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The paper presents a large bulk of experimental data from U- and Vnotchedbeams under mixed mode loading. The reanalysis concern data from specimensmade of PMMA tested by the authors at -60°C as well as other data taken from therecent literature. The synthesis is carried out by using the mean value of the strainenergy density (SED) over a given control volume.Afterwards the problem of the crack initiation angle for U–notches is analysed on thebasis of the maximum principal stress located on the notch edge, outside the notchbisector line. Finally, dealing with cracked and very sharp V-notches subjected tomixed mode (I+II), predictions based on the maximum tangential stress or the minimumstrain energy density criteria are compared. The influence of the singular and nonsingularstress terms on the crack initiation angle is discussed.