Surface Energy for Formation of Inclined and Interface Cracks Terminating at a Bimaterial Interface

Abstract

This paper proposes a damage parameter, Mint, for evaluation of the surface energy associated with the formation of multiple cracks terminating at a bimaterial interface. The study considers two crack mechanisms, including an inclined crack terminating at the interface with an arbitrary angle and an interface crack lying along the material interface. Based on the concept of the M-integral, the parameter Mint is developed by conducting the integration along a closed contour enclosing all the cracks and with respect to a specific reference coordinate system. The formulation is shown to be path-independent, and therefore good accuracy of Mint can be achieved even when elaborate near-tip local solutions are not ensured.