Elastic interaction of partially debonded circular inclusions. I. Theoretical solution

A complete solution has been obtained of the elasticity problem for a plane containing a finite array of partially debonded circular inclusions, regarded as the open-crack model of fibrous composite with interface damage. A general displacement solution of the single-inclusion problem has been derived by combining the complex potentials technique with the newly derived series expansions. This solution is valid for any non-uniform far load and is finite and exact in the case of polynomial far field. Applying the superposition principle expands this theory to the multiple inclusion problem and provides a simple and rapidly convergent iterative algorithm. The presented numerical data show an accuracy and numerical efficiency of the proposed method and discover the way and extent to which the elastic interaction between the partially debonded inclusions affects the local fields, stress intensity factors and the energy release rate at the interface crack tips.