A NEW APPROACH TO PREDICTING INTERFACIAL CRACK-GROWTH

A new approach, called ''beta=0 approach'' is presented for use in the prediction of interfacial crack growth. This approach is a kind of tr ansformation. It transforms an oscillatory stress field to a nonoscill atory case by adjusting the elastic constants of the materials involve d. The interface toughness locus is also changed according to the new material properties. It is shown that this approach will predict the e xact same critical load as interfacial fracture mechanics does. Finall y, several examples are presented to show how to enforce beta=0 while keeping the energy release rate unchanged.