Numerical study of the interaction between an interfacial crack and a subinterfacial microcrack in bi-materials

In the present work the finite element method is used to analyze the effect of interaction between an interfacial main crack and a subinterfacial microcrack in bi-materials. The behavior is analyzed by the determination of the energy release rate at the tips of the main crack and the microcrack. The effects of the distance between the tip of the two cracks are examined. The obtained results allow us to deduce a correlation between the position of the microcrack and the energy release rate.