Ultimate Bending Strength Evaluation of U-Notched Ductile Steel Samples Under Large-Scale Yielding Conditions

Abstract

The load-bearing capacity of several U-notched specimens, reported in literature, made of very ductile steel and loaded under symmetric three-point bending were theoretically estimated by using the Equivalent Material Concept (EMC), proposed originally by the author, combined with two well-known brittle fracture models namely the mean stress (MS) and the point stress (PS) criteria. The results revealed that the MS-EMC model with an accuracy of more than 90% was more efficient than the PS-EMC model with about 72% accuracy. By using the MS-EMC model, one can predict well the onset of mode I cracking in U-notched ductile components under large-scale yielding conditions without requiring conducting elastic-plastic analyzes or using ductile fracture criteria.