Combined mode I-mode III fracture of a high strength low-alloy steel

Criterion for initiation of cracks under mixed-mode I + III loading

“…For example, the Handbook of Stress Intensity Factors (Murakami 1987) contains stress intensity factor calculations for various geometrical and loading conditions. Such solutions are useful in characterizing the fracture toughness of materials under combined mode loading; this is illustrated in the works of Schroth et al (1987) and Davenport and Smith (1993), among others, who determine critical values of K c I , 0, K c III at which crack initiation occurs, independently of the development of the fracture surface and path. Such characterization is valuable in providing combined mode crack initiation criterion for use in engineering applications, but does not provide any insight into the growth of cracks and the evolution of the crack surface.…”