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The influence of the T-stress on the directional stability of cracks

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Abstract

The sign of the T-stress has been widely used for deciding whether directional stability prevails for straight cracks subjected to mode I loading under small scale yielding. However, there is little evidence for the reliability of such a criterion. On the contrary, it is shown that a local criterion is not applicable and that directional stability generally depends on body and load geometry as well as on material parameters, whereas the sign of the T-stress is totally irrelevant in most cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Solid Mechanics, Lund Institute of Technology, Box 118, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden (E-mail

    S. Melin

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  1. S. Melin
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Melin, S. The influence of the T-stress on the directional stability of cracks. International Journal of Fracture 114, 259–265 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015521629898

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