On stress singularities in an anisotropic wedge for various boundary conditions

This paper presents a general solution for determining the stress singulari ty orders of an anisotropic wedge for various boundary conditions. The char acteristic equation, which governs the singularity orders, is derived from Lekhnitskii's complex function method. The order depends upon the wedge ang le, boundary conditions and material properties. The contours of the singul arity order are plotted in a domain of one-quarter circle for all fiber ori entations and a certain wedge angle. The numerical results agree well with the open literature for special simple cases. New results come from studyin g the contours and provide useful information for composite structural desi gn. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.