A solution method for finding dynamic stress intensity factors for arbitrarily oriented cracks in transversely isotropic materials

The transient elastodynamic response of a transversely isotropic material containing a semi-infinite crack under uniform impact loading on the faces is examined. The crack lies in a principle plane of the material, but the crack front does not coincide with a principle direction. Rather, the crack front is at an angle to a principle direction and thus the problem becomes more three-dimensional in nature. Three loading modes are considered, i.e., opening, in-plane shear and anti-plane shear. The solutions for the stress intensity factor history around the crack tip are found. Laplace and Fourier transforms together with the Wiener-Hopf technique are employed to solve the equations of motion directly. The asymptotic expression of stress near the crack tip leads to a closed-form solution for the dynamic stress intensity factor for each loading mode. It is found that the stress intensity factors are proportional to the square root of time as expected. Results given here converge to known solutions in transversely isotropic materials with a crack oriented along a principle direction and isotropic materials as special cases. The results of this analysis are used to find approximate strain energy release rates for dynamically loaded penny shaped cracks.