Due to the complexity of the engineering problems, it is difficult to obtain directly the stress field around the crack tip by theoretical derivation. In this paper, the hybrid method is employed to calculate full-field stress around the crack tip in uni-axially loaded finite width tensile plate, using the displacement data of given points calculated by finite element method as input data. The method uses complex variable formulations involving conformal mappings and analytical continuity. In order to accurately compare calculated fringes with experimental ones, both actual and reconstructed photoelastic fringe patterns are two times multiplied and sharpened by digital image processing. Reconstructed fringes by hybrid method are quite comparable to actual fringes. The experimental results indicate that Mode I stress intensity factor analyzed by the hybrid method are accurate within a few percent compared with ones obtained by empirical equation and finite element analysis.
