Evolution of Plasticity in Relation to Ductile Tearing in 304(L) Stainless Steel

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Wasylyk ◽  
Andrew H. Sherry
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Plastic Zone ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Plastic Zone Size ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Image Correlation ◽  
Ductile Tearing ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Unloading Compliance

In the structural integrity assessment of structures containing defects, ductile tearing and plastic collapse are treated as competing failure mechanisms. The validity of fracture toughness measurements in test specimens is limited by the development of plasticity ahead of the crack tip. Compact Tension (CT) specimens are commonly used to characterise the ductile fracture toughness. Two sizes of CT specimens (thickness 25 and 15mm) were tested using the unloading compliance technique and the J-Resistance curve characterised. Concurrently, the development of the plastic zone was monitored on the surface of specimens using digital image correlation. This enabled the plastic zone size to be correlated with the evolution of crack growth. It was found that in both specimens no crack growth had occurred prior to plastic yielding of the un-cracked ligament on the specimen surface.

Size Effects on Fracture in Uncontained Plasticity Conditions in 304(L) Stainless Steel

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Wasylyk ◽  
Andrew H. Sherry
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Plastic Zone ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Plastic Zone Size ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Specimen Size ◽  
Image Correlation ◽  
Local Approach ◽  
Integrity Assessment

In the structural integrity assessment of structures containing defects, ductile tearing and plastic collapse are treated as competing failure mechanisms. The validity of fracture toughness measurements in test specimens is limited by the development of plasticity ahead of the crack tip. Compact Tension (CT) specimens are commonly used to characterise the ductile fracture toughness. Three sizes of CT specimens (thickness 25, 15 and 10mm) were tested using the unloading compliance technique and the J-Resistance curve characterised. Concurrently, the development of the plastic zone was monitored on the surface of specimens using digital image correlation. This enabled the plastic zone size to be correlated with the evolution of crack growth. It was found that in all specimens no crack growth occurred prior to plastic yielding of the un-cracked ligament on the specimen surface. Furthermore, a reduction in initiation and tearing toughness was observed with reduction in specimen size. The Rice and Tracey local approach was developed to predict the specimen size effect.

Determination of Crack-Initiation in Fracture Toughness Testing Using an Experimental Key-Curve Methodology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Pothana ◽  
G. Wilkowski ◽  
S. Kalyanam ◽  
J. K. Hong ◽  
C. J. Sallaberry
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Electric Potential ◽  
Crack Mouth Opening Displacement ◽  
Ductile Tearing ◽  
Curve Method ◽  
Unloading Compliance

Abstract A new approach was implemented to confirm the start of ductile tearing relative to assessments by other methods such as direct-current Electric Potential (d-c EP) method in coupon specimens. This approach was developed on the Key-Curve methodology by Ernst/Joyce and is similar to the ASTM E-1820 Load Normalization procedure used to determine J-R curves directly from load versus Load-Line Displacement (LLD) record of the test specimen. It is consistent with Deformation Plasticity relationships for fully plastic behavior. Using this Experimental Key-Curve method, crack initiation can be determined directly from load versus LLD data or load versus Crack-Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) obtained from a fracture test without the need for additional instrumentation required for crack initiation detection. It is based on the fact that plastic deformation of homogeneous metals at the crack tip follows a power-law function until the crack tearing initiates. Crack tearing initiation is determined at the point where the power-law fit to the load versus plastic part of CMOD or LLD curve deviates from the total experimental load versus plastic-CMOD or LLD curve. The procedure for fitting of the data requires some care to be exercised such that the fitted data is beyond the elastic region and early small-scale plastic region of the Load-CMOD or Load-LLD curve but include data before crack initiation. An iterative regression analysis was done to achieve this, which is shown in this paper. The iterative fitting in this region typically results with a coefficient of determination (R2) values that are greater than 0.990. This method can be either used in conjunction with other methods such as direct-current Electric Potential (d-c EP) or unloading-compliance methods as a secondary (or primary) confirmation of crack tearing initiation (and even for crack growth); or can be used alone when other methods cannot be used. Furthermore, when using instrumentation methods for determining crack-initiation such as d-c EP method in a fracture toughness test, it is good to have a secondary confirmation of the initiation point in case of instrumentation malfunction or high signal to noise ratio in the measured d-c EP signals. In addition, the Experimental Key-Curve procedure provides relatively smooth data for the fitting procedure, while unloading-compliance data when used to get small crack growth values frequently has significant variability, which is part of the reason that JIC by ASTM E1820 is determined using an offset with some growth past the very start of ductile tearing. In this work, the Experimental Key-Curve method had been successfully used to determine crack tearing initiation and demonstrate the applicability for different fracture toughness specimen geometries such as SEN(T), and C(T) specimens. In all the cases analyzed, the Experimental Key-Curve method gave consistent results that were in good agreement with other crack tearing initiation measuring method such as d-c EP but seemed to result in less scatter.

