STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR SOLUTION FOR RADIAL AND CIRCUMFERENTIAL CRACKS IN HOLLOW CYLINDERS USING INDIRECT BOUNDARY INTEGRAL

An approximate weight function technique using the indirect boundary i ntegral equation method has been presented for the analysis of a hollo w cylinder with circumferential or radial cracks. A one-term boundary integral, single-layer potential was introduced to represent the crack surface displacement field for the displacement-based weight function method. An explicit closed-form stress intensity factor (SIF) solutio n applicable to both radial and circumferential cracks of a circular b ody was derived. For a practical application, the analysis was extende d to solve the radial and circumferential crack problems of a hollow c ylinder. The SIF solution of the present method can be easily applied to a wide range of similar crack problems without any modification, an d the calculation procedure of SIFs for these cracked cylinders using one closed-form solution is very simple and straightforward. The effec t of the reference load cases for the present weight function approach on the solution behaviour was investigated. The analysis results usin g the present solution were in good agreement with those available in the literature. Copyright (C) 1996 published by Elsevier Science Ltd.