Cracks in plates under shear and compression

Abstract

In gears, rolling elements like wheels or roller bearings or in blade attachments in turbomachinery, loading conditions exist, which in the contact area lead to high compressive stress and often superimposed shear stress. In welds, cracks or defects often remain in areas of residual stress. If high or low cycle fatigue shear is imposed, such cracks can propagate, but under compressive stress a defect may be less dangerous. In this paper, a flat flaw or crack is represented by a slot of zero thickness and investigated under two-dimensional conditions. It is subject to shear and compression, which creates friction on the crack surface, reduces sliding and lowers the local stresses at the ends of the crack. Practical consequences are discussed.