Analyses of steady-state interface fracture of elastic multilayered beams under four-point bending

The closed-form solution for the steady-state interface energy release rate of elastic multilayered beams subjected to four-point bending is presented. The beam can have an arbitrary number of layers and fracture can occur at any interface. Specific results are calculated for alternate layered systems to elucidate the essential trends of the dependences of the normalized steady-state interface energy release rate on the thickness ratio and the modulus ratio for each interface.