The application of the dual boundary element method in linear elastic crack problems in plate bending

The application of the Dual Boundary Element Method for the fracture analysis of plate bending problems is discussed in this paper. Two case studies are considered to investigate the effectiveness of the technique. In the first case study results are obtained for the K-I stress intensity factor for two plate thicknesses and a range of crack lengths and in the second case study the K-II and K-III stress intensity factors have been calculated. The boundary element results from both case studies have been compared with existing analytical results and good agreement has been achieved.