A general boundary-only formula for crack shape sensitivity of integral functionals.

Overview & Synopsis

This note presents, in the framework of three-dimensional linear elastodynamics in the time domain, a method for evaluating sensitivities of integral functionals to crack shapes, based on the adjoint state approach and resulting in a sensitivity formula expressed in terms of surface integrals (on the external boundary and the crack surface) and contour integrals (involving the direct and adjoint stress intensity factor distributions on the crack front). This method is well-suited to boundary element treatments of e.g. crack reconstruction inverse problems.