Analysis of three-dimensional cracks horizontally placed in transversely isotropic FGMs under interior compressive stresses

This paper develops the dual boundary element method (DBEM) using a new fundamental singular solution. This new solution is the elastic fields of transversely isotropic multilayered materials of infinite extent under point concentrated loads. The discretization technique is utilized to approximate arbitrary variations of functionally graded materials (FGMs) with transverse isotropy in a graded direction. The proposed DBEM is used to analyze the three-dimensional crack problems in FGM halfspaces. The penny-shaped and elliptical cracks are horizontally placed on the interface between the FGM layer and homogeneous halfspace and are subjected to uniform compressive stresses on crack surfaces. The stress intensity factors are provided to understand the fracture behaviors of transversely isotropic FGMs. An influential factor is defined to describe the influence of the anisotropy of the FGMs on stress intensity factors. Results show that the anisotropy and heterogeneity of materials exert an obvious influence on the fracture properties of crack problems.