Fracture Parameters for Cracked Cylindrical Shells

In this paper, 2D boundary element stress analysis is carried out to obtain the T-stress for multiple internal edge cracks in thick-walled cylinders for a wide range of cylinder radius ratios and relative crack depth. The T-stress, together with the stress intensity factor K, provides a more reliable two-parameter prediction of fracture in linear elastic fracture mechanics. T-stress weight functions are then derived from the T-stress solutions for two reference load conditions corresponding to the cases when the cracked cylinder is subject to a uniform and to a linear applied stress variation on the crack faces. The derived weight functions are then verified for several non-linear load conditions. Using the BEM results as reference T-stress solutions; the T-stress weight functions for thick-walled cylinder have also been derived. Excellent agreements between the BEM results and weight function predictions are obtained. The weight functions derived are suitable for obtaining Tstress solutions for the corresponding cracked thick-walled cylinder under any complex stress fields. Results of the study show that the two dimensional BEM analysis, together with weight function method, can be used to provide a quick and accurate estimate of T-stress for 2-D crack problems.