ISO/TC 164/SC 4/WG 3 - Fracture toughness

This document specifies methods for determining fracture toughness in terms of K, δ, J and R-curves for homogeneous metallic materials subjected to quasistatic loading. Specimens are notched, precracked by fatigue and tested under slowly increasing displacement. The fracture toughness is determined for individual specimens at or after the onset of ductile crack extension or at the onset of ductile crack instability or unstable crack extension. In cases where cracks grow in a stable manner under ductile tearing conditions, a resistance curve describing fracture toughness as a function of crack extension is measured. In some cases in the testing of ferritic materials, unstable crack extension can occur by cleavage or ductile crack initiation and growth, interrupted by cleavage extension. The fracture toughness at crack arrest is not covered by this document. Special testing requirements and analysis procedures are necessary when testing weldments, and these are described in ISO 15653 which is complementary to this document. Statistical variability of the results strongly depends on the fracture type, for instance, fracture toughness associated with cleavage fracture in ferritic steels can show large variation. For applications that require high reliability, a statistical approach can be used to quantify the variability in fracture toughness in the ductile-to-brittle transition region, such as that given in ASTM E1921. However, it is not the purpose of this document to specify the number of tests to be carried out nor how the results of the tests are to be applied or interpreted.

This document specifies a test method for the determination of brittle crack arrest toughness. It is applicable to ferritic steel base metals exhibiting ductile to brittle transition behaviour. Applicable materials are rolled steel plates. It is intended for materials with a tensile strength of 950 MPa or less and a test piece thickness of 200 mm or less. The range of arrest temperatures is between −196 °C and +100 °C. This document can be applied to flat rolled steel plates but not to flattened steel pipes because the flattening can cause changes in arrest toughness.

In fracture assessments of steel structures containing cracks, it has generally been assumed that the fracture resistance of fracture toughness specimens is equal to the fracture resistance of structural components. However, such an assumption often leads to excessively conservative fracture assessments. This is due to a loss of plastic constraint in structural components, which are subjected mainly to tensile loading. By contrast, fracture toughness specimens hold a constrained stress state near the crack-tip due to bending mode. The loss of constraint is significant for high strength steels with high yield-to-tensile ratios (= yield stress/tensile strength) which have been extensively developed and widely applied to structures in recent years. ISO 27306:2016 specifies a method for converting the CTOD (crack-tip opening displacement) fracture toughness obtained from laboratory specimens to an equivalent CTOD for structural components, taking constraint loss into account. This method can also apply to fracture assessment using the stress intensity factor or the J-integral concept (see Clause 9). ISO 27306:2016 deals with the unstable fracture that occurs from a crack-like defect or fatigue crack in ferritic structural steels. Unstable fracture accompanied by a significant amount of ductile crack extension and ductile fractures are not included in the scope hereof. The CTOD fracture toughness of structural steels is measured in accordance with the established test methods, ISO 12135[1] or BS 7448-1. The fracture assessment of a cracked component is done using an established method such as FAD (Failure Assessment Diagram) in the organization concerned, and reference is not made to the details thereof in ISO 27306:2016. It can be used for eliminating the excessive conservatism frequently associated with the conventional fracture mechanics methods and accurately assessing the unstable fracture initiation limit of structural components from the fracture toughness of the structural steel. This is also used for rationally determining the fracture toughness of materials to meet the design requirements of performance of structural components.

ISO 26843:205 specifies requirements for performing and evaluating instrumented precracked Charpy impact tests on metallic materials using a fracture mechanics approach. Minimum requirements are given for measurement and recording equipment such that similar sensitivity and comparable measurements are achieved. Dynamic fracture mechanics properties determined using this International Standard are comparable with conventional large-scale fracture mechanics results when the corresponding validity criteria are met. Because of the small absolute size of the Charpy specimen, this is often not the case. Nevertheless, the values obtained can be used in research and development of materials, in quality control, and to establish the variation of properties with test temperature under impact loading rates. Fracture toughness properties determined through the use of this International Standard may differ from values measured at quasistatic loading rates. Indeed, an increase in loading rate causes a decrease in fracture toughness when tests are performed in the brittle or ductile-to-brittle regimes; the opposite is observed (i.e. increase in fracture toughness) in the fully ductile regime. More information on the dependence of fracture toughness on loading (or strain) rate is given in Reference [1]. In addition, it is generally acknowledged that fracture toughness also depends on test temperature. For these reasons, the user is required to report the actual test temperature and loading rate for each test performed. In case of cleavage fracture of ferritic steels in the ductile-to-brittle transition region, variability can be very large and cannot be adequately described by simple statistics. In this case, additional tests are required and the analysis is to be performed using a statistical procedure applicable to this type of test, see for example Reference [2]. NOTE Modifications to the analytical procedures prescribed in Reference [2] might be necessary to account for the effect of elevated (impact) loading rates.

ISO 27306:2009 specifies a method for converting the CTOD (Crack-Tip Opening Displacement) fracture toughness obtained from laboratory specimens to an equivalent CTOD for structural components, taking constraint loss into account. This method can also apply to fracture toughness assessment using the stress intensity factor or the J-integral concept. ISO 27306:2009 deals with the unstable fracture that occurs from a crack-like defect or fatigue crack in ferritic structural steels. Unstable fracture accompanied by a significant amount of ductile crack extension and ductile fractures is not included in the scope hereof. ISO 27306:2009 can be used for eliminating the excessive conservatism frequently associated with the conventional fracture mechanics methods and accurately assessing the unstable fracture initiation limit of structural components from the fracture toughness of the structural steel. This is also used for rationally determining the fracture toughness of materials to meet the design requirements of deformability of structural components.