When does an adhesively bonded interfacial weak zone become the nucleus ofa crack?

The conditions under which an adhesively bonded weak zone (with continuousl y distributed adhesive forces) at the interface between two dissimilar elas tic half planes can become the nucleus of a crack are derived. The problem is first reduced to a traction-free weak zone at the interface between two dissimilar elastic half planes, subjected remotely to an inhomogeneous stre ss field. This reduction procedure allows the general solution to be obtain ed in ordinary functions without the usual Cauchy integrals. (C) 2000 Elsev ier Science Ltd. hll rights reserved.