Nonclassical Problems in the Fracture Mechanics of Composites with Interacting Cracks.

The results of study of two nonclassical fracture mechanisms in composite materials are reported. They are the brittle fracture of bodies with initial (residual) stresses acting in parallel to crack planes and the fracture of bodies compressed along parallel cracks. A combined approach to the study of these mechanisms using linearized solid mechanics is proposed. Three-dimensional problems for prestressed composites with interacting circular cracks are mathematically formulated. Problems for an infinite body with two parallel coaxial cracks and for a half-space with a near-surface crack are solved. A few types of loading (normal, radial shear, torsion) on the crack faces are considered. The effect of prestresses on the stress intensity factors of certain composites is analyzed. The combined approach is used to determine the critical loads for composites compressed along interacting cracks. The effect of the geometrical and material characteristics on the critical loads is analyzed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]