A new version of the Neuber rule accounting for the influence of the notch opening angle for out-of-plane shear loads

The paper deals with nonlinear stress and strain distributions at the root of sharp and rounded notches with different opening angles under antiplane shear loading and small scale yielding. In order to make an easier comparison with the Neuber rule, the material is thought of as obeying the particular nonlinear law used in the past just by Neuber. ving the linear differential equation resulting from the use of the hodograph transformation, a new relationship linking linear and nonlinear stress and strain concentrations is found. The relationship is written also in terms of the relevant notch stress intensity factors. In contrast with the Neuber rule, this relationship strictly depends on the notch opening angle. Even when the notch opening angle is zero, it does not match the Neuber Rule, but results in an additional factor 2 which is in agreement with Hult and McClintock’s solution when the notch tip radius tends to zero and the notch becomes a crack.