Relation between Effectiveness of the Non-Linear Crack Mechanics and Crack Length

Abstract

The non-linear crack mechanics (NLCM) was proposed by one of the authors, which gives a method for predicting the strength of a real object from the strength of specimens under large scale yielding condition. In NLCM, the plastic strain at a crack tip obtained by FEM is used as a measure of mechanical severity. In this study, the relation between the effectiveness of NLCM and the crack length is discussed based on FEM analyses of strips with a center crack subjected to tension. As the result, it was confirmed that NLCM is an effective way for predicting the strength of structures with a wide range of crack length a/w=0.1∼0.9 (a: half crack length, w: half width of strip).