Small Scale Contact Conditions for the Linear-Elastic Interface Crack

Abstract

Conditions are discussed for which the contact zone at the tip of a two-dimensional interface crack between anisotropic elastic materials is small. For such “small scale contact” conditions combined with small scale yielding conditions, a stress concentration vector uniquely characterizes the near tip field, and may be used as a crack growth parameter. Representative calculations for an interface crack on a representative Cu grain boundary show small contact conditions to prevail, except possibly under large shearing loads.