Fracture Analysis of Medium Density Polyethylene.

The paper deals with the application of the reference stress method (RSM) to estimate the J and C integrals of cracked thick-walled metal as well as medium density polyethylene (MDPE) pipes. Unlike the existing solutions, the newly developed analytical approximations of the plastic limit pressure and J-integral are applicable to a wide range of crack dimensions. Based on the experimental data from literature and analogy between plasticity and creep, the paper discusses a method used to develop the efficient computational strategy for modeling creep fracture mechanisms by slow crack growth in a MDPE pipes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]