Cracked bi-Material Plates under Thermomechanical Loading

A bimaterial structure composed of two elastic plates bonded together by an interface with a normal (transverse) crack in the first plate and subjected to monotonically temperature and tension loading is considered. The interface is assumed to exhibit brittle failure at critical shear stress value or progressive damage in a cohesive zone preceding delamination. Using modified Shear lag model, the analytical solution is provided specifying the length of debonding. The critical lengths of a partial debonding along the interface are calculated and the limit value of temperature at full debonding is obtained. The analytical predictions are compared with experimental data and numerical results of Lemaitre and Song. The comparison shows a good agreement and proves the validity of the model used.