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%.