THE STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR GREENS-FUNCTION FOR A CRACK INTERACTING WITH A CIRCULAR INCLUSION

The Green's function is constructed for the stress intensity factor due to the unit dipole force applied to the crack surface in the presence of a circular inclusion in front of the crack tip. An explicit functional form of the Green's function is proposed in terms of dipole force location, Young's modulus ratio and the inclusion size and position with respect to the crack tip. This is achieved through a combination of the dimensional analysis and parametric studies by means of the finite element method. The purpose of this paper is to provide the basis for further studies of a crack interaction with an array of microdefects and/or inclusions.