SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1981
STP28799S

Anomaly of Toughness Behavior with Notch-Root Radius

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The present investigation has studied the effects of notch-root radii on the Charpy apparent toughness of as-quenched and tempered 4340 steel as a function of (1) test temperature (liquid nitrogen and room temperature), (2) strain rate (high and slow strain rates corresponding to Charpy and plane-strain fracture toughness testing rates), and (3) grain size (25 and 250 μm). The toughness was evaluated by instrumented and slow-bend Charpy tests. Fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy.

The results showed that initially the toughness increased as the notch-root radius increased, but that after a critical notch-root radius was reached, the toughness dropped. The loss in toughness was coincident with a change to an intergranular fracture mode initiation. Also, the critical root radius at which the drop in toughness occurred was temperature and strain-rate dependent. These results are not in agreement with other published results, which always show increasing toughness with increasing notch root radius beyond a limiting root radius. These results and the limitation of the current theories are presented and discussed in this paper. A physical process for the intergranular fracture mode initiation is also discussed.

Author Information

Datta, KP
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Wood, WE
Oregon Graduate Center, Beaverton, Ore.
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Details
Developed by Committee: E08
Pages: 218–235
DOI: 10.1520/STP28799S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4809-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0732-8