Fundamental solutions and dual boundary element methods for fracture in plane Cosserat elasticity

In this paper, both singular and hypersingular fundamental solutions of plane Cosserat elasticity are derived and given in a ready-to-use form. The hypersingular fundamental solutions allow to formulate the analogue of Somigliana stress identity, which can be used to obtain the stress and couple stress fields inside the domain from the boundary values of the displacements, microrotation and stress and couple stress tractions. Using these newly derived fundamental solutions, the boundary integral equations of both types are formulated and solved by the boundary element method. Simultaneous use of both types of the equations (approach known as the dual BEM) allows to treat problems where parts of the boundary are overlapping, such as crack problems, and to do this for general geometry and loading conditions. The high accuracy of the boundary element method for both types of equations is demonstrated for a number of benchmark problems, including a Griffith crack problem and a plate with an edge crack. The detailed comparison of the BEM-results and the analytical solution for a Griffith crack is given, particularly, in terms of stress and couple stress intensity factors, as well as the crack opening displacements and microrotations on the crack faces. A modified method for computing the couple stress intensity factors is also proposed and evaluated. Finally, the asymptotic behavior of the solution to the Cosserat crack problems, in the vicinity of the crack tip is analyzed.