A general solution on stress singularities in an anisotropic wedge

This paper presents a general solution for determining the stress singularity order in an anisotropic wedge. The order depends on the wedge angle, boundary conditions and material properties. The characteristic equation, which governs the eigenvalues, is established from the Lekhnitskii's complex function method. A domain of one-quarter circle is proposed in which the contours of singularity order are plotted for all fiber orientations and a certain wedge angle. The numerical results agree well with the open literature for special cases. To reduce to strength of stress singularity at the wedge corner, the fiber direction corresponding to minimum singularity order can be determined. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.