Fracture Analysis of Sharp Notches Under Mode III Loading: A Local Approach

Abstract In this study, an attempt is made to propose a local approach for fracture analysis of sharp notches under Mode III loading. Under the assumption that the stress concentration factor eigenvalue k* for V-notches under Mode I loading proposed by Yan is valid for V-notches under Mode III loading, in fact, the local approach for fracture analysis of sharp notches under Mode III loading is similar to that under Mode I loading. The experimental verifications by experimental data from the literature show that the attempt is successful. In addition, the experimental verifications show that the empirical equation of determining the fracture toughness proposed by Yan is also suited for Mode III loading. By using the empirical equation, thus, the local approach proposed by Yan and the local approach proposed in this study have a wide of applications for fracture assessment of sharp notches.