Use of J-integral for prediction of critical fracture load in plates with U-notches under mixed mode loading

• Fracture of U-notches under mixed mode loading has been assessed using Jcr criterion.
• The expression for evaluation of Jcr can be applied for specimens loaded under mixed mode.
• Finite element software ANSYS has been used for evaluation of the J-integral.
• Both SED and Jcr criteria can predict the fracture load of U-notches under mixed mode loading very well.

The main aim of the paper is to show that the expressions proposed for evaluation of the critical value of the J-integral in notches (Jcr) can be applied for mixed mode loading, too. So, fracture load of plates weakened by U-notches under mixed mode loading has directly been evaluated by J-integral. The J-integral for plates with different mode mixity has been evaluated by using the finite element software ANSYS. Then the fracture load has been assessed by means of J = Jcr. The results of fracture load using J-integral have been compared with experimental data for martensitic steel plates taken from the literature and good agreement was found.