Study of the fracture toughness by finite element methods

In this work, the critical stress intensity factor of a centre cracked plate is analysed by ®nite element methods to study its dependence upon the geometry of the plate and to search under what conditions it can be identi®ed with the fracture toughness of the material. This will be useful for a better understanding of the theoretical concept of fracture toughness and help to determine its magnitude both by ®nite element procedures and experimentally