Energy release rate and contact zone in a cohesive and an interface crack by hypersingular integral equations

Solution of Cauchy-type singular integral equations permits the evaluation of the fracture parameters at the crack tips very accurately. However, it does not permit the determination of the crack opening and sliding displacements while ensuring no crack surface interpenetration unless the location of the contact zone is known a priori. In order to circumvent this shortcoming, this study presents a solution method based on the Hadamard-type singular integral equations to obtain the crack opening and sliding displacements directly while enforcing the appropriate conditions to prevent interpenetration. Furthermore, the crack opening displacements are physically more meaningful and readily validated against the finite element analysis predictions. The numerical solutions of the hypersingular integral equations provide not only crack opening and sliding displacements directly but also the stress intensity factors and energy release rates. Also, the behavior of the energy release rate is examined as the cohesive crack located parallel to the interface approaches the interface from either the soft or the stiff side of the interface. The limiting value of the energy release rate is established by considering an interface crack. As the cohesive crack approaches the interface from either side of the interface, the energy release rate approaches to that of the interface crack. However, the length of contact zone between the cohesive crack surfaces under uniform shear loading does not approach to that of the interface crack.