The interaction of multiple flaws in close proximity to one another may increase the stress intensity factor of the flaw in structures and components. This interaction effect is not distributed uniformly along the crack front. For instance, the strongest interaction is generally observed at the point closest to a neighboring flaw. For this reason, the closest point could show a higher value of the stress intensity factor than all other points in some cases, even if the original value at the point of the single flaw is relatively low.
To clarify the condition when the closest point shows the maximum stress intensity factor, we investigated the interaction of two similar elliptical flaws in an infinite model subjected to remote tension loading. The stress intensity factor of the elliptical flaws was obtained by performing finite element analysis of a linear elastic solid. The results indicated that the interaction factors along the crack front can be expressed by a simple empirical formula. Finally, we show the relationship between geometrical features of the flaw and the stress intensity factor at the closest point to a neighboring flaw.