Stress intensity factor for a crack within a strip under arbitrary loading

The solution for an edge dislocation in a strip is found in a very straightforward manner, using only the elementary solution for a dislocation in a half-plane. This is then employed to find the crack tip stress intensity factor (SIT) for an edge crack subject to an example loading condition, and the answers are compared with known solutions in the literature. The distributed dislocation method gives results in very close agreement with previously published results. The technique described has wide application to the solution of crack problems in strips when the nominal stress gradient is severe.