On stress singularities at free edges of bimaterial junctions - A micromechanical study

When homogeneous material descriptions are used in studying the elastic stress field at the free edge of a bimaterial junction, typically a weak and highly localized singularity is predicted. By using a micromechanical model corresponding to a selectively reinforced sample it is demonstrated that no singularity is present in some cases where one of the materials contains inhomogeneities of a size comparable to or larger than the local region affected by the singularity. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.