Edge effects in the failure of elastic/viscoelastic joints subjected to surface tractions

The stress and displacement solutions are obtained for an elastic/viscoelastic joint subjected to a surface traction in the vicinity of an interface corner using elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principles and existing corresponding solutions for elastic/elastic joints. The intensity of the resulting stress singularity is determined by a combination of asymptotic analysis and the finite element method. A quasi-static assumption is used to investigate the effects of sliding and rolling contact loads near the interface corner on failure initiation. The results suggest the interface may experience stress reversal as the contact load (normal or shear) moves from one side of an interface corner to the other, leading to the possibility of fatigue failure. Further a relaxation or an increase of the interfacial stresses occurs depending on whether the edge load near the interface corner is on the elastic or viscoelastic side of the joint. The implications of the results in predicting the deformation and failure of asphalt concrete used in highway bridges are discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.