j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

The effect of undermatching on crack tip constraint

in a welded structure of nodular irons

Hakan Cetinel a,∗ , Tevfik Aksoy b

aCelal Bayar University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Muradiye Kampusu, Manisa 45140, Turkey
bDokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Kaynaklar Yerleskesi,
Buca, Izmir 35160, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The main aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of yield strength mismatch of parent
Received 19 October 2006 and weld metal on the fracture behavior of plain and heat-treated welded nodular cast iron.
Received in revised form 7 June 2007 For this, experimental and theoretical studies were performed. Nickel electrode, which has
Accepted 28 June 2007 lower yield strength value than that of the parent material, was used to join nodular cast
iron by cold arc welding method. In experimental study, fracture toughness (J-integral) val-
ues were determined for various crack locations including base, weld metal and heat affected
Keywords: zone. In theoretical study, finite element analyses were performed for the same crack loca-
J-integral tions with different crack lengths. Stress triaxiality and equivalent plastic strain values were
Undermatching determined for all crack locations and various crack lengths. Finally, fracture toughness val-
Stress triaxiality ues of the base metal were determined as lower than those of the other regions including the
CMOD weld metal and the heat affected zones. Stress triaxiality and equivalent plastic strain val-
Nodular iron ues used to clarify the effect of yield strength mismatch on the constraint around crack tip
increased with growing crack length in annealed and under-matched models. In annealed
models, stress triaxiality values became slightly lower but equivalent plastic strain values
appeared higher than those of under-matched models.
© 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

1. Introduction the situation is called overmatching (OM). Otherwise, it is

It is generally known that a welded joint can be regarded
as a structure with hybrid material properties due to the
microstructural differences in base (parent) metal (BM), weld
metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ). Mechanical proper-
ties such as strength, toughness and ultimate tensile strength
are significantly different for each of these regions. Structural
performance, deformation and fracture behavior of welded
joints can be distinctly affected by the different strength lev-
els of weld metal, base metal and HAZ (Sedmak et al., 1979;
Kocak et al., 1990; Kocak and Denys, 1995). The ratio of the yield
strength of weld metal to that of the base metal (M = yWM /yBM )
is defined as mismatch factor. If the ratio is higher than one,
termed undermatching (UM).
It is problematic to predict the behavior of welded con-
structions if the existing failure assessment concepts based
on the fracture mechanics philosophy are used. For opti-
mum efficiency of construction materials the quantification
of the requirements for the material and its properties must
be precisely laid down. Therefore, the influence of the mate-
rials’ inhomogeneity on deformation and fracture behavior
should be described exactly. Elastic–plastic finite element cal-
culations should contribute to a better understanding of the
deformation process at the crack tip in inhomogeneous mate-
rial zones. Numerical solutions could allow an exact failure
prediction of welded constructions (Heuser et al., in press).

∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 236 2412144; fax: +90 236 2412143.
E-mail address: hakan.cetinel@bayar.edu.tr (H. Cetinel).
0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2007.06.081
184 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190

