Development of Decoupled Equations Method to Calculate StressIntensity Factors in 2D problems

This study presents a novel application of the decoupled equations method (DEM) to model crack issues.Accurate stress intensity factors (SIFs) based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) are directlycomputed using the DEM, which is based on stress redistribution. However, in fracture mechanics (e.g.,crack issue) problems, the concept of redistribution is not applicable, due to infinite stress in the crack tip.To overcome this problem, an analytical function is proposed to represent infinite stress in crack tip, soredistribution concept may be applied. Consequently, when the local coordinates origin (LCO) is locatedat the crack tip, SIFs can be determined directly without further processing, in which to present infinitestress in crack tip, a new body force function is proposed. Validity and accuracy of this method is fullydemonstrated through a benchmark problem which is successfully modeled using a few numbers ofdegrees of freedom. The numerical results agree very well with the results from existing numericalmethods available in literature

Keywords:

Decoupled equations method , Stress redistribution concept , Stress intensity factors , Linear elastic fracture mechanics , crack