Effect of temperature on the mixed-mode impact behaviour of a normalized 1050 steel

Abstract

A considerable amount of work on mixed mode I/III fracture toughness of materials is available using proportional loading methods and all the work using such a loading method has recently been summarized. The superposition of mode III loading results in drastic reduction in fracture toughness in some materials whereas in other materials it has little effect or even results in an increase in the fracture toughness. Fracture mechanism maps delineating regions of susceptibility to tensile and shear loads have been proposed to explain such differences. In the mixed mode fracture toughness tests outlined above, the use of a modified compact tension specimen has enabled the testing of materials under a variety of combinations of mode I and mode III loadings. By using appropriately defined mixed-mode versions of the stress intensity factor K and the J integral, the susceptibility of these materials to mixed-mode fracture can be quantified. In addition to compact tension specimens, three point bend specimens with an inclined crack can also be used to determine the mixed-mode fracture behavior of materials. The aim of the present study was to study the feasibility of extending the mixed mode fracture concept to impact testing using a charpy type test specimen.