Discussion on three forms of coupled criterion for notch fatigue limit prediction: Comparison between point-wise and averaged stress (energy) criteria

Abstract

In the framework of finite fracture mechanics, two coupled criteria were proposed by Leguillon and Carpinteri, respectively. Leguillon’s criterion uses the point-wise stress criterion, whereas Carpinteri’s criterion uses the averaged stress criterion. Both criteria employ the same incremental energy release rate criterion which can be considered as an averaged energy criterion. Mathematically, the averaged energy criterion can be transformed into an equivalent point-wise criterion. In this paper, a new coupled criterion based on the point-wise stress and energy criteria was proposed. The proposed criterion is equivalent to Carpinteri’s criterion when predicting notch fatigue limits. All the three forms of coupled criteria were checked and compared by a large number of experimental results including V-shaped and central hole specimens. When performing the coupled criteria, power functions derived from finite element analysis were used to express the energy release rate and notch stress distributions. The effect of notch size on the crack extension lengths were investigated.