Characterization of ductile fracture toughness based on subsized Charpy and tensile test results

Micromechanical material models have been established as a powerful tool for the prediction of the ductile fracture resistance. Suitable damage parameters of the Gurson model can be obtained from small volume specimens like tensile, Charpy or subsized Charpy specimens and then applied to predict transferable J-resistance curves as obtained from standard fracture mechanics specimens. In this paper dynamic tests on subsized Charpy and precracked bend specimens, SE(B), as well as static and dynamic experiments on tensile specimens for the ferritic steel A533B (HSST 03), are presented and analyzed. Two- and three-dimensional finite element models are used to determine the stress-strain behaviour and strain rate sensitivity and to find a set of damage parameters which explains the results. These parameters are then used to predict a J-resistance curve representative for a compact specimen C(T)25.