Ductile fracture of LYP225 steel: Effects of stress states and loading histories

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental and modeling studies of the ductile fracture initiation of LYP225 steel, considering the stress state and loading history dependency. The monotonic material tests, including the notched round bars (NRBs), flat grooved plates (FGPs), and the shear plates (SPs), confirm the prominent stress state dependency of the ductile fracture. The increased stress triaxiality will significantly reduce the fracture strain, and the shear effect quantified by the Lode angle parameter will degrade the deformability under similar triaxiality. The Hosford-Coulomb fracture criterion can well characterize the relationship between fracture strain and stress state variables. Regarding the cyclic loading, a generalized expression of the cut-off region is proposed to consider the temporarily frozen damage accumulation under compression applied. In addition, the premature cyclic fracture initiation predicted by the monotonic fracture criterion highlights the necessity of considering the loading history effect. Based on the plastic strain memory surface, a reduced factor is introduced for the lower damage accumulation rate under cyclic loading. By comparing the testing and predicted plastic deformation corresponding to fracture initiation, the proposed fracture model is validated under different stress states and loading protocols, as indicated by the low average percentage errors of 4.02% for monotonic loading and 16.7% for cyclic loading.