Abstract: The line-spring model for surface cracks in a residually stressed plate is established in this paper firslty. Then the residual stress’ transform formula from nonlinear to linear gradients along the crack surface is obtained using the edge-cracked weight function. Based on the Reissner’s plate theory and continuously distributed dislocation, the integral transfer method is employed to formulate the governing equations and the expression of stress intensity factor. Numerical results solved by Gauss-Chebyshev method are presented and compared with those of the finite element method, showing that the line-spring model is simple, efficient and accurate.