Determination of Constraint-Independent Crack Tip Opening Angle for Stable Crack Growth in High-Strength Ductile Steels

Zhu, Xian-Kui

doi:10.3390/ma18051051

Determination of Constraint-Independent Crack Tip Opening Angle for Stable Crack Growth in High-Strength Ductile Steels

Journal Article · Wed Feb 26 23:00:00 EST 2025 · Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18051051· OSTI ID:2549285

Zhu, Xian-Kui ^[1]

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)

The crack tip opening angle (CTOA) is one of fracture toughness parameters that has been used for decades in describing large stable crack growth in thin-walled aerospace structures under the low-constraint conditions. Recently, the pipeline industry has developed a growing interest in using the CTOA parameter to serve as the minimum required fracture toughness to arrest dynamic crack propagation in modern gas transmission pipelines made of high-strength ductile steel. To meet this industrial need, the CTOA test standard ASTM E3039 was therefore developed for measuring the constant critical CTOA. ASTM E3039 recommends a drop weight tearing test (DWTT) specimen with a shallow crack for standard CTOA testing, but its CTOA may depend on the low constraint condition of the DWTT specimen at the crack tip. Verifying the constraint independence of the DWTT-measured CTOA thus becomes indispensable for applying CTOA toughness to the running fracture control in the pipeline design. For this purpose, the present paper evaluates critical CTOA values in a set of fracture toughness tests on single-edge notched bend (SENB) specimens with shallow and deep cracks, based on four CTOA estimation models. Among these, the Ln(P)-LLD linear fit model is similar to that recommended by ASTM E3039 for CTOA calculation. Fracture test data for X80 pipeline steel and HY80 structural steel were considered in the CTOA evaluation. The results showed that the four CTOA models were able to determine a constraint independent CTOA value for stable crack growth in the SENB specimens. As a result, a single, reliable, constant CTOA value could be determined regardless of the specimen geometry or the crack-tip constraint conditions. Therefore, the CTOA measured using ASTM E3039 is constraint-independent and transferable to use in cases of actual cracks propagating in gas transmission pipelines.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: 89303321CEM000080

OSTI ID:: 2549285

Report Number(s):: SRNL--STI-2025-00195

Journal Information:: Materials, Journal Name: Materials Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 18; ISSN 1996-1944

Publisher:: MDPICopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
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constraint effect
crack propagation
fracture toughness

Determination of Constraint-Independent Crack Tip Opening Angle for Stable Crack Growth in High-Strength Ductile Steels

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