Prediction of bimaterial thermal cracking by the boundary element method

A boundary element procedure is developed concerning the prediction of the quasistatic crack growth in uniformly heated bimaterials. This procedure assumes the existence of an initial small crack in one of the two phases, and further cracking progress from this point due to thermal loading. The resulting mixed boundary value problem is solved by applying an incremental boundary-only method in conjunction with the multidomain technique. Fracture characterizing parameters are evaluated utilizing special crack tip singular elements and appropriate formulas. The crack path is predicted using the strain energy release rate criterion, and the mesh is updated at the end of each increment. The presented results are in good agreement with previously reported experimental results and those obtained by the finite element method. Various numerical studies were conducted and interpreted concerning crack-path dependence on individual material property mismatch. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.