On a Possible Approximation of Changes in Elastic Properties of a Transversely Isotropic Material due to an Arbitrarily Oriented Crack

The present paper addresses an approximate analytical model for contribution of an arbitrarily oriented circular crack into effective elastic compliance of a transversely isotropic material. We numerically examine the bounds of applicability of the hypothesis that change in elastic potential due to an arbitrarily oriented circular crack in a transversely-isotropic material can be approximated by the change calculated for a certain isotropic environment. In particular, we obtained that the error of such an approximation is less than 20% if the extent of anisotropy is moderate – the ratio of Young’s moduli in transverse and in-plane directions is less than 1.87. The obtained result can be used for development of a simple model for microcracked transversely-isotropic materials with mild-to-moderate extent of anisotropy.