FGM/homogeneous bimaterials with systems of cracks under thermo-mechanical loading: Analysis by fracture criteria.

Fracture criteria for prediction of extension of the interface crack and of the crack growth direction in a bimaterial consisting of a homogeneous and a functionally graded material (FGM) with systems of internal defects are studied. The bimaterial is subjected to a heat flux and a tensile load applied at infinity. It is assumed that the thermal properties of the FGM have exponential form. The Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio are assumed to be constant. In the previous papers (Petrova and Schmauder, 2011a,b, 2012a,b) asymptotic analytical formulas for the stress intensity factors (SIFs) at the interface crack tips were obtained as a series of a small parameter (the ratio between sizes of the internal and interface cracks). These SIFs are used in fracture criteria to obtain the possible direction of crack propagation and critical loads. The maximum circumferential stress criterion is used and some results for the fracture angles is obtained by the minimum strain energy density in order to compare the predictions for the fracture angles by two fracture criteria. The influence of geometry of the problem (location and orientation of cracks) and the parameters of non-homogeneity of FGMs on the main fracture characteristics is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]