Study of elastic behaviour of plates containing cracks by finite element analysis

This work applies finite element analysis very simply to cracked plates. An infinite plate and a finite plate, both with a central crack, are considered to study their elastic behaviour and some fracture mechanics concepts, such as the geometry factor and the fracture toughness. These magnitudes are calculated by means of finite element methods and the results are in very good agreement with the established theory, which proves that the finite element approach is very appropriate. The fracture toughness fraction is defined and calculated for a finite plate to predict its failure.