On the asymptotic stress field in angularly nonhomogeneous materials

The problem of multi-material junctions composed of angularly nonhomogeneous elastic wedges in plane elasticity is addressed. For this new type of grading the governing equation for the Airy stress function is derived and, by applying the eigenfunction expansion method, a fourth-order ODE with nonconstant coefficients for the eigenequation is obtained. The solution to this ODE permits the formulation of an eigenvalue problem similar to that valid for material junctions between homogenous different materials. It is mathematically demonstrated that the angular grading influences the order of the stress-singularity. The potentials of the use of this new class of materials in joining technology are carefully investigated and some illustrative examples are deeply discussed. Comparisons with the corresponding results obtained from homogeneous materials are made.