The wave field generated by a centre of rotation in an unbounded elastic medium with a semi-infinite conical crack

The dynamic stress intensity factor at the edge of a semi-infinite conical crack when the medium is loaded by a non-stationary centre of rotation is determined. A centre of rotation is understood to be a set of four forces of equal magnitude that act in the same plane and form pairs having the same direction of rotation.1 If the magnitude of these forces is time dependent, i.e., their application is non-stationary, they form a non-stationary centre of rotation. The solution of the problem required the use of methods of integral transformations and discontinuous solutions, which reduced the problem to an integral differential equation in Laplace transform space. The combined use of the orthogonal polynomial method and time discretization to solve the equation enabled a formula for the stress intensity factor to be obtained.