Symmetric cracking of a wedge by concentrated loads

This paper contains an analysis of the plane infinite elastic wedge with a symmetric crack at the end. The edges of the wedge are either free or normally constrained. The wedge is loaded by a pair of unbalanced concentrated line loads at the ends which are symmetric with respect to the crack. Exact expressions for the stress intensity factors as functions of the wedge angle and the force direction are derived for both cases. When transformed, the results compare favorably with known star crack results. The symmetric cracking of a wedge of brittle isotropic material is finally discussed.