Materials Science and Engineering, 55 (1982) 257 - 262
Determination of Fracture Toughness from Stretch Zone Width Measurement
in Predeformed AISI Type 4340 Steel
K. F. AMOUZOUVI and M. N. BASSIM
Metallurgical Sciences Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,
Manitoba (Canada)
(Received January 15, 1982)
SUMMARY
The fracture toughness parameter Jic was
determined as a function o f prior cold
working in A I S I type 4340 steel using two
different approaches. One approach is the J
resistance curve method. The other approach
is from measurements o f the stretch zone
width which is determined by scanning micros-
copy on the fractured specimens used in the
determination o f the J resistance curves. Both
techniques agree in showing that, up to a
prior deformation corresponding to 2%, there
is a marked increase in Jic. A t higher values of
prior deformation, Jm decreases with the
increase in prior work hardening. The results
are explained in terms o f excessive blunting at
the crack tip, which may be due to the avail-
ability o f excess mobile dislocations at low
values o f prior strain.
I. I N T R O D U C T I O N
The J integral is increasingly used as a frac-
ture criterion for the characterization of the
elastic-plastic behaviour of engineering mate-
rials. The use of Jic in engineering design has
been reported by Turner [1]. The effect of
geometry, crack length and loading conditions
on the J integral has been previously investi-
gated [2 - 4]. At present, this parameter is
c o m m o n l y determined from the J resistance
curve method where J1c is obtained by the
intersection of the blunting line and the crack
advance line [5, 6]. More recently, the effect
of material parameters such as the change in
microstructure on the J integral has been
studied; Chell and coworkers [7, 8] have
reported increases in the J integral during the
0025-5416/82/0000-0000/$02.75
257
warm prestressing of pressure vessel steels and
have concluded that the continuum mechan-
ics approach to the determination of Jm
seems to take into consideration the change
in microstructure, particularly in terms of the
dislocation density and distribution ahead of
the crack tip as well as the availability of
mobile dislocations.
The influence of prior hardening on the J
integral has been previously examined [9].
Generally, the effect of prior hardening on
the J integral appears to cause a decrease in
toughness as the amount of work hardening is
increased. However, a preliminary investiga-
tion by Amouzouvi and Bassim [10] indicates
that this process is more complicated and that
actual increases in the J integral with prior
deformation may indeed take place depending
on the extent of prior strain. This analysis
raises the question whether these increases in
the fracture toughness as expressed by Jic are
real or whether the m e t h o d of determination
of the J integral from J resistance curves fails
to take into consideration the effect of prior
hardening and changes in the microstructure
by the introduction of dislocations. An inde-
pendent m e t h o d for the determination of the
fracture toughness, other than that from J
resistance measurements, is thus necessary.
Although the measurement of K~c using
thicker specimens or the evaluation of the
impact energy from Charpy tests remain
possibilities for the determination of the frac-
ture toughness, either such methods would
require specimens which are t o o thick (in the
case of Kin) because of the ductility of the
material or the loading rate (Charpy tests}
would be very different from that experi-
enced during J resistance tests. An alternative
method is to determine Jic from measure-
© Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands
258

ments of the stretch zone width and to use a
correlation similar to that of Robinson and
Tetelman [11], and more recently of
Nguyen-Duy and Bayard [12]. In this case
the stretch zone measurements are performed
on the same specimens used for the determi-
nation of the J resistance curves. Also, the
stretch zone width is indicative of the extent
of plastic blunting at the crack tip and thus
can be related to the change in microstructure
due to the introduction of mobile dislocations
in the prior straining process.
In this investigation, Jm was determined
using the two different approaches, namely
from the J resistance curves and from mea-
surements of the stretch zone width on the
same specimens after fracture, using scanning
electron microscopy. Specimens of AISI type
4340 steel which were predeformed to
different values of strain ranging from 0%
(annealed) up to 15% prestrain were used in
this study.
2. EXPERIMENTAL P R O C E D U R E
2.1. Material
The material used in this investigation was
Atlas SPS steel with a composition equivalent
to that of AISI type 4340 steel. Its chemical
composition is shown in Table 1 and the
TABLE 1
Chemical composition of Atlas SPS steel
Element C Mn P S Cr Ni
Amount 0.40 0.75 0.020 0.020 0.60 1.25 0.15
(wt.%)
mechanical properties in the different pre-
strained conditions are given in Table 2.
The material was supplied in the heat-
treated (tempered martensite) condition in
the form of a long plate 25 mm thick. The
steel plate was cut into shorter pieces 30 cm
long and annealed. This was followed by dif-
ferent amounts of cold work (reduction in
thickness) on each piece. The microstructure
of the material in the annealed condition
consisted of lamellar pearlite. Standard com-
pact tension specimens 19 m m thick were pro-
duced from the annealed and cold-worked
pieces. A chevron notch was machined in the
longitudinal-transverse orientation. All the
compact tension specimens prepared had the
same thickness.
2.2. Procedure for the fracture testing and
dislocation structure observation
The procedure for the fracture testing and
Jxc determination from the J resistance curves
as well as the dislocation structure study have
been described in detail in a previous paper
[10]. Briefly, the J integral was determined
by the single-specimen unloading compliance
method, in which a series of 10% unloadings
are performed to infer the crack extension Aa
during the fracture test. The J integral at each
unloading was measured and a plot of the J
integral versus the crack extension Aa gives
the J resistance curve, and the intersection of
the two lines of the J resistance curve (the
blunting line and the crack advance line)
yields the value of Jic. Dislocation structures
in thin foils of specimens in the annealed
Mo
condition and subjected to 2% and 5% pre-
strains were obtained using a transmission
electron microscope.

