Dynamic Fracture of Beam under Transverse Load

The dynamic fracture response of a long beam of brittle elastic material subjected to a transverse time-dependent concentrated load is investigated. If the magnitude of this load is increased to a critical value, a crack will propagate from the tensile side of that cross section. An analysis is presented which relates the transverse force, the bending moment, the axial force, and the crack length at the fracturing section. Consequently, the crack length and other parameters of interest can be determined for any given force. The analysis is applied to several specific examples and typical results are presented. If the value of the elastic modulus is appropriately modified, the results also apply for plane strain fracture of a plate subjected to a line load.