Energy flows in elastic fracture

Abstract

An alternative approach to understanding fracture is to look not to the stress fields but to the flow of energy into and out of an object that is susceptible to fracture. In this chapter the energy required for fracture will be considered and the connection between the energy flows and the crack tip stresses will be made. This connection also provides a powerful tool for the determination of stress intensity factors. Note that, except where noted, the energy approach to fracture is the same whether the material is linear or nonlinearly elastic.