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Fracture mechanics is a continuum mechanics approach to describe cracks in materials. There are plenty of fracture mechanics concepts such as linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), elastic-plastic fracture mechanics (E-PFM), dynamic, the time-dependent fracture mechanics that are limited to specific loading conditions, crack geometry (length) and material behaviour. Current paper evaluates applicability of a crack driving force in context of LEFM and E-PFM for arbitrary (quasi-static) loading and yielding conditions to help engineers choose appropriate fracture mechanics concept for their applications.

For the description of cracks in rolling/sliding contacts many overlapping interactions has to be regarded and most of them are non-linear phenomena. This paper emphasis the aspect of plasticity around cyclically loaded shear cracks which is omitted very often in the common literature. It is shown that this plasticity can be calculated and regarded in computed crack driving forces; however, the problem is not solved after doing this. It is a first estimate only to regard the crack driving force calculated in the finite elements surrounding the crack tip as a relevant measure.