Mutual effect of a circular surface crack and a free boundary in an axisymmetric problem of the fracture of an incompressible half space in compression along the crack plane

In the case where a deformable solid containing a crack which is planar in plan is acted upon only by forces parallel to the crack plane, the stress intensity factors obtained in linear fracture mechanics are equal to zero [6, 8]. Fracture criteria of the Griffith-Irwin type cannot be used, and instead use is made of the stability criterion proposed earlier [2] in the framework of the three-dimensional linearized theory of stability [I]. A general approach to such problems in the coordinates of the initial strain state was proposed in the monograph [3], where a detailed bibliography was also given. The approach is based on the use of general solutions of the equations of the linearized theory of stability with uniform subcritical states.