Fracture Toughness Evaluation in C(T) Specimens With Reduced Out-of-Plane Constraint

Author(s):  
R. S. Kulka ◽  
A. H. Sherry

During fracture toughness testing of C(T) specimens, an important assumption is that the test specimen is highly constrained. This is ensured by testing a deeply cracked specimen, with in-plane and out-of-plane dimensions that are sufficient to guarantee an appropriate level of crack tip stress triaxiality. This condition guarantees that high-constraint fracture toughness values are derived, conservative for use in standard fracture mechanics assessments. In reality, many components have small out-of-plane dimensions (small thicknesses). This often causes a reduction in crack tip constraint of a sufficient amount to increase the effective fracture toughness of the components. However, there is currently limited understanding as to the magnitude of the benefits that could be claimed from out-of-plane constraint loss. Finite element and damage modelling of thin C(T) specimens under different loading conditions has been undertaken, looking at the effects of loss of out-of-plane constraint, to help validate the results of an on-going testing programme. When available, data from testing of thin C(T) specimens could allow the parameters of the damage model, based upon a ductile criterion, to be calibrated. Material resistance to fracture under different situations has been determined, leading to a correlation of toughness to the constraint condition for a nominal set of material parameters.

Author(s):  
R. S. Kulka

During fracture toughness testing of SEN(B) specimens, an important assumption is that the test specimen is highly constrained. This assumption is ensured by the testing of a deeply cracked specimen, with in-plane and out-of-plane dimensions that are sufficient to guarantee an appropriate level of crack tip stress triaxiality. This condition guarantees that high-constraint fracture toughness values are derived, conservative for use in standard fracture mechanics assessments. In reality, many components have small in-plane or out-of-plane dimensions. It is considered that this could cause a reduction in crack tip constraint of a sufficient amount to increase the effective fracture toughness of the components. However, there is currently limited understanding as to the magnitude of the benefits that could be claimed. Finite element analysis of various thin-width SEN(B) specimens has been undertaken. The knowledge gained can be used to develop fracture mechanics methodology for the testing of thin-width specimens and the subsequent derivation of appropriate toughness values.


Author(s):  
J. F. Zarzour ◽  
Y. Dah-Wei ◽  
M. J. Kleinosky

Abstract Single edge notched bars (SENB), in the bending mode, with a/W ratios ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 were examined for fracture toughness in terms of the J-integral approach. The results indicate that for a/W ratios less than 0.3, there is a significant loss of J-dominance. This loss is attributed to the effect of plastic deformation on the cracked face. For a/W ratios greater than 0.3, J-dominance is maintained into the large scale yielding regime. According to the recently developed two-parameter criterion (J,Q), compressive Q-stress was interpreted as an indication of low crack-tip stress triaxiality for shallow cracks, while positive Q-stress was associated with high crack-tip stress triaxiality for deep cracks. For the material properties and specimen geometries considered herein, a fracture toughness locus was constructed in terms of the (J,Q) parameters for each of the a/W ratios. The overall fracture data are in agreement with those predicted by other approaches and provide a rigorous framework for interpreting the effect of loss of crack-tip constraint in elastic-plastic fracture analyses.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.-J. Wang ◽  
Z.-B. Kuang

Micromechanics approach is employed to investigate the constraint effect on post-yield fracture toughness. Relationships between the conventional post-yield fracture toughness values, J1c and δc, and crack tip constraint characterized by the crack tip stress triaxiality are derived on the basis of an improved micromechanics criterion for ductile fracture. Then, new crack tip parameters Jmc and δmc (and associated new criteria for ductile fracture) are proposed, in which the effects of crack tip deformation and constraint are taken into account. Experiments show that both Jmc and δmc are material constant independent of stress state or specimen geometry. They can serve as new post-yield fracture toughness parameters to differentiate the fracture toughness of engineering materials, which provide new approaches for fracture assessments of engineering structures.


Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Meshii

This paper considered the crack-tip constraint and fracture toughness of a semi-elliptical surface crack inside a hollow cylinder that experiences loss of coolant accident (LOCA). The magnitude of the crack-tip constraint was measured by evaluating the in and out of plane T-stress; i.e., T11. Results showed that T11 was negative at the deepest point, and that conservatism can be expected in using the fracture toughness obtained from standard fracture toughness test specimens. Finally, this conservatism was estimated quantitatively by applying a framework to correlate test specimen crack depth effect on fracture toughness with T-stresses.


Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Meshii ◽  
Tomohiro Tanaka

This paper considered the test specimen thickness effect on the fracture toughness of a material Jc, in the transition temperature region, for CT and 3PB specimen. Framework to correlate test specimen thickness effect on fracture toughness with T33-stress, which is the out-of-plane elastic crack tip constraint parameter, was proposed. The results seemed to indicate a possibility of improving the existing methods to correlate the fracture toughness obtained by test specimen with the toughness of actual cracks found in the structure, in use of T33–stress.


Author(s):  
Hwee-Seung Lee ◽  
Nam-Su Huh ◽  
Ki-Seok Kim

One important element of fracture mechanics assessment in pipelines is how to determine the relevant fracture toughness (J-resistance or CTOD-resistance (crack-tip opening displacement)) for nonlinear fracture mechanics analysis. The general practice using a standard fracture mechanics specimen is known to often provide conservative estimates of toughness due to differences in crack-tip constraints between standard specimens and actual components. To improve the accuracy of predicting pipeline failure, various non-standard fracture mechanics specimens have been suggested over the past few decades. Among the several non-standard test specimens, a curved wide-plate in tension is often employed to predict fracture behavior of cracked components, for instance, in gas transportation pipelines. In order to show validity of a curved wide-plate in tension, the fracture toughness values from a full-scale pipeline test have been compared with those from a curved wide-plate in tension, and crack-tip constraints of a curved wide-plate in tension have also been compared with those of actual pipelines or other specimens during last decades. It is well known that a crack-tip constraint of test specimens, including curved wide-plates in tension, depends on many geometric and material parameters, for instance, crack length, thickness and width of specimen and material’s hardening characteristic. Thus, in order to obtain relevant fracture resistance from a curved wide-plate in tension representing accurate crack-tip constraint of pipeline of interest, variations of crack-tip constraints of curved wide-plates in tension according to various in-plane and out-of-plane constraint conditions should systematically be quantified. In the present study, systematic 3-dimensional finite element analyses attempt to investigate the effect of in-plane and out-of-plane parameters on crack-tip constraints of a curved wide-plate in tension.


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