The present work deals with the uniqueness theorem for plane crack problems in solids characterized by dipolar gradient elasticity. The theory of gradient elasticity derives from considerations of microstructure in elastic continua [Mindlin, R.D., 1964. Micro-structure in linear elasticity. Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 16, 51-78] and is appropriate to model materials with periodic structure. According to this theory, the strain-energy density assumes the form of a positive-definite function of the strain (as in classical elasticity) and the second gradient of the displacement (additional term). Specific cases of the general theory employed here are the well-known theory of couple-stress elasticity and the recently popularized theory of strain-gradient elasticity. These cases are also treated in the present study. We consider an anisotropic material response of the cracked plane body, within the linear version of gradient elasticity, and conditions of plane-strain or anti-plane strain. It is emphasized that, for crack problems in general, a uniqueness theorem more extended than the standard Kirchhoff theorem is needed because of the singular behavior of the solutions at the crack tips. Such a theorem will necessarily impose certain restrictions on the behavior of the fields in the vicinity of crack tips. In standard elasticity, a theorem was indeed established by Knowles and Pucik [Knowles, J.K., Pucik, T.A., 1973. Uniqueness for plane crack problems in linear elastostatics. J. Elast. 3, 155-160], who showed that the necessary conditions for solution uniqueness are a bounded displacement field and a bounded body-force field. In our study, we show that the additional (to the two previous conditions) requirement of a bounded displacement-gradient field in the vicinity of the crack tips guarantees uniqueness within the general form of the theory of dipolar gradient elasticity. In the specific cases of couple-stress elasticity and pure strain-gradient elasticity, the additional requirement is less stringent. This only involves a bounded rotation field for the first case and a bounded strain field for the second case.

Within the framework of MindlinÕs dipolar gradient elasticity, general energy theorems are proved in this work. These are the theorem of minimum potential energy, the theorem of minimum complementary potential energy, a variational principle analogous to that of the Hellinger-Reissner principle in classical theory, two theorems analogous to those of Castigliano and Engesser in classical theory, a uniqueness theorem of the Kirchhoff-Neumann type, and a reciprocal theorem. These results can be of importance to computational methods for analyzing practical problems. In addition, the J-integral of fracture mechanics is derived within the same framework. The new form of the J-integral is identified with the energy release rate at the tip of a growing crack and its path-independence is proved.The theory of dipolar gradient elasticity derives from considerations of microstructure in elastic continua [Mindlin, R.D., 1964. Microstructure in linear elasticity. Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 16, 51-78] and is appropriate to model materials with periodic structure. According to this theory, the strain-energy density assumes the form of a positive-definite function of the strain (as in classical elasticity) and the second gradient of the displacement (additional term). Specific cases of the general theory considered here are the well-known theory of couple-stress elasticity and the recently popularized theory of strain-gradient elasticity. The latter case is also treated in the present study.

It is the purpose of this work to derive the balance laws (in the Gü nther-Knowles-Sternberg sense) pertaining to dipolar gradient elasticity. The theory of dipolar gradient (or grade 2) elasticity derives from considerations of microstructure in elastic continua [Mindlin, R.D., 1964. Microstructure in linear elasticity. Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 16, 51-78] and is appropriate to model materials with periodic structure. According to this theory, the strain-energy density assumes the form of a positive-definite function of the strain (as in classical elasticity) and the gradient of both strain and rotation (additional terms). The balance laws are derived here through a more straightforward procedure than the one usually employed in classical elasticity (i.e. Noether's theorem). Indeed, the pertinent balance laws are obtained through the action of the standard operators of vector calculus (grad, curl and div) on appropriate forms of the Hamiltonian of the system under consideration. These laws are directly related to the energy release rates in the processes of crack translation, rotation and self-similar expansion. Under certain conditions, they are identified with conservation laws and path-independent integrals are obtained.