Effect of thermal singularities on stress intensity factors: Edge crack in rectangular and circular plate

Thermoelastic solutions for cracked bodies under some types of thermal loading exhibit a thermal singularity at the crack tip as well as the familiar stress singularities. A quarter-point crack tip-element is presented which permits the accurate evaluation of these thermal singularities. They are important, since they affect the values of the stress intensity factors. These effects are accounted for by developing a new formulation for the calculation of the stress intensity factors. Several crack problems are solved and the results are compared where possible, with existing solutions.