Fracture assessment of U-notches under mixed mode loading: two procedures based on the ‘equivalent local mode I’ concept

Two fracture criteria are proposed and applied to blunt-notched components made of brittle materials loaded under mixed mode; the former is based on the averaged strain energy density over a given control volume, the latter on the cohesive crack zone model. In both instances use of the equivalent local mode I hypothesis is made. Only two material properties are needed: the ultimate tensile strength and the fracture toughness. Numerical predictions of rupture loads from the two criteria are compared with experimental measurements frommore than 160 static tests with notched beams. The samples are made of PMMA and tested at −60◦C to assure a bulk behaviour almost linear elastic up to rupture. Notch root radii range from 0.2 to 4.0mm and load mixicity varies from pure mode I to a prevailing mode II. The good agreement between theory and experimental results adds further confidence to the proposed fracture criteria.