Improved Incremental J-Integral Equations for Determining Crack Growth Resistance Curves

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian-Kui Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Mechanics ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Integral Equations ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Test Procedure ◽  
Fracture Toughness Test ◽  
J Integral ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Growth Increments ◽  
Unloading Compliance

The J-integral resistance curve is the most important material properties in fracture mechanics that is often used for structural integrity assessment. ASTM E1820 is a commonly accepted fracture toughness test standard for measuring the critical value of J-integral at the onset of ductile fracture and J-R curve during ductile crack tearing. The recommended test procedure is the elastic unloading compliance method. For a stationary crack, the J-integral is simply calculated from the area under the load-displacement record using the η-factor equation. For a growing crack, the J-integral is calculated using the incremental equation proposed by Ernst et al. (1981, “Estimations on J-integral and Tearing Modulus T From a Single Specimen Test Record,” Fracture Mechanics: Thirteenth Conference, ASTM STP 743, pp. 476–502) to consider the crack growth correction. For the purpose of obtaining accurate J-integral values, ASTM E1820 requires small and uniform crack growth increments in a J-R curve test. In order to allow larger crack growth increments in an unloading compliance test, an improved J-integral estimation is needed. Based on the numerical integration techniques of forward rectangular, backward rectangular, and trapezoidal rules, three incremental J-integral equations are developed. It demonstrates that the current ASTM E1820 procedure is similar to the forward rectangular result, and the existing Garwood equation is similar to the backward rectangular result. The trapezoidal result has a higher accuracy than the other two, and thus it is proposed as a new formula to increase the accuracy of a J-R curve when a larger crack growth increment is used in testing. An analytic approach is then developed and used to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed incremental equations using single-edge bending and compact tension specimens for different hardening materials. It is followed by an experimental evaluation using actual fracture test data for HY80 steel. The results show that the proposed incremental J-integral equations can obtain much improved results of J-R curves for larger crack growth increments and are more accurate than the present ASTM E1820 equation.

Crack Initiation and Propagation in Static Loaded Fracture Mechanics Tests in Steels Containing Atomic Hydrogen

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa L. Moore ◽  
Menno Hoekstra ◽  
Alex Pargeter
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Fracture Mechanics ◽  
Crack Initiation ◽  
Plastic Zone ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Extension ◽  
Low Alloy Steels ◽  
Ductile Tearing ◽  
Initiation Fracture Toughness ◽  
Stable Tearing

Abstract Hydrogen is well known to have a detrimental influence on the ductility of low alloy steels, reducing the fracture toughness. Standard test methods to characterize fracture toughness of steels in terms of ductile tearing resistance curves have not been developed to account for any hydrogen-driven contribution to the crack extension, Δa. Simply plotting J or CTOD against Δa is not necessarily appropriate for defining the initiation fracture toughness for tests performed in a hydrogen-charging environment. This paper explores a method to further analyse experimental data collected during fracture toughness tests, which allows the contribution of plasticity (i.e. when blunting precedes ductile tearing) to be considered separately from the initiation of crack extension (which could be by stable tearing and/or by hydrogen-driven crack extension). The principle is based on the assumption that a crack growing by a hydrogen-driven mechanism in a quasi-static fracture mechanics test performed in environment may not be associated with significant ductility in the plastic zone (which would accompany crack growth by stable tearing). The analytical method presented in this paper compares the different points of deviation from linear behavior of the components of J, to isolate the effects of ductility within the plastic zone from pure crack extension. In this way, the point of crack initiation can be defined in order to determine the relevant initiation fracture toughness; whether by blunting and stable tearing, or by hydrogen-driven crack growth. This approach offers a screening method which is illustrated using examples of fracture mechanics specimens tested in environments of varying severity (air, seawater with cathodic protection, and sour service). This method can be used to identify the relevant definition of initiation fracture toughness while allowing for a combination of ductile tearing, hydrogen-driven crack extension, or both, to be present during the test.

scholarly journals Constraint Assessment for Cruciform Specimens With a Semi-Elliptical Crack

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupeng Cao ◽  
Guian Qian ◽  
Yinbiao He ◽  
Yuh J. Chao
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Material Property ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Biaxial Loading ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Biaxial Stress ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Shallow Crack ◽  
Crack Tip Constraint

A real crack to be assessed in a RPV is generally a shallow crack subjected to biaxial far-field stresses. However, the fracture toughness Kc or Jc, which is an important material property for the structural integrity assessment of RPV containing cracks, are usually tested on deep cracked compact tension [C(T)] or single-edged bending [SE(B)] specimens under uniaxial loading. The fracture toughness data do not reflect the realistic biaxial loading state that the cracks are subjected to. Cruciform bending [CR(B)] specimen is therefore developed to simulate the biaxial stress state. In this paper, a series of finite element (FE) simulations of the CR(B) specimens containing different semi-elliptical cracks are conducted. Stress-strain curves of materials of different yield strength and hardening behavior reflecting the variation in the mechanical properties of RPV steels due to aging or temperature change are implemented into the finite element models. The J-A2 theory is applied to analyze the crack tip constraint. The results show that the biaxial effect is material property dependent and affected by load levels.

