THE GEOMETRY DEPENDENCE OF THE Kr–Lr FAILURE ASSESSMENT CURVE: CRACK AT THE ROOT OF A SHARP GROOVE

Abstract Recent work has highlighted the geometry dependence of the failure assessment curve when it is expressed in terms of normalised stress intensity ( K r ) and normalised limit load ( L r ) parameters. As part of an on-going research programme addressing the behaviour of cracks in the vicinity of stress concentrations, this paper quantifies the geometry dependence of the K r – L r failure assessment curve for the case of a crack at the root of a sharp groove.