Relaxation of Thermal Stress Singularities in Bonded Viscoelastic Quarter Planes

Abstract

Singular thermal stress fields in bonded viscoelastic quarter planes are studied with the use of the viscoelastic analogy. The order of the singularity is shown to depend on the material properties, indicating that it will vary with time in viscoelastic materials. This is studied in detail for Maxwell materials, and it is shown that the order of the singularity generally increases with time. This evolution of the singularity can, for certain combinations of material properties, lead to initial increases in the stress levels near the edge of the interface before relaxation occurs.