Stress intensity factor for orthotropic three layered material with crack under arbitrary anti-plane shear

A three-layered orthotropic material with a center crack is subjected to an arbitrary anti-plane shear loading. The problem is formulated as a mixed boundary value problem by using the Fourier integral transform method. This gives a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The integral equation is solved numerically and anti-plane shear stress intensity factors are analyzed in terms of the product of shear modulus, material orthotropy for each layer and the thickness of the outer layer and the order of the loading polynomial. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.