Application of EMC-J criterion to fracture prediction of U-notched polymeric specimens with nonlinear behaviour

The main purpose of the present research paper is to investigate applicability of a new energy-based failure prediction model, called EMC-J criterion, to predict the critical loads of U-notched polymeric samples having a ductile behaviour and loaded under symmetric 3-point bending. The evaluated polymeric single edge notch bending samples containing U-notches failed by considerable plastic deformations around the notch border, making it inappropriate to directly use classic linear elastic-based formulations. Due to the elastic-plastic behaviour of the tested polymeric material, EMC-J criterion is applied to avoid using complex and extremely time-consuming nonlinear analysis for failure load predictions. Finally, it is shown that EMC-J criterion can provide a good consistency between the experimental and theoretical results with an average discrepancy of about 10%.