STRESS INTENSITY FACTORS FOR INTERNAL CIRCUMFERENTIAL CRACKS IN THIN-AND THICK-WALLED CYLINDERS

This paper addresses the calculation of mode I stress intensity factor s for complete circumferential cracks on the inner surface of a hollow cylinder subjected to axisymmetric loading. The analysis based on the weight function method involves two reference sets of data. These are the stress intensity factor and the crack mouth opening displacement for a crack under uniform loading. Boundary-element computations are p erformed in order to extend the reference data available in the litera ture to include the cases of thin-walled cylinders and deep cracks. Th e derived weight function is valid for a wide range of cylinder inner and outer radii, 0.1 less than or equal to R-i/R-o less than or equal to 1, and of the relative crack depth, a/t 10.8. Its application provi des the computation of stress intensity factors with an accuracy of ab out 3%. All rights reserved.