Viscoelastic deformation of a reinforced plate with a crack

The deformation of a viscoelastic reinforced composite is studied. The composite has an axis of elastic symmetry and consists of transversally isotropic fibers and a viscoelastic matrix, which differ by the volume concentration and mechanical characteristics. The material is modeled by a transversely isotropic homogeneous linearly viscoelastic medium with some averaged characteristics. A plate fabricated from the composite in question is weakened by a through mode I crack and is subjected to constant tensile forces. The viscoelastic properties of the matrix material are described by a convolution operator. The Volterra principle is used to derive expressions for the viscoelastic characteristics and crack opening. The irrational function of the integral operator that describes the crack opening is expanded into an operator continued fraction and is represented as the sum of base operators.