Three-dimensional stress singularities in anisotropic materials and composites (Q1072769)

A general numerical procedure is presented for determining the 3- dimensional stress singularities in anisotropic materials and composites. The geometry near the singular point can be represented by a conical wedge whose lateral surface is generated by straight lines passing through the wedge apex. The cross section \(S_ 1\) of the conical wedge at any constant radial distance from the apex defines the geometry of the 3-dimensional singular point in the material. If \(S_ 1\) consists of two or more regions each occupied by a different material, we have a 3- dimensional composite conical wedge. A 2-dimensional finite element scheme based on a variational principle is developed to find the order of stress singularities at the wedge apex. The method can be applied to any shape of \(S_ 1\). It is tested against known numerical and analytical solutions for special geometries in isotropic as well as anisotropic materials. Several new examples are also presented. It is observed that this procedure coupled with the 8-node isoparametric quadrilateral elements employed here is quite efficient in providing rapidly converging and fairly accurate results.