"Discussion of Error in the Analysis of the Wake Dislocation Problem"/Reply By K. Sadananda and A.K. Vasudevan

In an article previously published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions,[1] the linear elastic boundary value problem of a dislocation near a crack tip is investigated. In this article, the authors conclude that by taking into account the conservation of Burgers vectors, the crack flanks cannot make contact induced by the dislocations formed during fatigue crack propagation. Since this result is of great importance in the theory of fatigue fracture mechanics, we have recalculated the equations and found an error. Consistent with forces, the displacements are tensile in region A and compressive in region B. On the other hand, if one considers displacement at the crack tip as the reference, all the displacements behind the crack tip can be misrepresented as compressive, ignoring the change in the sign of the internal stresses.