Study of the plastic zone near a crack in an anisotropic body.

The plastic zone at a crack tip in a finite anisotropic body is studied. A boundary-value problem is formulated in terms of the components of the covariant displacement vector for small strains. Particular attention is given to the case of plain strain. In this case, a numerical solution is found for a long rectangular body with a central crack under tension. As a result, conditions for the occurrence and development of a plastic zone at the crack tip are established. A plastic zone on the lateral surface of the body is discovered. How both zones extend and coalesce is elucidated. The effect of anisotropy on the occurrence of a plastic zone is evaluated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]