Theoretical and experimental investigation of brittle fracture in V-notched PMMA specimens under compressive loading

The aim of the present investigation was twofold. First, to prepare a new set of experimental data on brittle fracture of blunt V-notches under compression and second to develop stress-based criteria for predicting the compressive notch fracture toughness of blunt V-notches. A new test specimen, called V-notch stepped cottage (VSC) specimen, made of PMMA was proposed to perform fracture experiments under compression. Two brittle fracture criteria, namely the point-stress (PS) and the mean-stress (MS) criteria, were also developed to estimate the experimental results. It was demonstrated that the experimental results could be satisfactorily predicted by using the two criteria.