Fig. 14(a)), it is seen
that the curve of tangential stress distribution at the left half boundary (90◦ < θ1 < 270◦ ) has a
greater change than that at the right half boundary (0◦  θ1  90◦ and 270◦  θ1 < 360◦ ) with
the increase in a2 . That is because Hole 2 has a smaller interference effect at the boundary of
Hole 1 away from Hole 2. As a2 is increased, the maximum tangential stress (i.e., the maximum
c
compressive stress σ1m ) appears near θ1 = 90◦ and decreases gradually. The absolute value
t
of the minimum tangential stress (i.e., the maximum tensile stress σ1m ) appears at θ1 = 180◦
t
for all a2 . Hole 2 has few effects on the maximum tensile stress σ1m on Hole 1, especially for
the case of a2  0.4. For Hole 2 (see Fig. 14(b)), as a2 is increased, the curve of tangential
c
stress distribution is changed significantly. The maximum compressive stress σ2m appears near
θ2 = 90 and increases greatly, and the maximum tensile stress σ2m appears at θ1 = 0◦ for
◦ t
t
all a2 . When a2 is close to a1 (i.e., a2  0.7), the value of σ2m is scarcely influenced by the
presence of Hole 1.
ĸ
Z

Z

B Y
ĸ
Y
B 0

 ĸ
Y

0


0 3
T
3
Z
0 Y

ĸ
Z

Fig. 13 An infinite plate containing two circular holes under remote and surface radial stresses
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1553

 
B

 B


B

 B


 B

  B


B

 B



 



 

 

 
             
DŽ DŽ


 /( )

 /( )
B
)PMF
 C
)PMF


Fig. 14 Interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular holes 1 and 2 for
various a2 , when a1 = 1, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R1 = R2 = 0.2 (color
online)

c t c t
Figure 15 shows the variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on circular holes 1
c c t t
and 2 with a2 . In this example, σs1m = σs2m = 2.6, σs1m = σs2m = 0.6, since R1 = R2 = 0.2.
c t c t
It is found from Fig. 15 that k1m , k1m , k2m , and k2m are always less than 1 for all a2 , which
indicates that the interference effect between two circular holes is shielding. This is mainly
because the tangential stress near θ2 = 90◦ , 270◦ (caused by the pseudo-tractions on right half
boundary of Hole 1, i.e., 0◦  θ1  90◦ and 270◦  θ1 < 360◦ ) is tension, while the tangential
stress near θ2 = 90◦ , 270◦ (caused by the pseudo-tractions on the left half boundary of Hole
1, i.e., 90◦  θ1  270◦) is compression, and the absolute value of tension is larger than the
compression. The effect of Hole 2 on Hole 1 is similar. In other words, the left and right half
boundaries of Hole 1 or Hole 2 have different interference effects on the tangential stress near
θ2 = 90◦ , 270◦ or θ1 = 90◦ , 270◦. k1m
c
is always larger than k1mt
for all a2 . It means that Hole
c
2 has a greater shielding effect on the maximum compressive stress σ1m on Hole 1 than the
t c t
maximum tensile stress σ1m on Hole 1. The same trend of k2m and k2m can be observed. In
addition, when a2 < a1 , the shielding effect of Hole 1 on Hole 2 is greater than that of Hole
2 on Hole 1. The closer a1 to a2 , the greater the shielding effect caused by Hole 2, while the
smaller the shielding effect caused by Hole 1. When a2 = a1 , the shielding effect between two
circular holes is the same, and the larger values of the compressive and tensile stresses on Holes
1 and 2 are the smallest, which indicates that a plate containing two circular holes has greater
stability than that containing one circular hole. 








LN

LDN

LUN
 LDN
LUN

         
B

c t c t
Fig. 15 Variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes 1 and 2 with a2
(color online)
1554 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

4.2 Effect of the hole spacing distance

Figure 16 illustrates interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of circular
holes 1 and 2 for various hole spacing distances s (s = 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2), where a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4,
α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R1 = R2 = 0.2. It is found that the curves of tangential
stress distribution at the boundary of circular hole 1 are almost the same, while the curves of
c c
Hole 2 change greatly. As s is increased, the values of the maximum compressive (σ1m , σ2m )
t c
and tensile stresses (σ1m , σ2m ) at the boundaries of Holes 1 and 2 are close to those of the single
c c t t c c t c
hole (σs1m , σs2m and σs1m , σs2m ), where σs1m = σs2m = 2.6, and σs1m = σs2m = 0.6. It means
that the interference effect among two circular holes becomes smaller with the increase in s.
 
