The use of quarter-point crack-tip elements for T-stress determination in boundary element method analysis

A simple formula for obtaining the elastic T-stress in boundary element method fracture mechanics analysis is presented in this communication. This formula is obtained by comparing the variation of the displacements along the quarter-point crack-tip element with the classical field solution for the crack-tip. Its validity is tested with four example problems for a range of crack sizes and good agreement with solutions in the literature is generally obtained.