Crack in a viscoelastic field of pure bending (Q761278)

Previous work [the second author, Mech., Res. Commun. 9, 219-226 (1982)] is extended to allow demonstration of the fact that the crack may close smoothly. This is in contrast with the case of a purely elastic medium for which sudden closure always occurs. Also, a class of standard linear solids is defined which, under cyclic loading, close at only one end, at least in the early stages of loading history. This class is a function of loading frequency.