Analysis of cracked layers under thermal and mechanical shocks

The in-plane dynamic equations of coupled thermo-elasticity, in conjunction with a non-Fourier heat conduction theory, are used to analyze an elastic isotropic layer containing a Volterra edge dislocation and a half-line of temperature discontinuity. The integral transform method is employed to solve the governing differential equations. Heat flux and stress components exhibit transient hyper-singular behavior at the onset, changed to static Cauchy singularity at later times. This type of singularity has not been reported in the literature previously. Moreover, the temperature and stress fields in the intact layers with boundaries under impact traction and sudden temperature change are derived. Based on the above solutions, integral equations for thermally insulated interacting cracks parallel to the layer boundaries, employing dynamic coupled thermo-elasticity theory, are constructed. The numerical results of the stress intensity factors utilizing coupled and uncoupled thermo-elasticity theories show that thermo-elastic coupling is effective only at low temperatures. Furthermore, inertial force in layers under sudden changes of temperatures on the boundaries should be considered only at the initial stages, followed by quasi-static analysis.