welded joints, allowing the material mismatching effect on

Nomenclature the crack tip stress fields to be quantified by Rodriguez et al.
(2004). Betegón and Peñuelas (2006) investigated the effect of
BM base (parent) metal HAZ undermatching on the crack tip stress distribution in ide-
CMOD crack tip opening displacement alized welds. They found that an important decrease in the
E modulus of elasticity (MPa) stress levels ahead of the crack tip can occur for severe HAZ
EM even-matched undermatch conditions. They also found that the stress dis-
EPS equivalent plastic strain tribution is also influenced by the strain hardening capacity
HAZ heat-affected zone of the soft material. Finally, fracture behavior of overmatched
HV Vickers micro-hardness ductile iron weldment was investigated by Cetinel (2007). It
K stress level (MPa) is found that fracture toughness value of weld metal is lower
M mismatch factor than those of nodular iron and HAZs.
MEPS maximum equivalent plastic strain In this paper, the fracture toughness of under-matched
MST maximum stress triaxiality welded nodular cast iron with precracks prepared on differ-
n hardening exponent ent locations including base metal, weld metal and HAZ was
ST, h stress triaxiality determined by experimentally obtaining J-integral values. In
UM under-matched theoretical study, 3D models were fixed and finite element
WM weld metal analyses were performed for under-matched and annealed
specimens. In modeling of HAZ, the heat-affected region
Greek symbols was modeled as six different zones with different mechani-
ε strain cal properties. HAZs have considerably different mechanical
e Von Mises effective stress properties than base metal and weld metal, so we thought
h hydrostatic stress that these distinctive material properties must be taken into
m tensile stress account to obtain more reliable results. In order to clarify
 P0.2 0.2 offset yield strength the fracture behaviors of the specimens, stress triaxiality (ST)
y yield strength and plastic deformation characteristics around crack tip were
 Poisson’s ratio determined for various crack sizes and all crack locations
examined in experimental study. As a result, it is found that
various regions (BM, WM, HAZ) with different strength levels
The effect of mismatching on global deformation and frac- affect the expansion of plastic strain in pure and annealed
ture mechanics parameters (CTOD and J-integral) has recently specimens. Moreover, it is observed that the stress triaxiality
been investigated by characterizing crack initiation, growth and the equivalent plastic strain have higher values for longer
and instability in many structural materials using small and crack sizes. In the annealed models, stress triaxiality values
large-scale specimens (O’Dowd and Shih, 1991; Thaulow et al., appeared slightly lower but equivalent plastic strain values
1997; Xue and Shi, 1998; Fu and Shi, 1996). Fu and Shi (1996) became higher than those of under-matched models.
performed 2D finite element analyses in order to determine
triaxial stress state at crack tip for different yield strength mis-
match. Additionally, they tried to explain the effect of crack 2. Experimental study
length and material dissimilarity of weld and base metal on
stress triaxiality and plastic strain distribution but did not 2.1. Material
consider the mechanical properties of HAZs. Tang and Shi
(1995) also investigated the triaxial stress state at crack tip, Chemical compositions of nodular iron and weld metal are
crack tip opening displacement (CTOD), and J-integral frac- given in Table 1.
ture toughness without considering as the HAZ with different Standard tensile test specimens were prepared from the
mechanical properties. They have concluded that an increase nodular cast iron and extracted from the weld metal in
in stress triaxiality at crack tip due to constraint indicates order to determine mechanical properties of different regions.
some decrease in fracture toughness of welded structures. Tensile tests were conducted at room temperature on an
Additionally, By means of finite element analyses of plane Instron model 1114 tensile test machine. A crosshead speed of
strain crack tip stress fields from homogeneous and hetero- 1 mm min−1 was used in the tests. Table 2 shows the mechani-
geneous modified boundary layer formulations, as well as cal properties of the base and weld metal. The mismatch factor
homogeneous and mismatched full field solutions, a new determined from the yield strengths of the base and the weld
constraint parameter has been established for overmatched metal is 0.67.

Table 1 – Chemical composition of the nodular iron and the weld metal (mass percent)
Element Fe Ni C Cu Si Mn P S

Nodular iron Balance – 3.58 – 2.8 0.08 0.015 0.004

Weld metal 4 92 0.5 2 0.7 0.7 0.012 0.02
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190 185

Table 2 – Mechanical properties of the nodular iron and the weld metal
 P0.2 (MPa)  m (MPa) E (MPa) K (MPa) n  ε (%)

Nodular iron 325 518 168,000 650 0.44 0.31 11

Weld metal 218 490 218,000 660 0.52 0.31 25

Table 3 – Welding parameters

Welding process Cold arc welding
Joint design Double V groove
Electrodes DIN 8573—E Ni BG 22
Electrode diameter 3.25 mm
Welding arc current 100 A
Arc voltage 20 V
Number of pass 8

Fig. 2 – Four different crack locations and symmetric

A standard double V groove was machined to all nodu- boundary conditions.
lar cast iron plates having 60 mm length and 12 mm × 50 mm
cross-section and these plates were joined with Nickel elec-
trodes based on the condition given in Table 3. After welding
process, nodular iron weldments (12 mm in thickness, 122 mm
in length and 50 mm in width) were obtained. In a standard
Carl Zeiss microhardness tester, the Vickers microhardness
values were determined on the root and the cap regions along
the longitudinal direction of welded specimens.

