Dynamic crack tip fields at steady growth and vanishing strain-hardening (Q1261042)

Solutions for propagating mode III cracks in elastic perfectly-plastic solids are obtained as the limit solutions for infinitesimal crack tip speed and infinitesimal linear strain-hardening. The solution for a perfectly plastic material by \textit{A. D. Chitaley} and \textit{F. A. McClintock} [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 19, 147-163 (1971; Zbl 0219.73104)] is not obtained. A point above or below the crack plane will experience first a centred-fan slip line field, followed by elastic unloading and finally a plastic sector where reloading occurs at constant stress. A turning-point and a boundary layer develop immediately before elastic unloading occurs. One key result is that even a very small crack tip speed affects the near-tip conditions appreciably. Another noteworthy result is that stress rates change continuously through a fast wave, which in the limit will form a jump. The result is a discontinuous stress rate that may not be assumed a priori.