Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

The presentation summarizes the fracture behaviour of ferritic steels in the ductile-to-brittle region. In the ductile region the material fails by microvoid coalescence, wherein the crack grows as the load is increased. Unlike to the brittle region where the material suddenly fails by cleavage failure. In the ductile-to-brittle region both micromechanisms of fracture can occur in the same specimen or structure. The Master Curve concept models the probability for failure of a specimen within the ductile-to-brittle transition range using a three-parameter Weibull model. It allows to quantify the variation of fracture toughness with the temperature throughout the ductile-to-brittle transition region. Limit curves of fracture tough¬ness for defined failure probabilities and a reference temperatures can be determined using this method. Thus, fracture mechanical values can be supplied for an integrity assessment of structural components.