Dynamic Thermal Stresses in a Finite Circular Plate with a Penny-Shaped Crack Generated by Impulsive Heating

A solution is presented for the stress-wave response of a partially transparent finite elastic circular plate with a penny-shaped crack subjected to impulsive electromagnetic radiation. The radiation is assumed to occur at a constant rate for the duration of the pulse, to be deposited with a radial Gaussian distribution and to diminish exponentially with distance from the exposed surface of the plate. The development of the analysis is based on the equations of uncoupled dynamic thermoelasticity with heat conduction neglected. The numerical procedure employs explicit finite difference approximations with second-order accuracy based on the integration of the governing equations along the bicharacteristics. Numerical calculations are carried out for the dynamic behavior of the thermal stresses and the stress intensity factors, and the results are shown in figures.