On the Mechanical Modeling of the Interfacial Region in Bonded Half-Planes

In this paper the crack problem for two bonded dissimilar homogeneous elastic half-planes is considered. It is assumed that the interfacial region can be modeled by a very thin layer of nonhomogeneous material. Even though the formulation given is rather general, in the particular model used the elastic properties of the interfacial layer are assumed to vary continuously between that of the two semi-infinite planes. The layer is assumed to have a series of collinear cracks parallel to the nominal interface. The related mixed boundary problem is formulated for arbitrary crack surface tractions which can be used to accommodate any general external loading condition through a proper superposition. A single crack problem for two different material combinations is solved as examples, and Modes I and II stress-intensity factors, the energy release rate and the direction of a probable crack growth are calculated.