David J Unger's blog

I would like to inform the fracture mechanics community of an asymptotic solution for the steady-state mode I crack problem for an elastic / perfectly plastic material under plane stress loading conditons.  See the following article in ZAMP, i.e., 

Unger, D.J. Plane stress asymptotic solution for steady crack growth in an elastic/perfectly plastic solid for mode I crack propagation. Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 74, 77 (2023). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00033-022-01916-4

Students often have a tough time understanding the crack driving force in an elementary course on fracture mechanics.

A recent free access article has been published on a fluid analogy to the crack driving force and the Riabouchinsky free streamline problem for ideal fluid flow around two plates.  Hopefully this analogy can aid in the visualization.

My text, Analytical Fracture Mechanics, is back in print by Dover Publications as of November 2011.