An engineering method is suggested to calculate the applied load versus crack extension in the elastic-plastic fracture. The condition for an increment of crack extension is set by a critical increment of crack-up opening displacement(CTOD). The ratio of the CTOD increment to the incremental crack extention is a critical crack-tip opening angle(CTOA), assumed to be constant for a material of a given thickness. The Dugdale model of crack-tip deformation in an infinite plate is applied to the method, and a complete solution for crack extension and crack instability is obtained. For finite-size specimens of arbitrary geometry in general yielding, an approximate generalization of the Dugdale model is suggested so that the approximation approaches the small-scale yielding solution in a low applied load and the finite-element solution in a large applied load. Maximum load is calculated so that an applied load attains either a limit load on an unbroken ligament or a peak load during crack extension. The proposed method was applied to three-point bend specimens of a carbon steel SM45C in various sizes. Reasonable agreements are found between calculated maximum loads and experimental failure loads. Therefore, the method can be a viable alternative to the J-R curve approach in the elastic-plastic fracture analysis.