Numerical Investigation of Thermoelastic Crack Interactions in Various Materials using a Novel Enrichment Approach

Crack interaction studies play a crucial role in understanding and predicting the fracture behaviour of various engineering components subjected to thermomechanical loads. The present work investigates the interaction effect of multiple cracks in different types of material subjected to thermoelastic loadings using Element free Galerkin method (EFGM). These materials include isotropic material, orthotropic material, functionally graded material, and layered material. These all materials are subjected to thermoelastic loads in presence of multiple cracks to investigate the effect of crack interactions. A novel modified Intrinsic enrichment has been proposed to precisely capture the interaction effect and stress fields in the presence of multiple cracks. The proposed algorithm has been tested for a benchmark problem and it produced better stress fields in comparison to the conventional EFGM procedure. Stress intensity factors corresponding to variations in crack parameters have been evaluated concerning with the primary crack. Results reveal that presence of multiple cracks alters the crack tip stress fields owing to the interaction effect i.e shielding or amplification. Additionally, parameters such as crack length, crack orientation, distance between cracks, and domain properties greatly influence the stress intensity factor of the primary crack. These parameters exhibit varying behaviour under distinct circumstances, and their effects have been thoroughly analysed. Current work provides valuable insights into the effects of crack interactions in different media under thermoelastic loadings, thereby ensuring the structural integrity and durability of these materials for practical applications.