T

 T


T

 T


 T

  T


T

 T



 



 

 

 
             
DŽ DŽ


 /( )

 /( )
B
)PMF
 C
)PMF

Fig. 16 Interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular holes 1 and 2 for
various s, when a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, R1 = 0.2, and R2 = 0.2 (color
online)
c t c t
Figure 17 illustrates the variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on circular
holes 1 and 2 with s. It is seen that the interference effect between two circular holes is always
shielding, since the interference effect caused by the left half boundary of Hole 1 or Hole 2 is
c
different from that caused by its right half boundary. When s is changed from 0.2 to 2, k1m
t c t
and k1m keep relatively stable, while k2m is increased greatly, and k2m is decreased (s  0.5)
and then increased (0.5  s  2), since the radius of Hole 1 is 2.5 times bigger than that of
c t c t
Hole 2. Furthermore, k1m and k1m are larger than k2m and k2m , which indicates that the
shielding effect of Hole 2 on Hole 1 is stronger than that of Hole 1 on Hole 2. 





LN

 LDN
 LUN
LDN

LUN

         
T

c t c t
Fig. 17 Variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes 1 and 2 with s
(color online)
4.3 Effect of the relative orientation of Hole 2
Figure 18 demonstrates interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of circular
holes 1 and 2 for various relative orientations α of Hole 2 (α = 0◦ , 30◦ , 60◦ , 90◦ ), where a1 = 1,
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1555

a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R1 = R2 = 0.2. For Hole 1 (see Fig. 18(a)), the
curve of tangential stress distribution on the above half boundary (0◦  θ1  180◦) has greater
change than that on the below half boundary (180◦ < θ1  360◦ ) with the increase in α. When
α = 0◦ , 60◦ , and 90◦ (except α = 30◦ ), σ1m c t
and σ1m occur near θ1 = 90◦ and θ1 = 180◦ ,
respectively. For Hole 2 (see Fig. 18(b)), the curve of tangential stress distribution changes
greatly with the increase in α, since Hole 1 is 2.5 times bigger than Hole 2. When α is small
(α  30◦ ), σ2m
c
appears near θ2 = 90◦ . As α becomes large (60◦  α  90◦ ), the location of
σ2m is moved from near −90◦ to near −270◦. When α = 0◦ , 60◦ , and 90◦ (except α = 30◦ ),
c
t
σ2m appears near θ2 = 0◦ .
 

° 
°

°  
°
 
° 
°

°  
°

 









 
             
DŽ DŽ


 /( )

 /( )
B
)PMF
 C
)PMF


Fig. 18 Interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular holes 1 and 2 for
various α, when a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4, α = 0◦ , s = 0.5, σx∞ = 1, R1 = 0.2, and R2 = 0.2 (color
online)
c t c t
Figure 19 demonstrates the variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on circular
holes 1 and 2 with α. For the single circular holes 1 and 2 under the same loading conditions,
c c t t
the maximum compressive (σs1m = σs2m ) and tensile (σs1m = σs2m ) stresses are 2.6 and 0.6,
◦
respectively. When α = 0 , the interference effect between two circular holes is shielding. When
α = 30◦ and 60◦ , the values of k1m
c t
, k1m c
, k2m t
, and k2m are greater than 1, which means that
the interference effect between two circular holes is amplifying. When α = 90◦ , Hole 2 has few
c
amplification effects on Hole 1, and Hole 1 has a significant amplification effect on σ2m , since
◦ ◦
the tangential stresses near θ1 = 90 or θ2 = 270 caused by the pseudo-tractions on left and
right half boundaries of Hole 1 or Hole 2 are both compression. It can be concluded that the
plate containing two circular holes has greater stability than that containing one circular hole
when the maximum principal stress is aligned with the connecting line of two-hole centers.

LDN
LUN

LDN
LUN

LN






  DŽ  
/( )

c t c t
Fig. 19 Variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes 1 and 2 with α
(color online)
1556 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

4.4 Effect of the remote stress

Figure 20 depicts the interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of circular
holes 1 and 2 for various remote stresses σy∞ (σy∞ = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1), where a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4,
s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, and R1 = R2 = 0.2. It is seen that with the increase in σy∞ , σ1m c
c ∞
is decreased, while σ2m is decreased gradually and then increased greatly. When σy is small
(σy∞  0.2σx∞ ), the minimum tangential stresses on the boundaries of Hole 1 and Hole 2 are
tension. They become compression as σy∞ is increased (σy∞  0.5σx∞ ).
 
