Determination of NSIFs and coefficients of higher order terms for sharp notches using finite element method

An overdeterministic method was used for calculating the Notch Stress Intensity Factors (NSIFs) as well as the coefficients of the higher order terms for structures containing sharp notches. The series solution of displacement fields around the notch tip was fitted to a large number of nodal displacements obtained from finite element analysis. An over-determined set of simultaneous linear equations was then derived and the nodal displacements reduced to a small set of unknown coefficients by employing the concept of the least-squares method. The efficiency of the proposed method was assessed through analyzing several notched specimens under pure mode I, pure mode II and mixed modes I/II loading. The accuracy of the NSIFs and the coefficients of higher order terms was evaluated by comparing them with the results available in the literature, or the results obtained by the boundary collocation method. While the presented method is simple, it yields very good results.