Failure initiation at a blunt V-notch tip under mixed mode loading

A criterion to predict crack onset at a sharp V-notch tip in homogeneous brittle materials under a mixed-mode loading was presented and validated by experimental observations in a previous paper by the authors. This criterion slightly underestimates the experimental loads causing failure which is attributed to a small notch tip radius that blunts the sharp corner. This discrepancy is rigorously analyzed mathematically in this paper by means of matched asymptotics involving 2 small parameters: a micro-crack increment length and the notch tip radius. A correction is brought to the initial prediction and a better agreement is obtained with experiments on PMMA notched specimens.