Estimating the load line displacement of cracked laboratory specimens using the engineering treatment model (ETM)

The Engineering Treatment Model (ETM) provides a means for estimating the load line displacement of a cracked body. Under contained yielding conditions the model uses available linear elastic solutions with an Irwin-type plasticity correction of the crack length. The magnification factor (F/F_y)^1/n describing the material's strain hardening behaviour is applied for extrapolation into the regime of net section yielding. Comparison of ETM estimates with finite element and experimental results shows that the assumptions of the model are realistic.