A general solution on stress singularities in an anisotropic wedge

This paper presents a general solution for determining the stress singulari ty order in an anisotropic wedge. The order depends on the wedge angle, bou ndary conditions and material properties. The characteristic equation, whic h governs the eigenvalues, is established from the Lekhnitskii's complex fu nction method. A domain of one-quarter circle is proposed in which the cont ours of singularity order are plotted for all fiber orientations and a cert ain wedge angle. The numerical results agree well with the open literature for special cases. To reduce to strength of stress singularity at the wedge corner, the fiber direction corresponding to minimum singularity order can be determined. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.