Predicting ductile fracture of cracked pipes using small punch test data

Abstract

This paper proposes a numerical method to simulate ductile fracture of a cracked pipe using small punch test data. The method is using FE damage analysis method based on the multi-axial fracture strain energy density model. The parameters in the damage model can be extracted solely from small punch test data, using which compact tension and circumferential through-wall cracked pipe tests are simulated. To validate the proposed method, simulation results are compared with TP316L experimental data. For the compact tension test, faster crack growth is predicted but for the pipe test, good agreement is obtained. The effect of the stress triaxiality on the prediction accuracy is discussed.