Following the line of previous work ([1] and [2]), special local damage based rupture elements have been developed that predict the failure load in an elastic continuum and, further, are also capable of representing the process of failure initiation and propagation in the presence of plasticity. It has been shown that in the case of an elastic continuum this approach is an alternative to conventional LEFM techniques with the advantage of presenting progressive propagation and direct calculation of the failure load. Investigations have revealed that with elasto-plastic continuum, the unloading process cannot be controlled independently; it is also governed by the continuum conditions. The model has been verified through its application to a pre-cracked compact tension specimen model. The predicted failure loads are found to be in very good agreement with the experimental results obtained in the earlier research.

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