ĸ ĸ
Z 
 Z 

Z 
 Z 

ĸ ĸ
 
ĸ ĸ
Z 
 Z 

ĸ ĸ
 Z 
  Z 


 



 

 

 

 
             
DŽ DŽ


 /( )

 /( )
B
)PMF
 C
)PMF

Fig. 20 Interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular holes 1 and 2 for
various σy∞ , when a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, and R1 = R2 = 0.2 (color
online)
c t c t
Figure 21 depicts the variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on circular holes
∞ ∞ c c
1 and 2 with σy . As σy is increased from 0, 0.2, 0.5, to 1, the values of σs1m = σs2m and
t t
σs1m = σs2m are changed from 2.8 and 1.2, 2.6 and 0.6, 2.3 and –0.3 to 1.8 and –1.8, where the
negative sign means the compressive stress (since the minimum tangential stresses is positive).
When σy∞  0.5σx∞ , the interference effect between two circular holes becomes shielding. When
σy∞ = 0.5σx∞ , although the minimum compressive stresses (σ1c min , σ2c min ) on the boundaries of
two holes are larger than those of the single circular hole, their interference effect is still shielding
c c
since the maximum tangential stresses (σ1m , σ2m ) at the two hole boundaries are smaller than
those of the single circular hole (k1m , k2m < 1). When σy∞ = σx∞ , the interference effect of two
c c

holes becomes amplifying. This is because when σy∞ is increased, the locations of the maximum
compressive stresses are changed from near θ1 = 90◦ to near θ1 = 0◦ , the tangential stresses
near θ1 = 0◦ caused by the pseudo-tractions on left and right half boundaries of hole 2 become
both compressive stresses, and the effect of Hole 1 on Hole 2 is the same. It can be concluded
that when σy∞ is close to σx∞ , the plate containing two circular holes has lower stability than
that containing one circular hole.

LDN
 LUN
LDN
 LUN


LN






     
ĸ
Z
c t c t
Fig. 21 Variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes 1 and 2 with σy∞
(color online)
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1557

4.5 Effect of the surface radial stress on Hole 1

Figure 22 presents the interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of circular
holes 1 and 2 for various surface radial stresses R1 on Hole 1 (R1 = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1), where a1 = 1,
a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R2 = 0.2. For Hole 1 (see Fig. 22(a)), the
c
curves of tangential stress distribution have almost the same trend, and the locations of σ1m
t
and σ1m are independent of R1 . For Hole 2 (see Fig. 22(b)), the curves change greatly with the
c
increase in R1 . σ2m always appears near θ2 = 90◦ , while the location of σ2m t
is changed from
◦ ◦
θ2 = 0 to θ2 = 180 as R1 is increased.
 
3

 3


 3

  3


3

 3


 3

  3


 



 

 

 

 
             
DŽ DŽ


 /( )

 /( )
B
)PMF
 C
)PMF

Fig. 22 Interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular holes 1 and 2 for
various R1 , when a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R2 = 0.2 (color
online)

c t c t
Figure 23 presents the variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on circular holes
c t
1 and 2 with R1 . As R1 is increased from 0, 0.2, 0.5 to 1, the values of σs1m and σs1m of the
c
single hole 1 are changed from 2.8 and 0.4, 2.6 and 0.6, 2.3 and 0.9 to 1.8 and 1.4, and σs2m and
t
σs2m of the single hole 2 are always equal to 2.6 and 0.6 (since R2 = 0.2). With the increase
c t c t
in R1 , the values of k1m and k1m are almost unchanged, and the values of k2m and k2m are
increased greatly. Hole 2 (small hole) always has few shielding effects on Hole 1 (large hole)
c t
for all R1 . When R1  0.5, the values of k2m and k2m are increased but less than 1 with the
increase in R1 , which means that the shielding effect of Hole 1 (large hole) on Hole 2 (small hole)
is decreased. When R1 is equal to the maximum principal stress (R1 = σx∞ = 1), Hole 1 has a
c c t t
shielding effect on σ2m (k2m < 1), while Hole 1 has an amplification effect on σ2m (k2m > 1).


