Unified constraint-based FAD assessments for ductile fracture in cracked pipes

Abstract

In this work, the unified constraint-based FAD (failure assessment diagram) assessment methodology has been investigated and developed for ductile fracture in cracked pipes. Two unified constraint parameters Ap and Ad are utilized to incorporate both in-plane and out-of-plane constraints. The results show that the FAD approaches based on two-parameter K-Ap and K-Ad can predict similar fracture initiation loads. With decreasing crack length and depth, the constraint level decreases and fracture toughness increases, thus the predicted fracture load increases. For some shallow and short pipe cracks with lower constraints, the unified constraint-based FAD assessment can reduce conservatism degree of the conventional FAD assessment. For some deep and long cracks, their constraint levels may be higher than the standard plane strain specimen, and the application of the unified constraint-based FAD assessment approaches may eliminate non-conservative assessment in the conventional FAD approach. The unified constraint-based FAD approaches and CDF (crack driving farce) approaches using parameters Ap and Ad can produce similar fracture prediction results, thus they are basically equivalent.