EFFECT OF A LINEAR PARAMETER ON THE BRITTLE FRACTURE OF AN ELASTIC LAYER WITH A CIRCULAR HOLE.

The effect of a hole radius in an elastic layer on a critical external load at the moment of the onset of fracture, determined by the energy criterion, is investigated. A free energy flow through an interaction arc is used as a fracture criterion to describe the dependence of a critical external load on a hole radius. The length of the interaction arc constructed in the vicinity of a free energy peak point is determined using a linear parameter. The introduced linear parameter for a polymethyl methacrylate layer is obtained using known experimental data. The maximum value of the linear parameter can be taken as a material constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]