Assessment of notched Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubular beams using the theory of critical distances and finite element analysis

This paper combines the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to provide estimations of fracture loads in Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubular beams containing notch-type defects. The methodology is, however, theoretically applicable to any kind of material and component developing a predominant linear-elastic behavior. FEA is used to determine the stress field at the notch tip, which is then combined with one of the TCD failure criteria (the Point Method, PM) to derive the corresponding critical load. The results prove that this methodology provides reasonable predictions of fracture loads.