Investigation of ductile fracture behavior of lap

Fractures in welded connections usually occurred at Earthquake. The lap-welded joints are an important type of welded connections in high strength steel structures. In this article, the ductile fracture behavior of lap-welded joints has been studied experimentally and numerically with 460？MPa steel. A series of coupon tests were used to determine two corresponding weld materials (ER55-D2 and ER55-G) mechanical properties. Two micromechanics models (void growth model and stress-modified critical strain models) had been calibrated by circumferentially notched tension specimens and calculated the fracture parameters numerically, which had been applied in predicting in five lap-welded joints. The experimental study showed that the fracture mode of 460？MPa lap-welded joints exhibited plastic damage under the tension tests. Numerical analysis of the fracture parameters also showed that the ductile fracture behavior of lap-welded joint with ER55-G was better. The study establishes an accurate numerical model for analyzing the ductile fracture behavior of Q460 high strength steel lap-welded joints that is applicable in predicting the fracture failure of welded steel structures