Computation of transverse shear stresses in the vicinity of the circumferential re-entrant corner line of an internal part-through hole weakening an edge-loaded plate

A semi-analytical post-processing method, termed equilibrium/compatibility method here, is used for computation of hitherto unavailable through-thickness variation of transverse shear stresses in the vicinity of the circumferential re-entrant corner line of an internal part-through circular cylindrical hole weakening an edge-loaded plate. A Co-type triangular “composite” plate element, based on the assumptions of transverse inextensibility and piece (“layer”)-wise constant shear-angle theory (LCST), is employed to first compute the inplane stresses and “layer”-wise through-thickness average transverse shear stresses, which serve as the starting point for computation of through-thickness distribution of transverse shear stresses in the vicinity of the circumferential re-entrant corner line of the internal part-through hole. The same stresses computed by the conventional equilibrium method (EM) are, in contrast, in serious error in the presence of the circumferential re-entrant corner line singularity arising out of the internal part-through hole, and are found to violate the compatibility condition. The computed maximum transverse shear stress can be high enough to cause catastrophic transverse shear fracture in the shape of a cone, starting from the circumferential re-entrant corner line of the internal part-through hole. The results computed by the present analysis are in line with a three-dimensional asymptotic analysis.