Effect of Mechanical Heterogeneity on the Absorbed Energy of Welded Joint

Abstract

The absorbed energy of the specimen with mechanical heterogeneity in Charpy test is studied. It is shown that the absorbed energy in Charpy impact test is affected not only by the fracture toughness of the material at notch tip but also by mechanical heterogeneity existing in the vicinity of notch tip. Furthermore, the strain energy release rate of the Charpy specimen with mechanical heterogeneity is analyzed under elastic-plastic condition. The analyzed result is shown to agree well with the proposed simple equation, which does not include the effect of mechanical heterogeneity. And the fracture toughness of the materials at notch tip is estimated by using this analyzed strain energy release rate and the result of Charpy test. The estimated fracture toughness is not affected by mechanical heterogeneity.