TABLE 2
Mechanical properties of Atlas SPS steel in t h e different prestrained conditions

Condition 0.2% yield Ultimate tensile Elongation Reduction Strain-hardening Hardness

strength oy strength OUTs (%) o f area exponent n RC
(MPa) (MPa) (%)

As received 487 746 27 59 25

Annealed a 416 657 29 56 0.31 18
1% cold w o r k 420 658 28 54 0.25 22
2% cold work 435 672 27 53 0.20 23
5% cold work 558 675 25 52 0.09 25
10% cold work 643 728 20 50 0.07 27
15% cold work 687 746 16 44 0.062 29

aAnnealed at 840 °C for 1 h.


2. 3. Stretch z o n e measurements
The stretch zone which is the transition
zone between the end of the fatigue precrack
and stable crack growth is characterized by
an extensive plastic deformation prior to
crack initiation. This zone can be distin-
guished between the fatigue precrack region
and the stable crack growth region in scanning
micrographs of the fracture surface. On the
assumption that deformation prior to crack
initiation takes place along 45 ° slip lines, the
critical stretch zone width W~zc can be
measured by tilting a fractured specimen
through 45 ° and examining it in the scanning
electron microscope. This measurement is
shown schematically in Fig. 1.
Considering a symmetric blunt crack,
Nguyen-Duy and Bayard [12] have derived
an equation relating the stretch zone width
Wszc to the crack-opening displacement (COD).
If AB in Fig. 1 is the critical stretch zone
width, it can be shown [12] that the stretch
zone width and the critical COD are given by
d 1
WSZC ~--
cos(0 -- 5) G
and
2d 1 the micrographs and the critical stretch zone
(COD)c = --
cosS+sin5 G integral, Jm, are calculated using eqns. (1) and
where d is the measured length of the stretch
zone on the micrographs, 6 is the incident
angle of the beam (the tilt angle), 0 = 45 Qand
G is the magnification. Under plane strain
conditions, the critical value of the J integral,
Jic, is related to (COD)¢ by [13, 14]
J1c = mef(COD)c
where of is the flow stress (the average of the
0.2% yield stress and the ultimate tensile
stress) and m a constraint factor due to plane
\\
(cOO)c , /~/I
Fatigue precrock ] /
•/"N"/////////~I~'. . . . I Aa~r (Fig. 5) with the percentage of cold work
I'--d =Wszc/cos e---.I
Fig. 1. Illustration of the stretch zone of a b r o k e n
specimen half. ( A f t e r refs. 11 and 12.)
259
strain loading {it is usually taken to be
approximately equal to 2). If eqn. (2) is
substituted into eqn. (3), with m equal to 2,
eqn. (3) becomes
4old 1
Jic = -- (4)
cos6+sino G
Halves of broken specimens used in the
determination of the J resistance curves were
examined with a scanning electron micro-
scope (Super Mini-SEM ISI) usually at a tilt
angle 5 of 45 ° and a magnification of about
250 - 380. The length d of the stretch zone
was measured at different points along the
crack front and the results were averaged. The
value of JIc was calculated using eqn. (4).
3. E X P E R I M E N T A L R E S U L T S
The scanning electron micrographs showing
the stretch zones of the different specimens
observed are shown in Fig. 2. In these micro-
graphs the stretch zones are well defined as
(1) they are characterized by a particularly hilly
relief and elongated dimples. The average
length d of the stretch zones are measured on
(2) width Wszc and the critical values of the J
(4).
The variations in the stretch zone width
W=zc and Jic with the e x t e n t of prior cold
work are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 respec-
tively. These figures show the increases in
Wsz~ and Jic up to the m a x i m u m values which
occur at R = 2%; then Wszc and Jm decrease
(3)
markedly for higher percentages of cold work.
Finally they level off for a prior deformation
of greater than 10%.
Figure 5 shows the results of the variation
in Aa~r (which is the m a x i m u m crack advance
due to the blunting process) with the percent-
age of cold work. Aa~r values were obtained
by the intersection of the theoretical blunting
~-Stable crack growth line (J = 2of Aa) and the crack advance line
on the J resistance curves. Figure 6 shows the
variation in Jic, also obtained by the m e t h o d
of J resistance curves [ 10], with the percent-
age of prior deformation. The variation in
is very similar to that obtained for W~zc
(Fig. 3). Also Fig. 6 shows exactly the same
behaviour for Jic as Fig. 4 does.
260

