Brittle Fracture Avoidance Technology in Large Structures with Thick Steel Plates

The 460-MPa-class steel was developed by thermomechanical control process for shipbuilding, and the maximum plate thickness was 100 mm, which has the fine grain size as 5–20 µm. The surfaces were studied in terms of micro and nano structures, surface roughness, and surface energy to evaluate the effect of fracture toughness in large steel structure. The thick steel plate has possibility to occur unstable fracture because the fracture toughness will be decrease with increase of thickness. The increase in the temperature in thermomechanical control process accelerated the surface energy and created both micro and nano structures on the surfaces more effectively. It was effective to avoid brittle fracture in the base metal when the brittle crack was deviated into base metal. The developed 460-MPa-class steel plate improves the brittle fracture safety despite being a thick steel plate through the fine grain size. They had to be designed in such a manner as to avoid crack initiation, especially in welded joints. In this study, brittle crack arrest designs were developed for large weld construction using arrest design concept and micro and nano structures in high strength steel plate.

Kinetics of Growth of Gas-Saturated (Embrittled) Layers on Titanium during Vacuum Annealing

The influence of the parameters of the vacuum annealing mode on the thickness of the embrittled layers, formed on the surface of titanium as a result of its interaction with the residual gases of the vacuumed space, is studied. The thickness and structure of the layers were determined on samples made of VT6 alloy obtained from sheet metal with a thickness of 3 mm. Annealing of samples in the temperature range of 500-750 °C was performed with air dilution from 10 to 3∙10-2 PA. The dimensions of the embrittled layers were determined by measuring the zone of brittle crack propagation in the fracture of the samples, and measuring the distance between the surface cracks in the embrittled layers, formed during bending deformation. To quantify the effect of vacuum annealing modes of sheet titanium alloy VT6 on the depth of the embrittled part of the formed oxide layer, it is proposed to use a parabolic relationship, characterized by the degree of growth and the constant of the embrittled layer. By processing experimental data, the effect of annealing time, temperature, and air dilution on the growth kinetics of the embrittled layers was established. Based on the obtained kinetic regularities of the growth of the embrittled layers, nomograms are constructed, to determine the size of the embrittled layer formed at the heating stage at different speeds up to the specified annealing temperature.

Anomalous fracture in two-dimensional rhenium disulfide

Low-dimensional materials usually exhibit mechanical properties from those of their bulk counterparts. Here, we show in two-dimensional (2D) rhenium disulfide (ReS2) that the fracture processes are dominated by a variety of previously unidentified phenomena, which are not present in bulk materials. Through direct transmission electron microscopy observations at the atomic scale, the structures close to the brittle crack tip zones are clearly revealed. Notably, the lattice reconstructions initiated at the postcrack edges can impose additional strain on the crack tips, modifying the fracture toughness of this material. Moreover, the monatomic thickness allows the restacking of postcrack edges in the shear strain–dominated cracks, which is potentially useful for the rational design of 2D stacking contacts in atomic width. Our studies provide critical insights into the atomistic processes of fracture and unveil the origin of the brittleness in the 2D materials.

Brittle Crack Arrestability and Inverse Fracture in DWTT

The drop-weight tear test (DWTT) has been widely used to evaluate the resistance of linepipe steels against brittle crack propagation, and the shear area fraction SA% in the DWTT has been adopted in the requirement for the linepipe steels. However, recent studies have pointed out the issue of ambiguity in evaluation of the DWTT when a ductile crack initiates from the notch and then transits to a brittle crack during ductile crack propagation. This fracture behavior is termed “inverse fracture.” According to the API Recommended Practice 5L3 (API RP 5L3), a test is considered invalid when a DWTT specimen shows inverse fracture. In this case, it is difficult to examine the acceptance criterion (85% shear area transition temperature) for linepipe steels. Because the purpose of the DWTT is to evaluate the brittle crack arrestability of the steels in a pressurized linepipe, the DWTT results should be examined with a propagating brittle crack arrest test. A large-scale brittle crack arrest test called the West Jefferson test is generally conducted to reproduce the crack propagation and arrest behavior in actual linepipes. However, it is somewhat difficult to control the lower test temperature and to initiate brittle crack in recent high-toughness steels in this burst test. Although the test stress conditions of the uniaxial tension in the plate tension brittle crack arrest test and the biaxial tension in a pressurized pipe are different, the plate tension brittle crack arrest test has the advantages of accurate control of the test temperature, test stress, and brittle crack initiation in comparison with the actual pipe burst test. Therefore, in this study, the brittle crack arrestability of linepipe steel which showed inverse fracture in the DWTT was investigated by conducting plate tension brittle crack arrest tests under an isothermal condition (crack arrest temperature test (CAT test)), which simulates the condition of the actual pipelines in service. This study also investigated the local shear lip thickness fraction in the CAT tests together with the shear area fraction SA% measured in DWTTs. Based on the results, the effect of brittle crack arrestability on inverse fracture appearance in the DWTTs was discussed in comparison with the brittle crack arrest behavior in the CAT tests.