APPROXIMATE WEIGHT-FUNCTIONS FOR EMBEDDED ELLIPTIC CRACKS

An approximate weight function for embedded elliptical cracks was dedu ced from the properties of weight functions and available analytical w eight functions for penny shape and half plane cracks. The weight func tion was then validated against available exact stress intensity facto r solutions for embedded elliptical cracks for several linear and non- linear stress distributions. The proposed weight function is suitable for the calculation of stress intensity factors for embedded elliptica l cracks under any stress distribution. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.