Crack Model with Plastic Strain Gradients

This paper provides a brief overview of the issues concerning the stress field singularity in a solid with a Griffith crack. A new model of the crack is proposed which takes into account the effect of the plastic deformation zone around the crack on the stress field in the solid. The stress field singularity arises as a special case when the curvature radius at the crack tip and the size of the plastic deformation zone around the crack reduce to zero. The model allows analyzing the influence of plastic strain gradients on the concentration and distribution of stresses at the crack tip. It is shown that the plastic strain gradient at the free surface of the crack is crucial for stress and strain calculations for a solid with a crack. An energy analysis is carried out for the fracture parameters of ductile materials with cracks. The derived equations can be used to evaluate the crack resistance of sufficiently ductile materials.

Automated summary

This paper focuses on the stress field singularity in solids with a Griffith crack, proposing a new crack model that considers the effect of plastic deformation zones on the stress field. The study highlights the importance of plastic strain gradients in stress and strain calculations for solid materials with cracks and provides equations for evaluating the crack resistance of sufficiently ductile materials.