Study of the fracture toughness by finite element methods

In this work, the critical stress intensity factor of a centre cracked plat e is analysed by finite element methods to study its dependence upon the ge ometry of the plate and to search under what conditions it can be identifie d with the fracture toughness of the material. This will be useful for a be tter understanding of the theoretical concept of fracture toughness and hel p to determine its magnitude both by finite element procedures and experime ntally. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.