2.2. J fracture toughness tests

The specimens were machined into the dimensions of

10 mm × 10 mm × 100 mm for three-point bending tests. Four
different locations on the samples were chosen to cut single
edge notches for the J fracture toughness tests. Notched spec-
imens were fatigued until the ratio of initial crack length to
bend specimen width became 0.5 in order to obtain fatigue
precracks prior to fracture toughness tests. Three point bend-
ing tests were conducted at room temperature on SHIMADZU
AG-50kNG universal testing machine. Single specimen tech-
nique involving an elastic compliance technique was used to
obtain J-integral values according to modified ASTM E 813-89
standard for non-homogenous materials (Gordon and Wang,
1992). Fig. 1 shows the load vs. load line displacement curve
of pre-cracked three point bend specimen for location 1.
Fig. 1 – Load vs. load line displacement (LLD) curve of
pre-cracked three-point bend specimen for location 1.
Fig. 3 – Details of mesh core for the crack location 1.
3. Numerical study
3.1. FE analysis
3D FE models of the specimens examined in fracture tough-
ness tests were prepared by using ANSYS programme for
different crack lengths. Only half of the thicknesses of the
samples were modeled because of the symmetry along y-axis
(Fig. 2). Stress triaxiality and equivalent plastic strain values
were obtained in some paths chosen along the longitudinal
direction and along the crack front on the surface and in the
center of the models. 3D model consists of about 19,621 nodes
20-node 6076 tetrahedral elements (Solid 95, ANSYS). Crack tip
region and three HAZs were more refined. Nonsingular ele-
ments were fixed around crack tip. Fig. 3 depicts the details of
mesh core for the crack location 1.
Tensile test results were used to calculate true stress–true
strain values of the weld and the base metal. Yield stress,
modulus of elasticity (E) and Poisson’s ratio () values were
entered to ANSYS software for elastic calculations. Data from
true stress versus true strain diagram were entered to program
point by point for plastic calculations. In HAZ, there is a peak in
microhardness values. Therefore, HAZ was characterized and
186 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190
modeled as three different regions with different mechanical
properties.
In order to determine yield strength and true stress–true
strain values of HAZs, a relationship between yield stress and
micro-hardness values was constructed by using a procedure
presented in (Eq. (1)) (Cetinel, 2007; Cetinel et al., 2004)
y = 0.9HV + 153 (1)
where HV is Vickers micro-hardness value (HV) and  y is the
yield strength (MPa). The yield strengths of HAZ1, HAZ2, and
HAZ3 were obtained 351, 504 and 342 MPa by using their micro-
hardness values of 220, 390 and 210 HV, respectively in Eq. (1).
The values of elasticity modulus were entered 168,000 MPa for
HAZs and Poisson’s ratios were entered 0.31 for all regions. In
order to enter true stress–true strain curves of plastic region
of HAZs, curves starting from yield strengths of HAZs were
drawn parallel to quenched material’s curve (Cetinel, 2007).
In some work, stress level coefficient (K) and strain hard-
ening exponent (n) have been used in order to characterize
 =  0 + Kεn ( 0 is yield stress for ε = 0, ε is plastic strain) for
nonlinear properties of materials. However, in this study, true
stress–true strain values of all regions were used for nonlin-
ear analyses in ANSYS software (Thaulow et al., 1997; Sayman
and Callioglu, 2000).
For numerical analysis, certain crack lengths were cho-
sen from load–crack growth curves determined by J fracture
tests. These crack lengths are 5, 5.05, 5.1, 5.2, 5.6 and 5.85 mm.
CMOD values for these crack lengths were determined from
load–CMOD curves obtained by J fracture tests. In FE analyses,
trial and error method was used to obtain the same CMOD
values with experimental ones for specific crack lengths. The
free variables were load, crack lengths and crack locations.
Stress triaxiality (ST) and equivalent plastic strain (EPS) val-
ues were determined after obtaining the same CMOD values
of experimental results.
3.2. Annealed models
Annealing treatment was considered to decrease yield
strength dissimilarities of the base metal, HAZ and the weld
metal. The aim is to increase toughness of the HAZ by decreas-
ing its strength. In order to determine the effect of annealing
on the stress triaxiality and the equivalent plastic strain of
welded specimens, true stress–true strain values were deter-
mined to be entered in the software. Welded specimens were
heated to 600 ◦ C and kept for 3 h at this temperature then left in
the furnace for slow cooling. Table 4 shows the yield strength
Table 4 – Microhardness and yield strengths of different regions of the plain and the annealed models
Weld metal Base metal
Annealed
Microhardness (80 g) (HV) 81
Yield strength (MPa) 104
Plain
Microhardness (80 g) (HV) 170
Yield strength (MPa) 218
Fig. 4 – True stress–strain curves of different regions on the
annealed models.
values of different regions of annealed specimens calculated
from Eq. (1) by using the measured microhardness values.
Table 4 also shows the microhardness and yield strengths of
different regions of plain specimens. True stress versus true
strain values of HAZ for plastic region were determined by the
same procedure mentioned above for under-matched models.
Fig. 4 indicates true stress versus true strain curves of the HAZ,
the base and the weld metal for annealed specimens.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Experimental results
Fig. 5 depicts the J-resistance curves obtained from fracture
toughness tests. Higher values of these J fracture toughness
mean higher resistance to crack propagation. The fracture
resistance of the base metal is lower than those of the other
crack locations. Weld metal has the maximum fracture tough-
ness values (crack location 1) and crack locations cut through
all of the regions have average fracture toughness values (loca-
tions 3 and 4). Location 4 has higher fracture toughness values
than location 3 and location 2. As seen in Fig. 2, the center part
of the crack on location 2 is between the weld metal and HAZ.
Plastic strains are constrained at HAZ boundary and there is a
small area in the weld metal, so plastic strains cannot spread
into HAZs easily and cause exhausting at the crack tip. Thus,
lower fracture toughness values occur. In location 4, in the cen-
ter of the model, the distance of the crack from HAZ is longer
than location 3, so plastic strains can easily spread along both
HAZ1 HAZ2 HAZ3
120 130 220 130
263 273 355 273
190 220 390 210
325 351 504 342
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190 187

