Stress Intensity Factors around Two Griffith Cracks in an Elastic Layer between Two Dissimilar Elastic Half-Planes

Stresses around two coplanar Griffith cracks in an elastic layer sandwiched between two dissimilar elastic half-planes are determined. The self-equilibrated system of pressure is applied to the surfaces of the cracks. Application of the Fourier transform technique reduces the problem to that of solving dual integral equations. To so1ve the equations, the differences of the crack surface displacements are expanded in a series of functions which are automatically zero outside of the crack. The unknown coefficients in the series are solved by the Schmidt method. The stress intensity factors are calculated numerically for the layer of the epoxy resin sandwiched between the upper half-plane of the ceramic and the lower half-plane of the steel.