DETERMINATION OF CHARACTERIZING PARAMETERS FOR BIMATERIAL INTERFACE CRACKS USING THE BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD

The complex stress intensity factor, K = K1 + iK(II), which is used to characterize the near tip fields of a bimaterial interface crack may also be written as K = K0e(i-psi), and it has been shown that K0 is directly related to the strain energy release rate. An efficient means of obtaining this quantity K0 using the boundary element method (BEM) has been discussed in a recent paper by the present authors. However, some recent studies have suggested that fracture of such interfacial bonds is characterized by critical values of K0 which may vary with the phase angle-psi. This note describes how psi may also be determined using the BEM with quarter-point traction singular crack-tip elements. Results of some numerical experiments are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the approach.