Analysing the Notch Effect Within the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Zone of S275JR Steel

Abstract

This paper analyses the notch effect in ferritic-pearlitic steel S275JR in a range of temperatures within the material Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Zone (DBTZ). The notch effect is evaluated in terms of load-bearing capacity, apparent fracture toughness (modeled here using the Theory of Critical Distances) and fracture micromechanisms. The concept of Master Curve in notched conditions is also presented. To this end, experimental results obtained in S275JR notched specimens are presented, together with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) fractographies. The analysis is performed at −50 °C, −30 °C and −10 °C, the material Transition Temperature (T0) being −26.1 °C, with the notch radii ranging from 0 mm (crack-type defects) up to 2.0 mm. The results show how the lower the temperature the larger the notch effect, and also that the evolution of both the load bearing capacity and the apparent fracture toughness is directly related to the evolution of fracture micromechanisms. Moreover, the proposed Master Curve in notched conditions has provided good predictions of the experimental results.