scholarly journals Constraint Assessment for Specimens Tested Under Uniaxial and Biaxial Loading Conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupeng Cao ◽  
Guian Qian ◽  
Yinbiao He ◽  
Markus Niffenegger ◽  
Yuh J. Chao
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Material Property ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Biaxial Loading ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Test Method ◽  
Biaxial Stress ◽  
Operating Life ◽  
Integrity Assessment

In structural integrity analysis of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), a postulated shallow crack is subjected to biaxial far-field stresses. However, the fracture toughness Kc or Jc, which is an important material property for the structural integrity assessment of RPVs, is usually obtained from testing deeply cracked compact tension (C(T)) or single-edged bending (SE(B)) specimens under uniaxial loading. Thus, the fracture toughness data do not reflect the biaxial loading state that cracks in a RPV are subjected to. Cruciform bending specimen was therefore developed to simulate the biaxial stress state. In this paper, a series of finite element (FE) simulations of the cruciform specimens containing different crack geometries and of different material properties are conducted. The crack tip stress fields are analyzed, and the constraint is investigated using the J–A2 theory. The results show that the biaxial effect is material property dependent which could be useful for the optimization of the test method and the better design of cruciform specimens. The trends about the biaxial loading effect revealed in this study would also be helpful in estimating the safe operating life of RPVs.

Constraint Effect On Fracture Behavior of Underclad Crack in Reactor Pressure Vessel

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Shimodaira ◽  
Tohru Tobita ◽  
Hisashi Takamizawa ◽  
Jinya Katsuyama ◽  
Satoshi Hanawa
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Surface Crack ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Reactor Pressure Vessel ◽  
Local Approach ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Plastic Constraint ◽  
Reactor Pressure

Abstract According to JEAC4206-2016, in the structural integrity assessment of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV), the fracture toughness (KJc) should be higher than the stress intensity factor at the crack tip of a postulated underclad crack (UCC) near the inner surface of the RPV during a pressurized thermal shock event. Previous analytical studies show that the plastic constraint for UCC is lower than that for surface crack. Consequently, the apparent KJc for UCC is expected to be higher than that for surface crack. In this study, we performed three-point bending fracture toughness tests and finite element analyses (FEAs) for RPV steel containing a UCC or a surface crack to quantitatively investigate the effect of cladding on the plastic constraint and subsequent KJc evaluation. From the tests, we found that the apparent KJc for the UCC was considerably higher than that for the surface crack. Such a high KJc could be explained by the lower plastic constraint parameters, such as T-stress and Q-parameter, of the UCC compared with those for the surface crack. Additionally, local approach analysis showed that the KJc for the UCC was significantly higher than the master curve estimated from the fracture toughness tests using compact tension specimens.

Improved Incremental J-Integral Equation for Determining Crack Growth Resistance Curves

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian-Kui Zhu ◽  
Brian N. Leis
Keyword(s):  
Integral Equation ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Test Procedure ◽  
Fracture Toughness Test ◽  
J Integral ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Growth Increments ◽  
Specimen Test ◽  
Unloading Compliance

The J-integral resistance curve is the most important material property used in structural integrity assessment. ASTM E1820 is a commonly used fracture toughness test standard for measuring the critical value of J-integral at the onset of ductile fracture and J-R curve. The recommended test procedure is the elastic unloading compliance method where multiple points are obtained from a single specimen test. For a stationary crack, the J-integral is simply calculated from the area under the load-displacement record using the η-factor equation. For a growing crack, the J-integral is calculated using the incremental equation proposed by Ernst et al. (1981) to consider the crack growth correction. In order to obtain accurate J-integral values, ASTM E1820 requires small and uniform crack growth increments. To allow larger crack growth increments in the unloading compliance test, an improved J-integral estimate equation is needed. Thus, this paper proposes a new incremental J-integral equation for determining J-R curves. An analytic approach is then developed and used to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed incremental equation using single edge bending and compact specimens for different hardening materials. Followed is an experimental evaluation using actual fracture test data for HY80 steel. The results show that the proposed incremental J-integral equation can obtain much improved results of J-R curves for larger crack growth increments, and thus is more accurate than the present ASTM E1820 equation.

The Fracture Toughness of Hardened Tool Steels

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Watt ◽  
Pamela Nadin ◽  
S. B. Biner
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Slow Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Opening ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Testing Procedure ◽  
Tool Steels ◽  
Opening Displacement ◽  
Tempering Temperature ◽  
Toughness Testing

This report details the development of a three-stage fracture toughness testing procedure used to study the effect of tempering temperature on toughness in 01 tool steel. Modified compact tension specimens were used in which the fatigue precracking stage in the ASTM E-399 Procedure was replaced by stable precracking, followed by a slow crack growth. The specimen geometry has been designed to provide a region where slow crack growth can be achieved in brittle materials. Three parameters, load, crack opening displacement, and time have been monitored during the testing procedure and a combination of heat tinting and a compliance equation have been used to identify the position of the crack front. Significant KIC results have been obtained using a modified ASTM fracture toughness equation. An inverse relationship between KIC and hardness has been measured.

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