Fig. 5 – J-resistance curves for the all locations (Cetinel,

2007).

directions. On the surface of the model, the part of the crack is

in the weld metal, so plastic strains can easily spread into weld
metal although its location is near the HAZ. Thus, location 4
has higher fracture toughness values than that of location 3.

4.2. Numerical results Fig. 6 – (a) Stress triaxiality and (b) equivalent plastic strain
values along y-axis around crack tip in the center and on
In Eq. (2), stress triaxiality (h) resulting from crack tip con- the surface of the under-matched, annealed and
straint is given by the ratio of the hydrostatic stress ( h ) over even-matched models for 5.2 mm crack length on the
the von Mises effective stress ( e ) location 2.
√
h (r, , z) 2
ST = h(r, , z) = = √ kk{ { (2)
e (r, , z) 3 3 ij ij

Figs. 6 and 7 depict the stress triaxiality (ST) and equiva-

lent plastic strain values along y-axis and along crack front
in the center and on the surface of the under-matched
(UM), annealed weldment and even-matched (EM) models for
5.2 mm crack length on the location 2. In y-axis, number 0 indi-
cates the crack tip. Crack location 2 is placed between the
base metal and the weld metal in the center of the model
whereas the other side of the crack front is in the weld metal
on the surface of the under-matched and the annealed mod-
els. In Figs. 6a and 7a, maximum stress triaxiality occurs at the
crack tip in the weld metal region in the center of the under-
matched and annealed models. On the surface, maximum
stress triaxiality values are lower than that of in the center.
The maximum stress triaxiality occurs at the crack tip because
of the symmetry. Stress triaxiality values at crack tip in the
center of the even-matched models are higher than those of
under-matched and annealed models. In Figs. 6b and 7b, max-
imum equivalent plastic strain values are given in the weld
metal region of under-matched and annealed weldment mod-
els. In even-matched model, equivalent plastic strain reaches
the maximum value on the surface because constraint in the
center limits the crack tip blunting. This means that material
becomes more brittle and J-integral toughness values decrease
for even-matched model. As seen in Figs. 6b and 7b, equiva- Fig. 7 – (a) Stress triaxiality and (b) equivalent plastic strain
lent plastic strain values at crack tip are higher on the surface values along crack front in the center and on the surface of
than that of in the center and decrease along crack front. the under-matched, annealed and even-matched models
Additionally, equivalent plastic strain values become higher for 5.2 mm crack length on the location 2.
188 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190
Fig. 8 – The results of stress triaxiality values at 0.01 mm
away from the crack tip vs. crack lengths in the center of
the (a) under-matched (b) annealed specimens comparing
with even-matched specimens for the all crack locations.
in the center than that of on the surface of the models. On
the surfaces of the annealed model, equivalent plastic strain
values become higher than those of under-matched and even-
matched models.
Fig. 8 depict the variation of stress triaxiality values with
crack length at 0.01 mm away from the crack tip in the center
of the even-matched, under-matched and annealed models
comparing with even-matched specimens for different crack
locations. As seen in Fig. 8a, even-matched models have the
higher stress triaxiality values for all crack lengths. In under-
matched models with different crack lengths on different
crack locations, higher stress triaxiality values occur on the
crack location 2 placed between base metal and weld metal,
because this crack location is the nearest one to HAZ where
plastic strain flow confined. This hindrance is more effec-
tive than those of other crack locations. In location 4, there
is a small volume between the crack tip and HAZ region.
Lower stress triaxiality values take place on the location 4
for shorter crack lengths but this situation changes with
growing crack length and the lowest stress triaxiality values
occur on the crack location 1. Fig. 8b shows the similar sit-
uation for annealed models. Lower stress triaxiality values
occur in annealed models for all crack locations than those
of even-matched models. On locations 2 and 3, higher stress
triaxiality values take place than those of locations 1 and 4.
In shorter crack lengths, stress triaxiality values on location 4
