Section 4.0. Residual Strength
The strength of a structure can be
significantly affected by the presence of a crack and is usually substantially
lower than the strength of the undamaged structure. To prevent catastrophic failure, one must evaluate the load carrying
capacity that will exist in the potentially cracked structure throughout its
expected service life. The load
carrying capacity of a cracked structure is the residual strength of that
structure and it is a function of material toughness, crack size, crack
geometry and structural configuration.