Generalized Stress Concentration Factors for Equilibrated Forces and Stresses

Abstract

As a sequel to a recent work we consider the generalized stress concentration factor, a purely geometric property of a body that for the various external loading fields indicates the worst ratio between the maximum of the optimal stress and maximum of the external loading. The optimal stress concentration factor pertains to a stress field that satisfies the principle of virtual work and for which the stress concentration factor is minimal. Unlike the previous work, we require that the external loading be equilibrated and that the stress field be a symmetric tensor field.