Crack line field analysis method for Elastic-Plastic study of Cracks: The First thirty years

The idea of analyzing the elastic-plastic field near the crack line emerged in the mid-1980s. However, the solutions were confined by the traditional crack tip field analysis method and the small-scale yield condition, and only few problems had been solved. In 1994, Yi, the corresponding author of this paper, in the analysis of a classical mode III crack in an elastic-perfectly plastic body, obtained the general solution of the plastic stress and displacement fields in the form of Taylor series near the crack line. By matching the general solution with the precise solution of the elastic field at the elastic-plastic boundary near the crack line, the small-scale yield condition was given up, and the precise solution of the elastic-plastic field near the crack line was obtained. Thus, the crack line field analysis method independent of the traditional crack tip field analysis method was formed. Since then, the crack line field analysis method has been widely used in the elastic-plastic analysis of cracks and a lot of problems have been solved. On the nearly 30th anniversary of the crack line field analysis method, this paper summarizes the underlying principle of the crack line field analysis method, reviews its applications, and discusses on its trend of development.

Automated summary

The concept of analyzing the elastic-plastic field near the crack line emerged in the mid-1980s. However, the traditional crack tip field analysis method and the small-scale yield condition limited its solutions and applications. In 1994, by obtaining the general solution of the plastic stress and displacement fields near the crack line, the authors developed an independent crack line field analysis method. This method has since been widely used in the elastic-plastic analysis of cracks and has solved many problems. This paper summarizes its underlying principle, reviews its applications, and discusses its future development.