Effect of Heterogeneity and Reinforcement on Propagation of a Crack due to Shear Waves

This paper investigates the effect of reinforcement and nonhomogeneity on the propagation of cracks caused by horizontally polarized shear waves in a heterogeneous fiber-reinforced medium. The effects of reinforcement and heterogeneity on the propagation of the crack are highlighted in this study. The stress intensity factor at the crack tip for a concentrated force of a constant intensity has been calculated and depicted by means of graphs for various cases. It is observed that fiber reinforcement and heterogeneity parameters decrease the stress intensity factor. Remarkably, the stress intensity factor decreases with the increase in the length and speed of the crack. Also, a comparative study was made for the stress intensity factor in reinforced medium over reinforced-free medium and heterogeneous medium over the homogeneous medium. Moreover, some important peculiarities were observed in graphs. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.