Size effects in the transition region and the beginning of the upper shelf for ferritic steels

The determination of a characteristic fracture toughness value for ferritic steels in the ductile‐to‐brittle transition regime becomes difficult due to the scatter observed in the results. As the temperature increases, ductile mechanisms become more active and sometimes no brittle fracture occurs. Close to the upper shelf, and contrary to what happens when only cleavage occurs, the scatter diminishes as the temperature increases, and it is also size‐dependent: more scatter is found for larger sizes than for smaller specimens. An interpretation of the phenomena that takes place from the transition region up to the beginning of the upper shelf is presented in this work. This interpretation explains the difference in scatter and toughness among different sample sizes, and it also validates that the beginning of the upper shelf is dependent on the size of the sample or structure. Results from the Euro Dataset Round Robin were used to validate this interpretation.     

Alloy design for fracture resistance

Several methods for improving the strength of metallic materials are available and correlations between strength and various microstructural features have been established. The purpose of this paper is to review parallel developments favouring improved fracture resistance. Resistance to fracture in monotonie loading, cyclic loading and when fracture is environment-aided have been considered in steels, aluminium alloys and anisotropic materials. Finally, the question of optimising alloy behaviour is discussed.     

Fatigue fracture toughness of metals

The paper considers the peculiarities of fatigue crack propagation and final fracture of metals under cyclic loading. It is shown that the value of the fatigue fracture toughness of steels in an embrittled state is appreciably lower than that of the fracture toughness under static loading. A model of the transition from stable to unstable fatigue crack propagation is justified.     

A new method for determining the fracture toughness of main pipeline steels

One of the fundamental aims of fracture mechanics is to define fracture toughness K_IC of a material. Hence, the ASTM E399 standard was developed. However according to the standard, large‐sized specimens are required to determine the fracture toughness of low alloy carbon steels. ASTM E1921 standard was developed on the fracture toughness of ferritic steels. In this study, a new method was proposed to determine the fracture toughness of ferritic steels. The purpose of the present paper is to compare the results of the method with the experimental results. Two steels that are used in gas and oil main pipelines were investigated in this study.     

Precracking high speed steel for fracture toughness testing

Fracture toughness testing of high speed steel, which has a high fatigue strength and low fracture toughness, is a problem because fatigue cracks are difficult, or impossible, to initiate at a maximum fatigue stress intensity of $\text{0.7 K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>IC</mtext>}}$, as specified. A method of initiation by the use of an electric pen and subsequent fast propagation by fatigue has been studied and a procedure developed to give accurate, reproducible values of $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>IC</mtext>}}$ on subsequent fracture toughness testing.     

The flexural strength and fracture toughness of reactive powder concrete in response to changing fibre size and pre‐setting pressure

In this study, steel fibre mixtures having different compositions of fibres with various sizes were used in reactive powder concrete. The mixture composition, which would present the best performance during the flexural tests, was determined. Pre‐setting pressure tests at six different magnitudes (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 MPa) were conducted on the freshly prepared reactive powder concrete mixture having the determined mixture composition. The 30‐mm‐long steel fibres mixed at a ratio of 4.5% provided the highest flexure strength and the fracture toughness during these tests. The highest pre‐setting pressure was attained at 25 MPa and the flexural strength of the sample increased by 117% reaching 28.07 MPa at that pre‐setting pressure.     

High cycle fatigue characteristics of 2124-T851 aluminum alloy

The fatigue crack growth rate, fracture toughness and fatigue S-N curve of 2124-T851 aluminum alloy at high cycle fatigue condition were measured and fatigue fracture process and fractography were studied using optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that at room temperature and R = 0.1 conditions, the characteristics of fatigue fracture could be observed. Under those conditions, the fatigue strength and the fracture toughness of a 2124-T851 thick plate is 243 MPa and 29.64 MPa · m^1/2, respectively. At high cycle fatigue condition, the higher the stress amplitude, the wider the space between fatigue striations, the faster the rate of fatigue crack developing and going into the intermittent fracture area, and the greater the ratio between the intermittent fracture area and the whole fracture area.     

A modified specimen for evaluating the mixed mode fracture toughness of adhesives

This article introduces a specimen geometry that allows the separation of fracture energy release rates G_I and G_II in adhesively joined beams made of disparate materials. The analysis is based upon a Green's functions formulation for shear deformable beams and circumvents the need to employ finite element computations. The current method results in a system of non-singular integral equations, that can be discretized and reduced to a system of algebraic equations which may be solved by common numerical techniques. The analysis accounts for the dimensions and properties of the adhesive and provides results for a wide range of G_I, G_II and their ratio. Those results agree with finite element computational values to within less than 4%.     

