The effect of biaxial load on stress and strain concentrations in a finite thickness elastic plate containing a circular hole

The elastic stress and strain fields of a finite thickness plate containing a circular hole subjected to a biaxial load are systematically investigated using the finite element method. It is found that the stress and strain concentration factors of the finite thickness plate are different even if the plate is in elasticity state. The maximum stress and strain concentration factors do not always occur on the mid plane of the plate. The maximum stress and strain concentration factors of the notch root increase from their plane stress value to their peak values, then decrease gradually with increasing thickness and tend to constant values related to the load biaxiality ratio, respectively. The stress and strain concentration factors at the notch root of free surface are the monotonic descent functions of thickness. Their values decrease rapidly and tend to lower the limit values related to the load biaxiality ratio with increasing plate thickness. The differences of stress and strain concentration factors between maximum and surface value increase rapidly and tend to constant values related to the load biaxiality ratio with increasing plate thickness. The smaller the load biaxiality ratio, the larger these differences. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.