Evaluation of different fracture-mechanical J-integral initiation values with regard to their usability in the safety assessment of components

Abstract Determining fracture-mechanical material characteristic values on the basis of the J -integral is described and stipulated in a variety of standards and guidelines. The individual specifications differ in terms of procedure when determining the characteristic values and, therefore, also in terms of the meaningfulness of the results. This paper presents the different procedures, suggested in the course of the development of test methods in the field of elastic—plastic fracture mechanics, used to characterize crack initiation behaviour with regard to their features as material characteristic values and their usability in the safety assessment of components.