An Assessment of the Corresponding Stress-Intensity Factor for Accounting for Boundary Effects in Cracked Bodies

An integrated frozen stress photoelastic and moiré interferometric method is briefly described and the results of applying the method to study boundary effects for several crack geometries in finite-thickness nearly incompressible bodies are discussed. Results confirm Benthem's analysis at the free surface but suggest a thick transitional zone through the thickness. A linear elastic fracture mechanics quantity called the corresponding stress-intensity factor is found to be a conservative way of interpreting test data near crack tips in elastic nearly incompressible materials.