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.     

Prediction of the Brittle Fracture Toughness of Neutron-Irradiated Reactor Pressure-Vessel Steels. Part 1

The irradiation effect on the temperature dependence of the brittle fracture toughness of reactor pressure-vessel steels is simulated using the probabilistic model for the fracture-toughness prediction, which was proposed by the authors earlier. The paper analyzes the irradiation effect on the parameters controlling the plastic deformation and brittle fracture of reactor pressure-vessel steels. We consider the mechanisms of microcrack nucleation in nonirradiated, irradiated, and post-irradiation-annealed reactor pressure-vessel steels.     

16MnR在韧脆转变区的微观组织与性能研究

利用高分辨率透射电子显微镜和低温装置,对16MnR韧脆转变区不同温度下的晶粒直径,珠光体片层和位错进行了试验研究,结果表明,不同温度下的屈服强度和其相应温度下的当量晶粒直径符合Hall-Petch关系式,位错密度随温度降低的变化是导致屈服强度升高和断裂韧性下孤的主要原因。     

Loading Rates and the Dynamic Initiation Toughness in Brittle Solids

The experimentally determined marked rise of the stress intensity factor required to initiate crack propagation in brittle solids under variably high loading rates, is analyzed. This problem of fracture initiation at the tip of a crack is considered in terms of activating a flaw at some distance away from the tip. By using a semi-infinite crack in an unbounded two-dimensional solid subjected to spatially uniform but temporally varying crack-face pressure, we consider the evolution of stress at the failure initiation site. Fracture initiation is assumed synonymous with attaining a critical stress at the fracture site. The results conform to typical experimental data of dynamic crack initiation in brittle solids.     

Prediction of the Brittle Fracture Toughness of Neutron-Irradiated Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels. Part 2

We apply the proposed model to study the effect of irradiation on the temperature dependence of brittle fracture toughness of 15Kh2MFA steel. We analyze also the influence of irradiation and the content of phosphorus and copper on the brittle fracture toughness. It is demonstrated that the probabilistic model, which is based on a new formulation of the brittle fracture criterion, allows an adequate prediction of the irradiation effect on the fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel steels. Alternative models of prediction of fracture toughness are discussed.     

Comparison of CTOD standards: BS 7448-Part 1 and revised ASTM E1290

Crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) has been calculated using the plastic hinge model with an assumed rotational center since the British Standards Institution (BS) standardized BS5762 in 1979. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) accepted the plastic hinge model and standardized E1290 in 1989. However, ASTM revised E1290 in 2002, and has proposed a conversion from J to CTOD. CTOD-based fracture toughness evaluation has been widely used for the defect assessment of many welded structural components, and two different CTOD calculations could lead to confusion for Fitness-for-Service. In this study, the effects of CTOD testing methodologies on CTOD values were investigated according to round robin tests conducted by the Japan Welding Engineering Society (WES), and the concept of CTOD as a fracture parameter is discussed.     

Enhancement of fracture toughness due to energy screening effectin the early stages of non-elastic failure

A triaxiality‐dependent cohesive zone model for a stationary and a quasistatic crack is proposed. The model is rooted in the mesomechanical approach to Fracture Mechanics and is inspired by the quantum law concerning emission of light, which was postulated by Max Planck at the end of the 19th century. The model provides an extension of the early concepts of Barenblatt, Dugdale and the Bilby–Cotrell–Swinden team. It also incorporates the experimental observations of the pre‐fracture states due to Panin and his school in Tomsk. Relations between micro‐ and macroparameters that characterize the deformation and fracture processes in dissipative media are described in detail. The analysis suggests that the ratio of the ‘true’ work of fracture to the total energy dissipated during the course of the irreversible deformation contained within the end zone can be used as a measure of material resistance to a quasistatically propagating fracture.     

环氧网络结构设计与复合材料增韧的研究

本文以自由体积理论,对BF₃MEA固化环氧网络结构与T_g的关系进行了研究,并分析了组分对网络T_g的贡献,为确定固化剂的影响,对BF₃MEA及DDS固化环氧网络的断裂韧性进行了测试。结果表明,DDS固化体系的韧性要比BF₃MEA固化的相应的环氧网络的高。根据理论分析及实验结果,对复合材料基体的网络结构进行了重新设计,在提高复合材料层间韧性的同时保证其耐热性不会下降。实验结果验证了这一设想。     

压缩机电动阀阀杆断裂原因分析

从断口宏观特征、化学成分、显微组织以及硬度等方面对某电动阀阀杆的断裂原因进行了分析。结果表明:由于断裂阀杆材料韧性不足,局部存在网状和带状碳化物,严重降低了材料的断裂抗力,是导致阀杆脆性断裂的主要原因;位于阀杆上端面内螺纹根部的断裂源存在机加工缺口,造成局部应力集中,导致阀杆在缺口处起裂。     

