Shallow Flaws Under Biaxial Loading Conditions—Part I: The Effect of Specimen Size on Fracture Toughness Values Obtained From Large-Scale Cruciform Specimens1

2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wallace J. McAfee ◽  
B. Richard Bass ◽  
Paul T. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Transition Temperature ◽  
Temperature Region ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biaxial Loading ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Specimen Size ◽  
Biaxial Stress ◽  
Lower Transition ◽  
Crack Tip Constraint

A technology to determine shallow-flaw fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels is being developed. This technology is for application to the safety assessment of RPVs containing postulated shallow-surface flaws. It has been shown that relaxation of crack-tip constraint causes shallow-flaw fracture toughness of RPV material to have a higher mean value than that for deep flaws in the lower transition temperature region. Cruciform beam specimens developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) introduce far-field, out-of-plane biaxial stress components in the test section that approximates the nonlinear stresses resulting from pressurized-thermal-shock (PTS) loading of an RPV. The biaxial stress component has been shown to increase stress triaxiality (constraint) at the crack tip, and thereby reduce the shallow-flaw fracture toughness enhancement. The cruciform specimen permits controlled application of biaxial loading ratios, resulting in controlled variation of crack-tip constraint. An extensive matrix of intermediate-scale cruciform specimens with a uniform depth surface flaw was previously tested and demonstrated a continued decrease in shallow-flaw fracture toughness with increasing biaxial loading. This paper describes the test results for a series of large-scale cruciform specimens with a uniform depth surface flaw. These specimens were all of the same size with the same depth flaw and were tested at the same temperature and biaxial load ratio (1:1). The configuration is the same as the previous set of intermediate-scale tests, but has been scaled upward in size by 150 percent. These tests demonstrated the effect of biaxial loading and specimen size on shallow-flaw fracture toughness in the lower transition temperature region for RPV materials. For specimens tested under full biaxial (1:1) loading at test temperatures in the range of 23°F (−5°C) to 34°F (1°C), toughness was reduced by approximately 15 percent for a 150-percent increase in specimen size. This decrease was slightly greater than the predicted reduction for this increase in specimen size. The size corrections for 1/2T C(T) specimens did not predict the experimentally determined mean toughness values for larger size shallow-flaw specimens tested under biaxial (1:1) loading in the lower transition temperature region.

Framework to Correlate Test Specimen Thickness Effect on Fracture Toughness With T33-Stress

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Meshii ◽  
Tomohiro Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Transition Temperature ◽  
Temperature Region ◽  
Test Specimen ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Thickness Effect ◽  
Specimen Thickness ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Elastic Crack ◽  
Crack Tip Constraint

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.

Crack-Tip Fields of Short Cracks in Bending As Characterized by Two Parameter Criterion

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Zarzour ◽  
Y. Dah-Wei ◽  
M. J. Kleinosky
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Stress Triaxiality ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Significant Loss ◽  
Integral Approach ◽  
Rigorous Framework ◽  
Crack Tip Constraint ◽  
Two Parameter ◽  
Crack Tip Stress

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.

Validating the Mechanical Nature of the Test Speicmen Thickness Effect on Fracture Toughness in the Transition Temperature Region

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Meshii ◽  
Kai Lu ◽  
Ryota Takamura
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Transition Temperature ◽  
Temperature Region ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
Thickness Effect ◽  
Specimen Thickness ◽  
Weakest Link ◽  
Standard Specimens ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Crack Tip Constraint

This paper considered the test specimen thickness (TST) effect on the fracture toughness of a material Jc, in the transition temperature region, for 3PB (i.e., SE(B) for ASTM standard) specimens. Fracture toughness tests and elastic-plastic finite element analyses (FEA) with non-standard test specimens, on the point that the specimen thickness to width to ratio B/W was varied in the range of 0.25 to 1.5, were conducted. Based on these tests and FEA results, it was demonstrated that Jc showed tendency to saturate to some lower bound for B/W = 1.5. This tendency was similar with that predicted by our previous work, which assumed the TST effect on Jc as an out-of-plane crack-tip constraint issue. Because the TST effect on Jc (such as Jc ∝ B(−1/2)) together with Jc’s bounding nature for large B could not be predicted by the weakest link model but out-of-plane constraint assumption worked, it was concluded that the TST effect is mainly mechanical in nature.

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

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupeng Cao ◽  
Guian Qian ◽  
Yinbiao He ◽  
Yuh J. Chao ◽  
Markus Niffenegger
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Material Property ◽  
Biaxial Loading ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
Biaxial Stress ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Crack Tips ◽  
Shallow Crack ◽  
Crack Tip Constraint ◽  
Integrity Analysis

In the integrity analysis of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV), 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 integrity assessment of a RPV, are usually tested with 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 the cracks in a RPV are subjected to. Cruciform bending specimen is 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 constraint is investigated using the J-A2 theory and the stress field near the crack tips is analyzed. The results show that the biaxial effect is material property dependent. This can contribute to the lifetime prediction of a RPV as well as better design of cruciform specimens.

scholarly journals Effect of Specimen Size on Intergranular Mode Fracture Toughness of Cr-Mo-V Steel in the Transition Temperature Region

1986 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 1744-1750
Author(s):  
Keiichi SHIMOMURA ◽  
Tetsuo SHOJI ◽  
Hideaki TAKAHASHI ◽  
Kiyoshi SAITO
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Transition Temperature ◽  
Temperature Region ◽  
Specimen Size ◽  
Mode Fracture

Application of the T-Scaling Method to Predict Fracture Toughness Under Compressive Residual Stress in the Transition Temperature Region

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Meshii ◽  
Kenichi Ishihara
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Residual Stress ◽  
Transition Temperature ◽  
Stress Distribution ◽  
Temperature Dependence ◽  
Temperature Region ◽  
Compressive Residual Stress ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Scaling Method ◽  
Crack Tip Stress

The fracture toughness Jc of a material in the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature region shows a test specimen thickness (TST) effect and temperature dependence, and apparently increases when a compressive residual stress is applied. Many models to explain these phenomena have been proposed that can also consider the large scatter of Jc. On the contrary, the authors have focused on the mean Jc and have demonstrated that the TST effect on Jc and temperature dependence of Jc are due to “the loss of the one-to-one correspondence between J and the crack-tip stress distribution” and that the “scaled” crack-tip stress distribution at fracture is independent of the TST effect on Jc or temperature. The T-scaling method was proposed and validated for this purpose. In this study, the fracture prediction of a specimen with compressive residual stress was performed using the T-scaling method, and its validity was confirmed for high-strength steel of 780-MPa class and 0.45 % carbon steel JIS S45C.

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.

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