Swelling stresses ahead of slender notches

The prediction of hydroxyl concentration in the near-tip region of surface cracks in silica needs knowledge of swelling stresses caused by the silica/water reaction in the surface region. They are available for mathematically sharp cracks as are necessary for the continuum mechanics theory of Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics. In a micro-structurally motivated approach, the crack tip region is considered as a slender notch with root radius p in the order of the average radius of the SiO2 rings. In the present report we compile Finite Element results on swelling stress components ahead of the root of slender edge notches as functions on the notch root distance and the height of the swelling zone.