3.4.1 EXAMPLE PROBLEM

An elastic plate with a crack of length 2a in its center subjected to uniform longitudinal tensile stress ? ⁰ at one end and clamped at the other end as illustrated in Figure 3.77. Perform an FEM analysis of the 2-D elastic center-cracked tension plate illustrated in Figure 3.77 and calculate the value of the mode I (crack-opening mode) stress intensity factor for the center-cracked plate.

Figure 3.77: Two dimensional elastic plate with a crack of length 2a in its center subjected to a uniform tensile stress ? ⁰ in the longitudinal direction at one end and clamped at the other end

3.4.2 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

Specimen geometry: length l = 400 mm, height h = 100 mm.

Material: mild steel having Young's modulus E = 210 GPa and Poisson's ratio v = 0.3.

Crack: A crack is placed perpendicular to the loading direction in the center of the plate and has a length of 20 mm. The center-cracked tension plate is assumed to be in the plane strain condition in the present analysis.

Boundary conditions: The elastic plate is subjected to a uniform tensile stress in the longitudinal direction at the right end and clamped to a rigid wall at the left end.

3.4.3 ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES