Mixed-mode ductile failure analysis of V-notched Al 7075-T6 thin sheets

•Mixed mode I/II ductile failure of V-notched Al 7075-T6 thin sheets was analyzed.•New fracture tests were conducted on V-notched sheets under mixed mode I/II loading.•The EMC was used in conjunction with VMTS and VMS brittle fracture criteria.•The VMTS-EMC and VMS-EMC criteria could predict well the experimental results.•Criteria predicted notched ductile members failure without elastic–plastic analysis.

First, several rectangular thin sheets made of Al 7075-T6 and weakened by blunt V-notches were tested for mixed mode I/II fracture, and the load-carrying capacity and the fracture initiation angles were experimentally recorded. Then, the Equivalent Material Concept (EMC), proposed originally by the first author, was utilized in conjunction with the maximum tangential stress (MTS) and the mean-stress (MS) criteria to predict the experimental results. By approximately 9% and 6.5% discrepancies for the VMTS-EMC and VMS-EMC criteria, respectively, it was found that both criteria could predict successfully the mixed-mode ductile fracture of Al 7075-T6 thin sheets without performing elastic–plastic analyses.