Curvilinear Mode-I/Mode-II interface fracture with a curvature-dependent surface tension on the boundary

TL;DR

This paper develops a fracture mechanics model incorporating curvature-dependent surface tension to eliminate classical singularities at the crack tip, providing a more realistic description of interface fractures in nano-structured materials.

Contribution

It extends previous models by including curvature-dependent surface tension, removing singularities in the classical fracture mechanics framework for curvilinear interface fractures.

Findings

Surface tension eliminates classical oscillating singularities.

The model predicts finite stress at the crack tip.

Numerical results agree with known solutions in special cases.

Abstract

A new model of fracture mechanics considered previously by Sendova and Walton \cite{SendovaWalton2010}, Zemlyanova \cite{Zemlyanova2013}, and Zemlyanova and Walton \cite{Zemlyanova2012} is further developed on the example of a mixed mode curvilinear interface fracture located on the boundary of a partially debonded thin elastic inclusion embedded in an infinite thin elastic matrix. The effect of the nano-structure of the material is incorporated into the model in the form of a curvature-depended surface tension acting on the boundary of the fracture. It is shown that the introduction of the surface tension allows to eliminate the classical oscillating and power singularities of the order $1/2$ present in the linear elastic fracture mechanics. The mathematical methods used to solve the problem are based on the Muskhelishvili's complex potentials and the Savruk's integral representations. The mechanical problem is reduced to the system of singular integro-differential equations which is further reduced to a system of weakly-singular integral equations. The numerical computations and comparison with known results are presented.