From Neuber's elementary volume to Kitagawa and Atzori's diagrams: An interpretation based on local energy

Dealing with sharp V-shaped notches, some recent papers have discussed the possibility of using the strain energy averaged over an ad hoc control volume to predict the static strength of material with a brittle or quasi-brittle behavior as well as the fatigue behavior of welded joints. This approach is applied here to components weakened by cracks and blunt V-shaped notches. As a result, Kitagawa and Atzori's diagrams reported in the literature to summarise fatigue limit of cracked and notched components are immediately derived, leading to a natural transition between the Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics and the Linear Notch Mechanics.