CRITERIA OF FRACTURE INITIATION AT HYDRIDES IN ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS .2. SHALLOW NOTCH

A general theoretical framework for DHC initiation, described in part I, is applied to the case of a shallow notch under tensile stress. A simple method of calculating the notch tip stress profile and the maximum normal stress sigma(yy)max that was developed previously is used to estimate the critical hydride length for DHC initiation. Comparison of the theoretical predictions of crack initiation with experimental data shows good agreement. It is suggested that a complete theoretical prediction of DHC initiation at blunt notches would require a combination of the proposed fracture criterion combined with the solution of a diffusion calculation.