Crack tip stress intensity factors in two-orthotropic layer, adhesively bonded structure

Abstract

The stress analysis of an orthotropic base plate bonded by a fiber-reinforced orthotropic composite layer is considered. It is assumed that two plates are bonded through an adhesive of constant thickness which is treated as a two-dimensional shear spring in the analysis. It is assumed that the orthotropic base plate has a through-crack of finite length and the stiffening plate has no flaws. However, due to the high stress concentration around the main crack and on the adhesive, a debonding crack is assumed to exist, encircling the crack in the base plate. The problem is reduced to a pair of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind. By solving these equations the stress intensity factors in the base plate and adhesive shear stresses are evaluated. The influence of debonding size and adhesive properties on the stress intensity factors is investigated.