1991 年 40 巻 449 号 p. 224-227
Use of some mixed mode fracture criterion becomes necessary when reliability evaluation of ceramic components is made based on flaw distributions, since most components are subjected to multi-axial stresses in service conditions. The maximum energy release rate criterion is one of the wellknown criteria for mixed mode fracture. In the case of a mixed mode crack, the energy release rate, G, takes a maximum value, Gmax, when the crack extends in a certain direction. The maximum energy release rate criterion (Gmax criterion) assumes that unstable crack extension occurs when Gmax reaches a certain critical value. Unfortunately, a reliable analytical expression of Gmax in terms of the stress intensity factors has not yet been obtained. This is an obstacle to analytical treatments based on Gmax criterion. Thus, it was attempted in this paper to derive an analytical expression of Gmax for a two-dimensional crack. The approximate analytical expression Gmax=(KI2+3KII2+KI√KI2+6KII2)/2E' was obtained, where KI(>0) and KII are the mode I and mode II stress intensity factors, and E'=E for plane stress and E'=E/(1-ν2) for plane strain with E and ν being usual elastic constants. From comparison of this expression with the exact value of Gmax evaluated numerically, it was shown that the proposed expression is quite accurate. It was also shown that the expression of Gmax given by Hellen and used by Lamon for reliability evaluation of ceramic components is not adequate.