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Path-independent integrals of linear plane elasticity are treated analytically and numerically. The application of the integrals and their physical significance in terms of energy-release rates are illustrated with a closed-form solution of the hole dislocation-interaction problem. It is shown that the use of the L and Mintegrals, besides J~ and J2, is beneficial to the numerical investigation of cracks under mixed-mode conditions.

A series of laboratory experiments on smooth and side-grooved compact specimens, as well as plates under tension with surface flaws, has been reevaluated by means of three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite-element analyses. Particular emphasis is laid on the calculation of the local crack-tip loading parameter, J, and of the local constraint factor, q. These parameters are correlated with experimental findings concerning initiation and stable crack propagation. A first-guess correlation between q and the slope of J(Δa) curves is established.