Thermal shock fracture in a cracked strip: Incorporating convective heat transfer between lateral surfaces and ambient environment

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of transient temperature and thermal stress around a thermal insulated crack in a finite thermoelastic strip subjected to thermal shock based on the dual-phase-lag (DPL) heat conduction. A detailed investigation of the effect of convective heat exchange between the lateral surfaces of the strip and the ambient environment is conducted. By employing integral transform technique, the thermoelastic crack problem is reduced to a set of singular integral equations, and solutions for the transient temperature distribution and dynamic stress intensity factors (SIFs) at the crack tips are then obtained. Numerical results reveal a considerable temperature gradient near the heating surface when both the high convective heat transfer coefficient and thin strip are involved. Consequently, the SIFs in such scenarios where cracks are located close to the heating surface are significantly larger compared to those calculated by neglecting the convective heat loss. Furthermore, during the initial period following a thermal shock, the SIFs may exhibit higher magnitudes than the steady-state values. These findings emphasize the importance of accounting for the influence of convective heat exchange with the ambient environment in material design and optimization to enhance fracture resistance under transient thermal loading.