Fracture Mechanics Made Easy

Abstract

The R6 method of evaluating the integrity of cracked structures was devised to provide a standardised procedure with the following objectives: to provide a method of analysis for failure avoidance; to be user insensitive; to be relatively simple in application; to be well validated. This required the standardisation of treatment material properties, both tensile and toughness data, as well as developing a standard format of analysis. Some of the background to the procedure is described, paying particular attention to these issues, and how the procedure is applied in practice.