Stress intensity factor solutions for finite body with quarter-elliptical flaws emanating from a notch

This paper presents a new simple engineering method for estimating the stress-intensity factor around a quarter-elliptical cracks emanating from a notch. Several examples will be used to highlight some of the advantages of the present method and several comparisons are made with other existing approaches. Stress-intensity factors produced by the present method are in good agreement with other published solutions. The present technique based on finite element analysis does not require the crack to be explicitly modelled. Making this technique ideal for studying fatigue crack growth and or shape optimisation with damage tolerance constraints.