Evolution of Tenacity in Mixed Mode Fracture – Volumetric Approach

Abstract In fracture mechanics most interest is focused on stress intensity factors, which describe the singular stress field ahead of a crack tip and govern fracture of a specimen when a critical stress intensity factor is reached. In this paper, stress intensity factors which represents fracture toughness of material, caused by a notch in a volumetric approach has been examined, taking into account the specific conditions of loading by examining various U-notched circular ring specimens, with various geometries and boundary conditions, under a mixed mode I+II. The bend specimens are computed by finite element method (FEM) and the local stress distribution was calculated by the Abaqus/CAE. The results are assessed to determine the evolution of the stress intensity factor of different notches and loading distances from the root of notch. This study shows that the tenacity is not intrinsic to the material for all different geometries notches.