The Problem of Internal and Edge Cracks in an Orthotropic Strip

Abstract

The plane elastostatic problem of internal and edge cracks in an infinite orthotropic strip is considered. The problems for the material types I and II are formulated in terms of singular integral equations. For the symmetric case the stress-intensity factors are calculated and are compared with the isotropic results. The results show that because of the dependence of the Fredholm kernels on the elastic constants in the strip (unlike the crack problem for an infinite plane) the stress-intensity factors are dependent on the elastic constants and are generally different from the corresponding isotropic results.