Effect of Variable Mass Density on Lengthwise Fracture in Functionally Graded Beams Moving in Horizontal Direction

Functionally graded structural materials have been used with increasing intensity in various applications in different areas of up-to-date engineering during recent decades. This can be explained with excellent properties of these materials. Besides, the quickly developing technologies for producing different kinds of functionally graded materials also represent an important factor for increasing the application of these innovative materials. Using these materials for manufacturing moving components of various mechanisms and devices requires performing of analyses of the behavior of the components under inertia loadings. Developing fracture analysis under inertia loadings is very important in the context of safety and reliability. In view of this, the current paper is concerned with analyzing of a particular aspect of fracture, namely the effect of variable mass density on lengthwise fracture behavior of functionally graded beams moving in horizontal direction. The mass density varies along both thickness and length of the beam. The latter is under inertia loading due to beam acceleration in horizontal direction. The inertial loading of the beam is a continuous function of both thickness and length coordinates. The beam has non-linear viscoelastic behavior. The lengthwise fracture problem is treated by using the J integral method. A check-up is performed by analyzing the strain energy release rate. It is explored how the lengthwise fracture is influenced by the variable mass density and other parameters of the model.