ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS AND NUMERICAL EXAMPLES FOR THERMOELASTIC INTERFACE CRACK PROBLEMS IN DISSIMILAR ANISOTROPIC MEDIA

The problem associated with an interface crack between anisotropic dis similar media subjected to a remote heat flux as well as traction on t he crack surface is studied in this article. Based on the complex vari able representations of the plane elastic problem developed by Lekhnit skii and a special technique of analytical continuation, the full fiel d solutions of the displacements and thermal stresses are obtained in closed form It is indicated that the nature of singularities in the st ress field at the crack lips is unaltered by the presence of an applie d heat flux if the heat conductivity coefficients obey the Onsager rec iprocal relations. The explicit expressions for the strain energy rele ase rate and crack opening displacements are also provided. The former is treated as the fracture parameter to characterize the occurrence o f interface cracking. Numerical examples for graphite/epoxy composite bonded to metal and ceramic materials bonded to metal substrates are e xamined and detailed results are given.