Font Size: 

The availability of analytical expressions is often desirable in fatigue crackinitiation and propagation analyses. In the present paper, approximate analyticalexpressions capable to describe the overall distribution of the maximum principal stressin notched bodies subjected to bending are presented. The formulas reported hererepresent an extension of an analytical complex function approach already presented inthe literature and suitable for describing highly stressed zones surrounding the notchtip. Such an extension, obtained by simply imposing global equilibrium conditions,enables us to increase the range of validity of the principal stress expression, from thenotch tip to the entire ligament width. The accuracy of the new expressions is testedagainst finite element results showing a good agreement.