MODE-III DELAMINATION OF A VISCOELASTIC STRIP FROM A DISSIMILAR VISCOELASTIC HALF-PLANE

The problem of a semi-infinite crack propagating steadily along the in terface of a viscoelastic bimaterial composite is investigated. One of the constituents of the composite is a strip and the other is a dissi milar half-plane. The viscoelastic behavior of both materials is model ed as a standard solid. The crack is driven by an arbitrary traveling shear load applied to the crack faces, producing a state of antiplane strain (mode 3). The boundary value problem is reduced to a Wiener-Hop f equation and solved in closed form by means of Cauchy-type integrals . For the specific case of an exponentially decaying load, the express ion for the stress intensity factor is derived and its behavior as a f unction of crack-tip speed for different material combinations is exam ined. For some limiting cases, the solution is seen to coincide with k nown results. The important problem of an elastic-viscoelastic composi te is also considered.