An embedded crack in a graded coating bonded to a homogeneous substrate under thermo-mechanical loading

The problem of an embedded partially insulated crack in a graded coating bonded to a homogeneous substrate under thermal and mechanical loading is considered. The heat conduction and the plane elasticity equations are converted into singular integral equations which are solved to yield the temperature and the displacement fields in the medium as well as the crack tip stress intensity factors. A crack-closure algorithm is applied to avoid interpenetration. The main objective of the paper is to study the effect of the coating nonhomogeneity parameters, partial insulation of the crack surfaces and crack-closure on the crack tip stress intensity factors for the purpose of gaining better understanding of the thermo-mechanical behavior of graded coatings.