Title screen

[References: p. 347-348 (27 tit.)]

A new method is proposed to determine fracture toughness of structural materials according to the test data of non-standard small-size chevron-notched specimens. The analytical expressions are obtained being based and derived from the constitutive equations of engineering fracture mechanics to determine the crack-driving force (specific fracture energy) and the stress intensity factor. There are no empirical constants and phenomenological dependencies in the calculations. The method allows us to exclude the periodic unloading of the specimen applied. All necessary calculation parameters are determined according to the experimental data. The method allows us to use the low-power test machines and does not require large amounts of material for the production of specimens, as well as fatigue pre-cracking. The method allows us to certify fracture toughness of the material without restrictions regarding the amount of plastic deformation and in front of the crack tip and in the specimen as a whole. The examples are given to calculate the fracture toughness criteria for a number of structural materials characterized by the ability to plastic deformation and by the Young’s modulus value. The compliance of the calculated fracture toughness characteristics with test data of standard methods is observed.