Plastic Analysis of Mixed Mode Plane Stress Crack Problems

: Two parameters are identified for characterizing the deformation in the plastic zone near the tip of a crack when mixed mode conditions prevail. Details of the near-tip stress and strain distributions are presented for hardening materials in which a diffuse plastic zone occurs under plane stress conditions. For small scale yielding the two near-tip parameters are related to the two elastic stress intensity factors for combined Mode I and Mode II. (Author)