On the assessment of U-shaped notches using Failure Assessment Diagrams and the Line Method: Experimental overview and validation

• The paper analyses the structural integrity of components containing U-shaped notches.
• It combines Failure Assessment Diagrams and the Line Method correction for notch effects.
• The experimental results obtained in 555 fracture tests are homogeneously evaluated.
• The methodology reduces the conservatism associated to notch effects.
• The methodology generally provides safe predictions.

This paper analyses the structural integrity of components containing U-shaped notches by combining Failure Assessment Diagrams and the Line Method correction for notch effects. With this objective, the experimental results obtained in 555 fracture tests are homogeneously evaluated in the same Failure Assessment Diagram, with and without applying the Line Method notch corrections, and covering a wide range of materials such as PMMA, Al7075-T651, four different structural steels (S275JR, S355J2, S460M and S690Q) tested at different temperatures from the Lower Shelf up to the ductile-to-brittle transition zone, and two rocks (granite and limestone). It is demonstrated that the proposed methodology generally produces significant reductions in the conservatism associated to notch effects, yet providing safe predictions.