Interaction between coplanar elliptic cracks - II shear loading

The present paper extends the method of integral equation developed in Part I (Roy and Chatterjee, 1994) to the three-dimensional problem of interacti on between two equal coplanar elliptical cracks embedded in an infinite iso tropic elastic medium under sheer loading. The dual integral equations obta ined from the mixed boundary value problem in the present situation are cou pled and reduced to infinite systems of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind-four systems corresponding to the first crack and four to the s econd crack. Analytical expressions for the two tangential displacement fun ctions have been given up to the order beta(5) (beta being the crack separa tion parameter). Numerical results for the two shear stress intensity facto rs, K-2(phi) and K-3(phi), together with the interaction effects have been tabulated and illustrated graphically. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.