DUCTILE CRACK INITIATION AND STEADY-STATE PROPAGATION OF HIGH STRENGTH STRUCTURAL STEEL

The resistance to crack propagation at earlier stage for a high strength structural steel withcertain ductility and its correlation to microstructures,stress states,deformation history andstrain characteristics have been investigated.The resistance to crack propagation is mainly de-termined by the plastic constrain ahead of the crack tip,the elastic energy and plastic workabsorbed in the stress-strain field.These are connected with the state function of triaxialstress.The deformation history and strain characteristic during deformation of material aredescribed by the flow line in which the deformation history and strain characteristic restrainthe crack initiation at stage Ⅱ and the crack propagation at stage Ⅲ.The strain hardeningrate may sensitively reflect the stress distribution and micro-fracture mechanism in the interi-or of material.