Fast semi-analytic computation of elastic edge singularities

The singularities that we consider are the characteristic non-smooth soluti ons of the equations of linear elasticity in piecewise homogeneous media ne ar two-dimensional corners or three-dimensional edges. We describe here a m ethod to compute their singularity exponents and the associated angular sin gular functions. We present the implementation of this method in a program whose input data are geometrical data, the elasticity coefficients of each material involved and the type of boundary conditions (Dirichlet, Neumann o r mixed conditions). Our method is particularly useful with anisotropic mat erials and allows to "follow" the dependency of singularity exponents along a curved edge. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.