Evaluation of the stress concentration factor of holey graphene applying the domain superposition technique

Purpose Studying the influence of vacancies on the failure analysis of graphene sheets under tensile load conditions, applying the domain superposition technique (DST) and evaluating its applicability in this new class of problems. The stress concentration factor calculated for a thin panel with circular holes was compared with the stress concentration factor predicted by the atomistic evaluation of the stress concentration factor for single-layered graphene sheets (SLGSs) having circular holes under unidirectional tensile loading and investigated by application of the molecular structural mechanics approach. Design/methodology/approach To show the potentiality of the technique, graphene sheets with a circular hole under unidirectional tensile loading, the effect of an initial stretching of a rectangular plate with a circular hole on the stress distributions around the hole and along the smallest resistant section and the disturbance by the presence of the hole, which is caused by the additional loading, were studied using the DST. Findings The results reveal that the application of the boundary element method approach is reliable for the atomistic evaluation of the stress concentration factor of SLGSs with circular holes. Originality/value This work presents the recent DST applied to modeling elasticity with holes and inclusions. Conceptually, the proposed technique differs widely from the classical technique of domain division into sub-regions, since it is based on energy principles. Thus, changes in constitutive properties are computed in a very simple and effective way, allowing the simulation of sectorial heterogeneities and holes within the domain.