Fracture mechanics analysis of a crack in a residual stress field

The standard definition of the J integral leads to a path dependent value in the presence of a residual stress field, and this gives rise to numerical difficulties in numerical modelling of fracture problems when residual stresses are significant. In this work, a path independent J definition for a crack in a residual stress field is obtained. A number of crack geometries containing residual stresses have been analysed using the finite element method and the results demonstrate that the modified J shows good path-independence which is maintained under a combination of residual stress and mechanical loading. It is also shown that the modified J is equivalent to the stress intensity factor, K, under small scale yielding conditions and provides the intensity of the near crack tip stresses under elastic-plastic conditions. The paper also discusses two issues linked to the numerical modelling of residual stress crack problems-the introduction of a residual stress field into a finite element model and the introduction of a crack into a residual stress field.