Open Access

The Sandia Fracture Challenges provide a forum for the mechanics community to assess its ability to predict ductile fracture through a blind, round-robin format where mechanicians are challenged to predict the deformation and failure of an arbitrary geometry given experimental calibration data. The Third Challenge (SFC3) required participants to predict fracture in an additively manufactured (AM) 316L stainless steel bar containing through holes and internal cavities that could not have been conventionally machined. The volunteer participants were provided extensive data including tension and notched tensions tests of 316L specimens built on the same build-plate as the Challenge geometry, micro-CT scans of the Challenge specimens and geometric measurements of the feature based on the scans, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) information on grain texture, and post-test fractography of the calibration specimens. Surprisingly, the global behavior of the SFC3 geometry specimens had modest variability despite being made of AM metal, with all of the SFC3 geometry specimens failing under the same failure mode. This is attributed to the large stress concentrations from the holes overwhelming the stochastic local influence of the AM voids and surface roughness. The teams were asked to predict a number of quantities of interest in the response based on global and local measures that were compared to experimental data, based partly on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) measurements of surface displacements and strains, including predictions of variability in the resulting fracture response, as the basis for assessment of the predictive capabilities of the modeling and simulation strategies. Twenty-one teams submitted predictions obtained from a variety of methods: the finite element method (FEM) or the mesh-free, peridynamic method; solvers with explicit time integration, implicit time integration, or quasi-statics; fracture methods including element deletion, peridynamics with bond damage, XFEM, damage (stiffness degradation), and adaptive remeshing. These predictions utilized many different material models: plasticity models including J2 plasticity or Hill yield with isotropic hardening, mixed Swift-Voce hardening, kinematic hardening, or custom hardening curves; fracture criteria including GTN model, Hosford-Coulomb, triaxiality-dependent strain, critical fracture energy, damage-based model, critical void volume fraction, and Johnson-Cook model; and damage evolution models including damage accumulation and evolution, crack band model, fracture energy, displacement value threshold, incremental stress triaxiality, Cocks-Ashby void growth, and void nucleation, growth, and coalescence. Teams used various combinations of calibration data from tensile specimens, the notched tensile specimens, and literature data. A detailed comparison of results based of these different methods is presented in this paper to suggest a set of best practices for modeling ductile fracture in situations like the SFC3 AM-material problem. All blind predictions identified the nominal crack path and initiation location correctly. The SFC3 participants generally fared better in their global predictions of deformation and failure than the participants in the previous Challenges, suggesting the relative maturity of the models used and adoption of best practices from previous Challenges. This paper provides detailed analyses of the results, including discussion of the utility of the provided data, challenges of the experimental-numerical comparison, defects in the AM material, and human factors.

Experimental investigations are conducted to quantify the influence of specimen thickness and orientation on the mechanical properties of selective laser melted stainless steel 316 L. The results indicate that the mechanical strength and ductility increase with increasing specimen thickness until a saturation value is reached from a specimen thickness of about 2 mm. Specimen orientation dependency is pronounced for thin specimens (<1.5 mm), whereas only small deviations in strength are observed for thicker specimens with orientations of 30°, 45° and 90° to build direction. The mechanical properties of the specimen orientation of 0° to build direction shows great deviation to the other orientations and the smallest overall strength. A reliable design of selective laser melted components should account for specimen thickness and orientation, e. g. by a correction factor. Furthermore, it is recommended to avoid loads vertical (90°) and parallel (0°) to build direction to guarantee higher ductility and strength.

The complex mechanical and corrosive loads of modern pipeline systems transporting oil, natural gas and CO2 impose steadily increasing requirements on material properties. The majority of current design standards still limit the application of modern high toughness linepipe steels due to the simple specification of material requirements in terms of energy levels from Charpy impact or Battelle Drop-Weight-Tear (BDWT) tests. In consequence, research activities have been conducted recently aiming at developing modified or novel experimental methods for the characterization of the ductile fracture behavior. To quantify the effects of various parameters on fracture behavior and derive suitable correlations, it is necessary to accompany these activities by numerical simulations with appropriate ductile damage models. In this paper, the MBW model is applied to study the structural behavior of pipelines in ductile fracture regime. Due to its precise incorporation of the underlying load conditions, the damage model is successfully used to simulate the slant fracture behavior in Battelle Drop weight tear test specimens and pipe sections. In comparison to ductile damage models applied in former studies, namely the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman and Cohesive Zone model, the presented numerical methodology allows for a more detailed investigation of loading, material and geometry effects on fracture and crack arrest behavior of pipelines.

Plastic design allows the exploitation of the full resistance of steel structures by taking advantage of stress–redistributions due to plastic strains exceeding the yield strain. Especially in seismic design the utilization of material reserves and the formation of plastic hinges play an important role. In devastating earthquakes in Northridge (USA) and Kobe (Japan) brittle fracture of welded connections in steel moment frames occurred prior to formation of plastic hinges and utilization of plastic material reserves. The subsequent research works resulted in improved design rules and recommendations for these kinds of failure. But to guarantee sufficient ductile performance of these connections also in the upper shelf region, plastic and earthquake resistant design rules should take into account degradation of strain capacity and toughness properties due to quasi static and especially seismic loading. In the scope of the current European project “Plastotough”, the main objective is to derive quantified toughness design rules in the upper shelf based on the strain requirements opposed to strain capacities. This paper gives an overview over the research work in performance and shows recent results from experimental and numerical analyses performed within this project for monotonic and cyclic loading.