40Cr钢复合热处理强韧化

用光学及电子显微镜(SEM.TEM)观察不同热处理的40Cr 钢的冲击及断裂韧性断口、及金相组织,阐明其间相互关系;断口结构可反映断裂特征,组织情况;细化晶粒提高强度、塑性和冲击韧性,但却减少脆断的特性距离 l 因而降低 K_(1c)模;减少碳(杂质)偏聚而使其呈较均匀地分布,从而减少可诱发塑坑的较粗大的碳(杂质)化合物的析出,即增加塑坑的间距 di 以及增加塑断组成物。从而都可增加断裂临界应变 ef,都可以提高 K_(1c)40Cr 复合热处理既靠先超高温淬、回火以减少碳(杂质)偏聚,改善其分布,以反增加位错马氏体从而提高 K_(1c),也靠后淬、回火细化晶粒而提高强度、塑性和冲击韧性,各自发挥长处达到强韧化。     

Numerical and experimental investigation of mixed‐mode fracture parameters on silicon nitride using the Brazilian disc test

Engineering applications of ceramics can often involve mixed‐mode conditions involving both tensile and shear loading. Mixed‐mode fracture toughness parameters are evaluated for applicability to ceramics using the Brazilian disc test on silicon nitride. Semi‐elliptical centrally located surface flaws are induced on the disc specimens using Vickers indentation and compression loaded to fracture with varying levels of mode mixity. The disc specimens are modelled via 3D finite element analysis and all three modes of stress intensity factors computed along the crack front, at failure load. We present a numerical and experimental investigation of four widely used mixed‐mode fracture criteria and conclude that the critical strain energy release rate criterion is simple to implement and effective for silicon nitride under mixed‐mode conditions.     

Threshold toughness of polymers in the ductile to brittle transition region by different approaches

The fracture behavior of polymers in the ductile-to-brittle region is neither completely brittle nor entirely ductile. Besides, scatter in toughness results impairs the situation. Consequently, conventional methods based exclusively either on linear elastic fracture mechanics theory (LEFM) or on non-linear elastic fracture mechanics theory (NLEFM) are not suitable. It was demonstrated previously, that Weibull statistical method could be successfully used to determine the toughness threshold of polymers displaying ductile-to-brittle behavior. The present study compares the threshold toughness value determined by the statistical approach with other critical values calculated following other different suitable approaches: Low temperature plane strain fracture toughness, Plastic zone corrected fracture toughness, Stable and unstable propagation combined model, J extrapolated at zero stable propagation value, and Quasi J-R curve. The analysis was carried out on data points taken from fracture tests performed on polypropylene homopolymer, PPH, and on a blend of PPH and an elastomeric polyolefin, PPH/POes. The results of this analysis indicate that statistical, stable and unstable propagation combined model, and the J extrapolated at zero stable propagation value methods yield to very similar toughness threshold values being practically equivalent. In this case, threshold value was slightly smaller than the minimum J displayed by the experimental replicas, suggesting that it is an actual representative material toughness. Among these methodologies, the Statistical Method is applicable even if stable crack growth is difficult to determine. On the other hand, the methodologies based on LEFM tended to underestimate the fracture toughness, being very conservative while Quasi J-R curve method based on NLEFM overestimated the PPH/POes toughness value.     

An application of the J-Q model for estimating cleavage stress in the brittle-to-ductile transition

A recent model was proposed by the authors to predict cleavage failure for steels based on a weak link mechanism and a crack tip stress field modified for planar constraint by the J – Q theory. The model uses the distribution of toughness results at a single temperature to predict a toughness distribution at a different temperature and/or geometry. In this model a material cleavage stress is needed to predict when the weak link fracture is triggered. This cleavage stress is a key input for the application of the model but it is not a property that is routinely measured and it is hence not available for most steel alloys. In this paper, a method to estimate the average value of the cleavage stress is presented, based on a characteristic of the model to predict cleavage failure. Examples of cleavage stress are given for several steels and these results are used to predict the toughness distributions for structural component models.     

DZ55钢级Ф102mm×9.19mm地质钻杆管体断裂原因分析

通过宏观分析、金相检验、化学成分分析、力学性能测试和扫描电镜微观分析对一DZ55钢级Ф102mm×9.19mm地质钻杆的断裂原因进行了分析。结果表明：因该地质钻杆管体外壁存在较多的螺旋状划痕和刮蹭痕迹造成应力集中,加之钻杆材料韧性较低,从而导致钻杆管体在钻进过程中于损伤处萌生裂纹,裂纹不断扩展最终发生脆性断裂。     

温度与加载速率对X70级管线钢韧脆转化现象的影响

在不同温度下测试了X70级管线钢的动态断裂韧度。研究表明:加载速率对动态断裂韧度的影响与温度对其的影响同样重要;在恒温下,增大加载速率可以诱发韧脆断裂转变;当温度由298 K向193 K逐渐降低,或加载速率从0.01 mm/s向1 000 mm/s增大时,均将导致材料的韧脆断裂转变。