An analysis of the static and dynamic fracture behaviour of a pipeline steel

This work deals with the dependence of fracture behaviour on the strain rate of a commercial pipeline steel. Low-blow impact tests, using a Charpy pendulum setup, and conventional static fracture tests were carried out with this material. Experimental results showed that the material fracture toughness increases slightly with strain rate. Numerical analyses of all the experiments were also performed, using a micromechanical damage model that explains the influence of the strain rate on the fracture toughness. Particular attention was paid to the blunting process at the crack tip under dynamic conditions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.