Notch stress intensity factor and C-integral evaluation for sharp V-notch in power-law creeping solids

Abstract

The characterization of the stress intensity for a sharp V-notch in creeping solids is an important topic as it is a preliminary to evaluate and assess the notch contained structure at elevated temperature, however, it is not investigated in-depth in available literatures. In this paper, the C-integral evaluation for the sharp V-notch in power-law creeping solids is studied and the concept of notch stress intensity factor (NSIF) is extended to the sharp V-notch in creeping materials based on asymptotic solution of sharp V-notch tip field. C-integral of a sharp V-notch tip is demonstrated to be dependent on the integration path away from notch tip regardless of creep extents. A novel path-independent CV-integral is proposed based on the derivation of C-integral and the concept of NSIF for sharp V-notch. A numerical method to determine NSIF as well as CV-integral for sharp V-notch is presented and verified. Typical solutions of NSIF and CV-integral for single edged sharp V-notch specimen are also discussed in this paper. The concept of NSIF and CV-integral presented in this paper is very promising to be extended to characterize fatigue issues in further investigations.