LDN
 LUN
LDN
 LUN


LN






     
3

c t c t
Fig. 23 Variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes 1 and 2 with R1
(color online)
1558 Wei YI, Qiuhua RAO, Wenbo MA, Dongliang SUN, and Qingqing SHEN

4.6 Effect of the surface radial stress on Hole 2

Figure 24 gives the interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular
holes 1 and 2 for various surface radial stresses R2 on Hole 2 (R2 = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1), where a1 = 1,
a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R1 = 0.2. For Hole 1 (see Fig. 24(a)), with
the increase in R2 , the curves of tangential stress distribution are basically the same, and the
c t
values of σ1m and σ1m always appear near θ1 = 90◦ and θ1 = 180◦ . For Hole 2 (see Fig. 24(b)),
c t
the curves have a similar trend, and the values of σ2m and σ2m always appear near θ1 = 80◦
◦
and θ1 = 0 with the increase in R2 .
 
3

 3


 3

  3


3

 3


 3

 3












 

 
             
DŽ DŽ


 /( )

 /( )
B
)PMF
 C
)PMF

Fig. 24 Interacting tangential stresses (σ1θ , σ2θ ) at the boundaries of the circular holes 1 and 2 for
various R2 , when a1 = 1, a2 = 0.4, s = 0.5, α = 0◦ , σx∞ = 1, σy∞ = 0.2, and R1 = 0.2 (color
online)
c t c t
Figure 25 gives the variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes
c t
1 and 2 with R2 . As R2 is increased from 0, 0.2, 0.5 to 1, σs1m and σs1m of the single hole 1
c t
are always equal to 2.6 and –0.6 (since R1 = 0.2), and σs2m and σs2m of the single hole 2 are
c
changed from 2.8 and 0.4, 2.6 and 0.6, 2.3 and 0.9 to 1.8 and 1.4. With the increase in R2 , k1m
t c t
and k1m are increased gradually, while k2m is decreased greatly, and k2m is increased greatly.
It is found that from Figs. 22–25, for all R1 and R2 (0  R1  1, 0  R2  1), the interference
effect between two holes is always amplifying, since R1 and R2 have few effects on the locations
of maximum compressive stress of Hole 1 and Hole 2, and the interference effect caused by the
left half boundary of Hole 1 or Hole 2 is different from that caused by the right half boundary.







LN

 LDN
LUN
 LDN
LUN

     
3
c t c t
Fig. 25 Variations of interacting SCFs (k1m , k1m , k2m , k2m ) on the circular holes 1 and 2 with R2
(color online)

The above analysis of two circular holes under different hole geometry and loading conditions
indicates that when the two circular holes have the same radii and the connecting line of
their centers is in the direction of the maximum principal stress, the shielding effect between
 A new analytical-numerical method for calculating interacting stresses 1559

two circular holes is larger, which can improve the safety of underground and geotechnical
engineering concerning with two circular holes.

5 Conclusions

(i) A new analytical-numerical method is proposed to study the multiple-circular-hole

problem in an infinite plate based on elementary solutions and a new integral equation. It has
an advantage of simple formulation, high accuracy, and wider applications than the common
analytical methods and analytical-numerical methods in calculating the interacting stress under
both remote and arbitrary surface stresses.
(ii) The validity of the new analytical-numerical method is verified by the analytical solution
of bi-harmonic stress function method, numerical solution of finite element method, and other
analytical-numerical solutions of series expansion and Laurent series methods. The calculation
accuracy depends on the number of discrete points M in the numerical technique. When
M = 180, our results are almost the same as the exact results (with an accuracy of 10−6 ).
(iii) For the problem of two circular holes under remote and radial surface stresses, whether
the interference effect is shielding (k < 1) or amplifying (k > 1) depends largely on the relative
orientation of holes (α) and remote stresses (σx∞ , σy∞ ), but scarcely on the hole radius (a2 ), the
hole spacing distance (s), and the surface radial stresses (R1 , R2 < σy∞ ).
(iv) When the maximum principal stress at infinity is aligned with the connecting line of
two-hole centers (α = 0) and σy∞ < 0.5σx∞ , the plate containing two circular holes has greater
stability than that containing one circular hole, and the smaller circular hole has greater stability
than the bigger one.
(v) The new analytical-numerical method can be extended to calculate the interacting
stresses of multiple holes with an arbitrary shape (e.g., elliptical hole, square hole) in an infinite
plate under both remote and arbitrary surface stresses.

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