A boundary collocation method for cracked plates

A boundary collocation method is developed for analyzing cracked thin plates. Complex stress functions which satisfy the equilibrium equations of an infinite domain having a single crack are first derived. As the functions have also satisfied the stress singularity at the crack tips, it is only necessary to enforce the stress functions to satisfy the boundary conditions along the edges of the plates and the surfaces of the cracks, if there is more than one crack. This is achieved by the collocation least square approach. The unknown coefficients of the stress functions having been determined, the stress intensity factors can then be computed according to the related formulae. Examples of rectangular and circular plates with a different number of cracks and under different loadings are used to demonstrate the accuracy, versatility and advantages of the method.