The strain energy density failure criterion applied to notched elastic solids

Application of the strain energy density failure criterion is made to plane notch problems, where the crack now becomes a special case of a more generalized approach to failure. The specific case considered is that of the plane elliptical cavity under remote tension and compression. Both failure loads and fracture trajectories are discussed. It is shown that an additional characteristic dimension provides satisfactory agreement of the theory with available data. Finally, known characteristics of fracture trajectories from a notch tip are shown to be predicted for unstable fracture conditions.