Investigation of the interaction of two collinear cracks in anisotropic elasticity materials by means of the nonlocal theory

In this paper, the interaction of two collinear cracks in anisotropic elasticity materials subjected to an anti-plane shear loading is investigated by means of the nonlocal theory. By use of the Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with the help of a pair of triple integral equations, in which the unknown variable is the displacement on the crack surface. To solve the triple integral equations, the displacement on the crack surface is expanded in a series of Jacobi polynomials. Unlike the classical elasticity solutions, it is found that no stress singularity is present at the crack tip. The nonlocal elastic solutions yield a finite hoop stress at the crack tip, thus allowing us to use the maximum stress hypothesis as a fracture criterion. The magnitude of the finite stress field depends on the crack length, the distance between two cracks and the lattice parameter of materials.