Author(s)

J.L. Wearing & S.Y. Ahmadi-Brooghani

Abstract

This paper discusses the application of the Direct Boundary Element Method for the fracture analysis of plate bending problems. Results of KI stress intensity factors for linear elastic fracture analysis are presented for plates having a number of boundary conditions and loading conditions. A number of crack lengths are considered for each case study and the crack face in the region of the crack tip is modelled using quarter point elements. These results are compared with results from finite element analyses and good agreement has been achieved. Introduction The determination of the stress fields in the vicinity of cracks in engineering components is of considerable importance to the stress analyst, as the presence of a crack can significantly reduce the strength of a component. Th

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