Functionally Graded Plate Fracture Analysis Using the Field Boundary Element Method

Abstract

This paper describes the Field Boundary Element Method (FBEM) applied to the fracture analysis of a 2D rectangular plate made of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) to calculate Mode I Stress Intensity Factor (SIF). The case study of this Field Boundary Element Method is the transversely isotropic plane plate. Its material presents an exponential variation of the elasticity tensor depending on a scalar function of position, i.e., the elastic tensor results from multiplying a scalar function by a constant taken as a reference. Several examples using a parametric representation of the structural response show the suitability of the method that constitutes a Stress Intensity Factor evaluation of Functionally Graded Materials plane plates even in the case of more complex geometries.