CRACK INITIATION AND PROPAGATION RESISTANCE OF HSLA STEEL WELDED JOINT CONSTITUENTS

The welded joint is heterogeneous in its microstructure, mechanical and geometrical properties, thus the stress field is affected by different factors as well as by residual stress. Therefore, special procedures are needed for experimentally determining the fracture toughness in plane strain, K-Ic, and the impact toughness, usually associated with difficulties in interpreting the measured values. Notched specimens are tested by instrumented Charpy in order to determine impact energy and crack initiation and propagation energies. The pre-cracked specimens are tested by standard, using three-point bending specimens, as geometrically closest to Charpy specimens. In both cases, the notch and crack are located in all various regions of the welded joint of the high-strength low alloyed steel NIONIKRAL-70. Analysis of the results includes speculations on the ratio of energies for crack initiation and propagation vs. fracture toughness.