Stress intensity factor analyses of interface cracks between dissimilar anisotropic materials using the finite element method

Delamination along an interface between dissimilar materials is the primary cause of failure in microstructures like electronic packages, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and so on. Fracture mechanics is a powerful tool for the evaluation of delamination. However, many materials used in microstructures such as composite materials and single crystals are anisotropic materials. Stress intensity factors of an interface crack between dissimilar anisotropic materials, which were proposed by Hwu, are useful for evaluating the reliability of microstructures. However, numerical methods that can analyze the stress intensity factors of an interface crack between anisotropic materials have not been developed. We propose herein a new numerical method for the analysis of an interface crack between dissimilar anisotropic materials. The stress intensity factors of an interface crack are based on the generalized plane strain condition. The energy release rate is obtained by the virtual crack extension method in conjunction with the finite element method for the generalized plane strain condition. The energy release rate is separated into individual modes of the stress intensity factors K-I, K-II, and K-III, using the principal of superposition. The target problem to be solved is superposed on the asymptotic solution of displacement in the vicinity of an interface crack tip, which is described using the Stroh formalism. Analyses of the stress intensity factors of center interface cracks between semi-infinite dissimilar anisotropic media subjected to concentrated self-balanced loads on the center of crack surfaces and to uniform loads are demonstrated. The present method accurately provides mode-separated stress intensity factors using relatively coarse meshes for the finite element method. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.