Open cracks at or near free edges

Abstract
We describe a method for the efficient, rapid determination of stress intensity factors for plane cracks at or near free surfaces, with arbitrary far fields. The basic technique is well established in the United States, but comparatively unknown in the UK, and makes use of distributing edge dislocations along the intended line of the crack. Examples given are uniform tension parallel to the free edge and point loads applied to the crack faces, although it is a simple task to formulate the problem for any nominal stress field, providing the crack remains open.

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