Non-fracture prediction of a C-Mn weld joint in the brittle-to-ductile fracture transition temperature range: Part I: Experimental results and numerical study

Christophe Niclaeys (1) , T.H. N'Guyen (2) , S. Marie (2) , S. Chapuliot (2) , Suzanne Degallaix (1)

1 LML - Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille - FRE 3723
2 LISN - Laboratoire d'Intégrité des Structures et de Normalisation

This paper evaluates the brittle fracture risk for a C-Mn weld in the upper shelf of the brittle-to-ductile transition: the criterion considered is based on a critical stress σth, with the failure probability related to the volume around the crack where the maximum principal stress exceeds σth. The weld shows a complex microstructure with two types of melted zone. SEM observations showed that the main cleavage sites are located in the coarse grain zone, near an inclusion. In test analyses, the material's heterogeneity in the weld metal is considered to estimate local fields at the weld pass scale.

Mots clés: Brittle to ductile fracture transition; Weld joint; SEM; Piping system

Christophe Niclaeys, T.H. N'Guyen, S. Marie, S. Chapuliot, Suzanne Degallaix. Non-fracture prediction of a C-Mn weld joint in the brittle-to-ductile fracture transition temperature range: Part I: Experimental results and numerical study. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2012, 79, pp.149-166. ⟨10.1016/j.engfracmech.2011.10.010⟩. ⟨hal-00656103⟩