SINGULAR BEHAVIOR NEAR AN INTERFACE CRACK TIP OF POWER LAW HARDENING MATERIALS USING THE FINITE-ELEMENT ITERATIVE METHOD

The Finite Element Iterative Method (FEIM) is extended to the analysis of asymptotic fields of materials with non‐linear behaviour. It is used in the investigation of the asymptotic field of an interfacial crack of power law hardening materials. The material is assumed to deform according to the total deformation theory of plasticity. The results of the analysis provide evidence to support the hypothesis that the asymptotic field can be cast in the form of the HRR‐singularity multiplied by a function of the product form. This function can be written as a series of oscillatory functions, similar to those encountered in an elastic field, each of which is valid over a substantial range of the process zone. The real part of these terms depends on the loading mode, process zone size as well as material properties; it is, however, very small compared to the HRR‐singularity. The imaginary part which gives the phase shift is much smaller than the elastic value and is a weak function of the hardening power and the size of the process zone of interest; it eventually vanished at extremely small distances. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd