FKM-Richtlinie "Bruchmechanischer Festigkeitsnachweis für Maschinenbauteile"

The German guideline "Fracture Mechanics Proof of Strength for Engineering Components" [1, 2] has been released 2001 as a result of activities sponsored by the Research Committee on Mechanical Engineering (FKM), task group "Component Strength". The guideline describes basics for the integrity assessment of cracked components subjected to static or cyclic loading and provides a step-by-step computational procedure for the use in engineering practice. The guideline was formulated based on a number of national and international reference documents, in particular SINTAP P], R6 [4], BS 7910 [5] and DVS-2401 [6], recent research results and some own key aspects. Since 2004 it is also available in English. The procedures and solutions of the guideline are implemented in the computer program FracSafe [7]. The latest 3rd edition of the guideline (2006) includes several new topics. These allow for the consideration of special effects at cyclic loading, mixed mode loading, dynamic (impact) loading, stress corrosion cracking and probabilistic aspects in fracture mechanics calculations. There is a compendium of stress intensity factors and limit load solutions and a compendium of material data. A lot of examples and case studies are included to demonstrate the application of the procedure to engineering problems. This paper gives an overview of the guideline Ill.