An Analysis of the T-Shaped Crack along the Fiber-Matrix Interface in Unidirectional Composite Materials

In this paper a fracture problem in unidirectionally fiber-reinforced composites containing a T-shaped crack at the interface is considered. The T-shaped crack consists of an interface crack and a crack perpendicular to the interface. A system of integral equations is formulated based on the two-dimensional elasticity and Fourier transforms. The integral equations are evaluated by a numerical method using only the Gauss-Chebyshev integral formula, which was developed by the present authors in the last paper. First, the numerical results are compared with the previous results for a T-shaped crack in an homogeneous material, verifying the present method to be highly satisfactory. Next, three kinds of stress intensity factors (SIF), such as Mode I SIF of a perpendicular crack and Mode I and II SIF of an interface crack, are presented for Glass/Epoxy, Carbon/Epoxy and Tungsten/Copper composite systems with various geometrical parameters.