BODY-FORCE LINEAR ELASTIC STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR CALCULATION USING BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD

A multi-domain boundary integral equation method employing isoparametr ic quadratic representations of geometries and functions for the analy sis of linear fracture problems subjected to body force loading is pre sented. The crack faces are modelled in each sub-region independently. Both the opening and closure of the cracks are checked and the amount of stress intensity is measured. The crack might be fully open, semi- open or fully closed depending on the geometry of the cracked body, th e crack length or the kind of loading the crack is under. In case of s emi-closed cracks the different contact conditions can be introduced i n the closed part of the crack. The main aim here is to show that by e mploying the boundary element method an exact and an efficient linear analysis of fractured bodies subjected to internal loading can be obta ined as it is hard to find any analytical and exact values of stress i ntensity factors for any kind of geometry subjected to internal loadin g. Also, in this paper a method of transforming the domain integrals d ue to body-force to the boundary integrals is shown and has been effec tively employed. The problems solved here include both the single mode or mixed mode with either open or semi-open crack fronts subjected to internal body-force or external loading. In comparison with other num erical algorithms it is seen that with ease and a least amount of effo rt in data preparation an exact solution can be obtained for these kin ds of problems.