Calculation of surface energy associated with formation of multiple kinked cracks

An energy parameter termed Mc is proposed for calculation of the surface energy associated with formation of multiple kinked cracks in 2-D anisotropic elastic solids. The formulation is based on a path-independent contour integral. The surface energy can be exactly evaluated by Mc when the cracked solids are homogeneously-stressed (i.e., the material characteristic), and effectively approximated when the solids are nonhomogeneously-stressed (i.e., the structural characteristic). It is thus suggested that Mc be possibly used as a fracture parameter that quantitatively measures the degradation of material (e.g. in micromechanics) and/or structural integrity due to irreversible evolution of multiple kinked cracks.