7075T73510合金断裂韧性和疲劳裂纹扩展

研究了７０７５Ｔ７３５１０合金的断裂韧性和疲劳裂纹扩展行为,分析不同方向性能差异的原因。结果表明：合金的断裂韧性依赖于取向。Ｌ－Ｔ方向的断裂韧性值远大于Ｔ－Ｌ方向。而其疲劳裂纹扩展速率对应力比更敏感,无论Ｔ－Ｌ还是Ｌ－Ｔ方向,Ｒ＝０．６时的ＦＣＧＲ值是Ｒ＝０．１时的二倍左右。在相同应力比和较小的△Ｋ下,两个方向的ＦＣＧＲ值基本无差异。文中认为：呈带分或串状分布的杂质相对Ｔ－Ｌ向怕裂韧性影响较大。     

变电站阻波器吊环断裂原因分析

变电站阻波器吊环在受力较小的情况下异常断裂。为查清断裂原因,运用宏观检验、扫描电镜及能谱分析、金相检验等方法进行了深入探讨。结果表明：吊环为疲劳断裂,断裂源位于吊环外表面,该部位同时存在机械损伤及应力集中;材料中较多的夹杂物及晶间析出物进一步降低了材料的疲劳强度,以上诸因素共同作用,最终导致了吊环的断裂失效。     

The effect of adding 10% of barium sulphate radiopacifier on the mechanical behaviour of acrylic bone cement

Barium sulphate (BaSO₄) is commonly used in bone cement as a radiopacifier. The addition of the BaSO₄ to the polymeric matrix may cause a decrease in the mechanical properties of the cement. In this work, the effect of adding 10%w/w BaSO₄ to a plain polymethylmethacrylate based bone cement was evaluated in terms of endurance limit, fatigue crack propagation and fracture toughness. A lower endurance limit (?13%), as well as a lower fracture toughness (?13%), was found for the radiopaque bone cement in comparison with the plain formulation. Conversely, a substantial decrease (66%) in the crack growth rate was found due to the radiopacifier addition. These are all effects that reflect the weakening of the polymeric matrix, caused by the addition of the radiopacifier.     

The effect of gentamicin sulphate on the fracture properties of a manually mixed bone cement

This work investigates the effect of adding gentamicin, an antibiotic, on the fracture properties of bone cement. Endurance limit, fatigue crack propagation and fracture toughness were determined for a polymethylmethacrylate‐based cement, containing 10% w/w of barium sulphate as radiopacifying agent, and the same formulation modified by the addition of 4.22% w/w of gentamicin sulphate. The antibiotic does not affect the endurance limit nor the fracture toughness of the material. There are significant differences in the parameters of the Paris' law fitting the crack growth data: once the main crack is nucleated, it initially propagates at a lower rate but thereafter accelerates faster in gentamicin loaded bone cement. Despite this difference, the growth rate for the same stress intensity factor remains of the same order of magnitude in both formulations. The addition of 4.22% w/w of gentamicin sulphate to radiopaque bone cement has a negligible total effect on the fracture properties of the material.     

陶瓷材料高温断裂韧性评价

采用四点弯曲实验方法,研究了高温下不同测试方法（ＣＮ法、ＳＥＮＢ法和ＳＥＰＢ法）对工业用重结晶ＳｉＣ陶瓷材料断裂韧性的影响。通过实验发现：在低温下（Ｔ〈８００℃）不同测试方法所获得的ＫＩＣ不同,ＣＮ法测得ＫＩＣ偏大,而ＳＥＰＢ法测得的ＫＩＣ则偏小,同时,三种测试方法获得的ＫＩＣ随温度的升高变化率都不明显。在高温下（Ｔ〉８００℃）,不同的测试方法其ＫＩＣ随温度的和蔼同变化趋势不同,ＣＮ法ＫＩＣ随温度的升高而增大,ＳＥＮＢ法ＫＩＣ随温度的升高而减小,ＳＥＰＢ法ＫＩＣ随温度的升高则基本无变化。     

Determination of the fracture properties of metallic materials using pre‐cracked small punch tests

In this paper, the use of pre‐cracked small punch test (p‐SPT) miniature specimens to obtain the fracture parameters of a material is presented. The geometry of the specimens used was square of 10 × 10 mm with a thickness of 0.5 mm. An initial crack‐like notch was created in the SPT specimens by means of a laser micro‐cutting technique. In order to obtain the fracture parameters from p‐SPT specimens three different approaches have been considered here. The first approach is based on the crack tip opening displacement concept, the second is based on the measure of the fracture energy using the area under the load–displacement curve for different crack sizes, and the third approach is based on the direct numerical simulation of the p‐SPT specimen and the numerical calculation of the J‐integral. In order to study the crack initiation in these p‐SPT specimens, several interrupted tests and the subsequent scanning electron microscope analysis have been carried out. The results indicate that p‐SPT specimens can be used as an alternative method for determining the fracture properties of a material in those cases where there is not enough material to undertake conventional fracture tests. For these p‐SPT specimens, the multi‐specimen method for the determination of the fracture energy is the most promising approach. The results indicate that this small specimen size allows the value of the material toughness, under low constraint conditions to be obtained.     

TC4-DT钛合金电子束焊接接头的损伤容限性能

针对TC4-DT钛合金厚截面锻件开展了电子束焊接工艺实验和接头力学性能测试与分析.结果表明,TC4-DT钛合金不仅具有良好的焊接工艺特性,而且电子束焊接接头具有高的损伤容限性能.接头的断裂韧性优于母材并且比母材有更高的疲劳裂纹扩展抗力.     

Fracture behaviour of cracked carbon nanotube‐based polymer composites: Experiments and finite element simulations

This paper studies the fracture behaviour of cracked carbon nanotube (CNT)‐based polymer composites by a combined numerical–experimental approach. Tensile tests were conducted on single‐edge cracked plate specimens of CNT/polycarbonate composites at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K), and the critical loads for fracture instabilities were determined. Elastic–plastic finite element simulations of the tests were then performed to evaluate the J‐integrals corresponding to the experimentally determined critical loads. Scanning electron microscopy examinations were also made on the specimen fracture surfaces, and the fracture mechanisms of the CNT‐based composites were discussed.