Mode II fracture analysis of double edge cracked circular disk subjected to different diametral compression

A detailed analysis of mode II stress intensity factors(SIFs) for the double edge cracked Brazilian disk subjected to different diametral compression is presented using a weight function method. The mode II SIFs at crack tips can be obtained by simply calculating an integral of the product of mode II weight function and the shear stress on the prospective crack faces of uncracked disk loaded by a diametral compression. A semi-analytical formula for the calculation of normalized mode II SIF, f _Ⅱ, is derived for different crack lengths (from 0.1 to 0.7) and inclination angles (from 10° to 75°) with respect to loading direction. Comparison between the obtained results and finite element method solutions shows that the weight function method is of high precision. Combined with the authors previous work on mode I fracture analysis, the new specimen geometry can be used to study fracture through any combination of mode I and mode II loading by a simple alignment of the crack relative to the diameter of compression loading, and to obtain pure mode II crack extension. Another advantage of this specimen geometry is that it is available directly from rock core and is also easy to fabricate.