Boundary element analysis of interface cracks in dissimilar orthotropic materials using a path independent contour integral

This paper presents a boundary element method for analysis of interface cracks in dissimilar materials. A path independent contour integral is used to obtain the complex stress intensity factors. For mixed-mode problems the crack opening displacements are used to decouple the stress intensity factors. The proposed technique is applied to interface cracks in both isotropic and orthotropic dissimilar materials. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the method.