6. Summary of results

The objectives of this test have been achieved:

• The aim is to validate the consideration of contact on the lips of the crack with quadratic elements (and Barsoum elements). The results are better compared to those obtained with a linear mesh.

• This test shows the value of method \(«G\mathrm{-}\mathit{thêta}»\) for calculating stress intensity factors. This energetic method has the advantage of being more general than the one using the displacement jump (POST_K1_K2_K3) because it can be applied to cracks of any geometry, while POST_K1_K2_K3 is restricted to plane cracks. In addition, method \(«G\mathrm{-}\mathit{thêta}»\) gives better results (compared to the analytical solution) than POST_K1_K2_K3 for the same linear mesh.