Brittle failure of blunt V-shaped notch under mode I loading.

• The fracture loads of blunt V-shaped notches are investigated by two criteria. • The fracture load can be evaluated by the generalized notch SIF or maximum stress. • The mean stress criterion is effective in evaluating brittle fracture of blunt V-shaped notches. In the previous paper of the authors (Chen and Fan, 2019), the fracture evaluation of the U-shaped notches, which refer specifically to the V-shaped notches with the notch opening angle γ = 0 , has been investigated in details. In the present study, the evaluation technique of fracture loads for blunt V-shaped notches is investigated by using the mean stress criterion and the Filippi's stress equation. It is found that the conclusions obtained in the previous study for the U-shaped notches with γ = 0 can also apply to the V-shaped notches with γ ≠ 0. Under certain geometric conditions the fracture loads of blunt V-shaped notches can be evaluated not only by the generalized notch stress intensity factor K IC V , R , but also by the maximum stress at the notch root σ maxC . Both the values of K IC V , R / K IC and σ maxC / σ C can be expressed by a function of ρ / (K IC / σ C) 2 . The geometric conditions can be estimated from the condition that the mean stress over the control region in the actual specimens can be approximately evaluated by Filippi's stress equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]