It has been reported that cracks at mechanical fastener holes usually nucleate as elliptical corner cracks at the faying surface of the mechanical joints and grow as elliptical arc through cracks after penetrating the opposite surface. The weight function method is an efficient technique to calculate the stress intensity factors fur elliptical cracks using uncracked stress field. In this study the weight function method for three dimensional mixed-mode problem applied to elliptical comer cracks Is modified for elliptical arc through cracks and the stress intensity factors at two surface points of elliptical arc through cracks at mechanical fastener holes are analyzed by the weight function method. This study consists of two parts and in part I , the weight function method for elliptical arc through cracks is developed and verified.