Abstract: The Saint-Venant torsion problems of a cylinder with curvilinear cracks were considered and reduced to solving the boundary integral equations only on cracks. Using the interpolation models for both singular crack tip elements and other crack linear elements, the boundary element formulas of the torsion rigidity and stress intensity factors were given. Some typical torsion problems of a cylinder involving a straight, kinked or curvilinear crack were calculated. The obtained results for the case of straight crack agree well with those given by using the Gauss-Chebyshev integration formulas, which demonstrates the validity and applicability of the present boundary element method.

Key words: Saint-Venant torsion, curvilinear crack, boundary integral equation, boundary element, stress intensity factor