Effect of residual surface tension on the stress concentration around a nanosized spheroidal cavity

The effect of residual surface tension on the stress concentration around a nanosized spheroidal cavity in an isotropic elastic medium is analyzed based on the surface elasticity. Using the method of Boussinesq-Sadowsky's potential functions, we obtained the solutions for the elastic field around the nanosized spheroidal cavity subjected to a uniformly uni-axial tension. It is shown that when the size of the cavity reduces to the same order of the ratio of residual surface tension to applied stress, the contribution from residual surface tension becomes important. Both the shape and the size of the cavity significantly affect the stress field and stress concentration around a nanosized cavity. The results are evidently different from the classical results, and are useful to the damage analysis and prediction of the effective moduli of heterogeneous materials containing nanosized cavities. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.