(a) (b)

(e) (d)

(e) (f)
Fig. 2. Scanning electron micrographs of the stretch zone in specimens with different amounts of prior cold work
R: (a) R = 0 , G= 375,6 =45°;(b) R = 1 % , G = 2 5 5 , 5 =45°;(c) R = 2 % , G = 3 6 5 , 6 =22°;(d) R = 5 % , G = 2 5 5 ,
6 =15°;(e) R= 10%,G=375,~ =15°;(f) R = 1 5 % , G = 2 5 5 , 5 = 4 5 °.

4. DISCUSSION values obtained by the intersection of the

There seems t o be general agreement
between the results obtained using t he J resis-
tance curve m e t h o d and those obtained from
measurements o f the stretch zone width.
However, the measured values of the stretch
zone (Fig. 3) are slightly lower than the Aacr
theoretical blunting line ( A a = J / 2 o f ) and the
crack advance line (Fig. 5). These results agree
with those of Berger et al. [15] who found
t hat t he theoretical blunting line defined by
J = 2o~ Aa always overestimates the real crack
advance during the blunting process. The
values of Jm deduced from the stretch zones
 261

E
O.10
o
N
¢n

150
_o

O
005
%
N

100

000 I I I
0 5 I0 15
COLD WORK R (%} t~
Fig. 3. E f f e c t o f prior d e f o r m a t i o n on the stretch
zone width. 50

200

'E
~5o L L J
0 5 10 15
o
Percentoge Cold Work R
LO0
Fig. 6. JIc values measured f r o m J resistance curves
as a f u n c t i o n o f prior cold w o r k R.
~I--- 50 q

l
o
o 5 I0 15
2.5
COLD WORK R ( % )

Fig. 4. d]c values calculated from the critical stretch 2.0 o

z o n e w i d t h m e a s u r e m e n t s as a f u n c t i o n o f prior cold
w o r k R.
{
I0
.15

0.5

0.0 I I I
0 5 I0 15
COLD WORK R (%)

Fig. 7. Variation in the parameter m (eqn. ( 3 ) ) w i t h

prior cold w o r k R.

tU
.05

m = 2 in eqn. (3) for all percentages of prior

i [14]. However, values of m in these present
0 S 110
Percentage Cold Work R
Fig. 5. T h e e f f e c t o f prior cold w o r k o n Aacr.
measurements are in general 10% - 20% higher
than those obtained by the J resistance curve
method, especially at higher percentages of
cold work (10% and 15%). This may be due
to the use of a constant value for m, namely
cold work. This assumption (m = 2) was pre-
viously justified by finite element calculations
l~S
experimental results were found to decrease
with increasing percentage of prior deforma-
tion, as shown in Fig. 7. Such decreases in m
with increasing prior deformation have also
been reported by Chipperfield [9]. The
observed decrease in m with increasing
prior deformation can be attributed to the
low work-hardening capacity of the material
as the amount of prior deformation is
increased.
262
The actual increase in t he stretch zone
width at R = 2% confirms our previous
hypothesis [10] t hat the increase in the
toughness of the material is due t o an exces-
sive blunting o f the crack tip resulting f r om
the availability o f mobile dislocations near t he
crack tip. Th e observations of dislocations by
transmission electron m i c r o s c o p y showed t hat
the density o f dislocations had increased
markedly after 2% prior d e f o r m a t i o n and t ha t
most of these dislocations were assumed to
be mobile. The increase in mobile dislocation
density arises f r om t he unpinning of disloca-
tions from impurity atoms and f r om the mul-
tiplication o f these dislocations during the
slight predeformations. These incurred mobile
dislocations would c o n t r i b u t e significantly to
the blunting and stress relaxation ahead of
t h e crack by dislocation mechanisms [ 1 6 - 18]
of interaction with a crack tip.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The effect o f prior cold w or k on the frac-
t u re toughness, expressed as Jic, o f AISI t y p e
4340 steel was studied. The parameter Jm was
d e t er min ed f r o m J resistance curves and from
measurements of the stretch zone width. Both
techniques agree in showing that, up to 2%
cold work, t h e r e is a marked increase in
toughness while, for m o r e than 2% cold work,
the toughness decreases with increasing
a m o u n t s o f cold work. The stretch zone
width approach is shown to be a suitable
back-up tech n iq u e for verification of the J
resistance curve m e t h o d . The increase in
toughness in p r e d e f o r m e d AISI 4340 steel is
believed to be due t o crack blunting which
is caused by the availability of mobile dislo-
cations at the crack tip as well as by the
increase in the mobile dislocation density and
distribution.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada and the University of
Manitoba Research Board for the support of
this investigation.
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