Investigation of prefracture zone at the tip of interfacial crack in an elastic body under shear in the framework of a complex model (Q2808474)

The authors investigate a narrow small-scale prefracture zone near the tip of interfacial crack in an elastic body under shear by means of the Wiener-Hopf method under plane strain conditions. The crack edges are in friction contact. The prefracture zone is modeled by a straight line of displacement discontinuity that consists of two parts and starts from the crack tip at an angle to the interface. In the part, adjacent to the crack tip and modeling the destruction zone, both the normal and the tangential displacements are discontinuous. In the other part, only the normal displacement is discontinuous. The angle between the prefracture zone and the interface is determined by the condition of stretching circular stress maximum. The dimensions of the whole prefracture zone and the destruction zone are determined as well as the crack opening at the tip and the maximal opening of the initial prefracture zone. The effect of the friction coefficient on the prefracture zone parameters is studied. The importance of the destruction zone for the crack starting is analyzed by means of the deformation criterion of fracture. It is found that the crack starts due to the relative shear of its edges near the tip. These results are compared with those obtained by other researchers.