Effect of crack curvature radius on the stress fields under nonlinear deformation

The influence of crack curvature radius and plastic properties of material on the crack tip fields is evaluated by conventional mechanism-based strain gradient (CMSG) plasticity theory, and classical plasticity theory. Stress fields in single edge tension specimen are investigated numerically for a wide range of the crack curvature radius variations. The strain hardening exponent varied from N=0.075 to N=0.4. The local areas of the influence of the crack tip curvature radius are established for the strain gradient plasticity and classical plasticity. The couple effects of material length scale parameter and plastic properties of material on crack tip fields are established for strain gradient plasticity. The boundaries of CMSG plasticity dominated zone are determined.