are lower than that of location 1. This situation changes with
the growing crack length for crack locations 1 and 4. Increase
Fig. 9 – The results of equivalent plastic strain values at
0.01 mm away from the crack tip vs. crack lengths in the
center of the (a) under-matched (b) annealed specimens
comparing with even-matched specimens for the all crack
locations.
in stress triaxiality values with crack length arises from differ-
ent regions with various work hardening exponents. Strengths
of different regions increase by plastic deformation or crack
growth. This increase is higher in the HAZ than these of the
base metal and the weld metal. Thus, mismatch between HAZ
and other regions increased by deformation, so constraint at
crack tip increased by plastic deformation or crack growth.
Fig. 9 depict the variation of equivalent plastic strain val-
ues with crack length at 0.01 mm ahead of crack tip in the
center of the even-matched, under-matched and annealed
models for different crack locations. As seen in Fig. 9a, for
shorter crack lengths, there is no significant difference in
equivalent plastic strain values among even-matched and
under-matched models including all crack locations, but with
increasing crack length, equivalent plastic strain values in
crack locations 1 and 2 on under-matched models get higher
than those of even-matched models and under-matched mod-
els with cracks in other location. In Fig. 9b, the same situation
can be observed for annealed models. There is no signifi-
cant difference in equivalent plastic strain values for shorter
crack lengths. Equivalent plastic strain values get lower with
increasing crack length for location 3 and 4 on annealed and
even-matched models. The increase in plastic deformation at
crack tip reduces the stress triaxiality. Plastic deformation at
crack tip may be exhausted if increase in equivalent plastic
strain becomes extensive due to the lack of extension into the
material. In even-matched models, these equivalent plastic
strain values do not change significantly. Equivalent plastic
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190
Fig. 10 – Equivalent plastic strain distribution (a) on the
surface and (b) in the center of the under-matched model
for 5 mm crack length in the crack location 3.
strain distribution in the material is also important concept
and it must be discussed.
In Fig. 10, equivalent plastic strain extension on the sur-
face and in the center of the under-matched model with 5 mm
crack length on the crack location 3 can be seen. Crack passes
through the base metal, weld metal and HAZ. On the surface of
the model, plastic strain does not cross the HAZ and so spread
into the weld metal for 5 mm crack length, but in the center,
plastic strain crosses the HAZ (Fig. 10). Weld metal has the
lowest yield strength, so during the bending procedure, this
region intends to deform plastically earlier than those of the
other regions (HAZ, BM). In the center of the model, plastic
strains across the HAZ as a combination of crack tip stresses
and the effect of bending on weld metal. But, on the surface
of the model where a part of the crack is in the weld metal
(Figs. 2 and 10a), this situation (traversing plastic strains the
HAZ) does not take place because plastic strains can spread
into weld metal easily due to its lower yield strength. Diffi-
culties in plastic strain passing through the HAZ cause extra
constraint.
Fig. 11 depicts the equivalent plastic strain extension on
the surface and in the center of the annealed model with
5 mm crack length on the crack location 3. Plastic strain cannot
189
Fig. 11 – Equivalent plastic strain distribution (a) on the
surface and (b) in the center of the annealed model for
5 mm crack length in the crack location 3.
pass the HAZ and spreads into weld metal on the surface of
the model (Fig. 11a). In Fig. 11b, plastic strain passes the HAZ
with discontinuous flow lines and the amount of plastic strain
becomes higher than those of the under-matched models.
Hindrance to plastic deformation increases the stress triaxi-
ality at crack tip, so higher stress triaxiality values occurred
in the under-matched models than those of the annealed
models.
5. Conclusion
1. In J-integral versus crack growth curves, weld metal shows
the maximum resistance to crack propagation. On the con-
trary, base metal is the lowest resistant region to crack
propagation. The other crack locations cut through the base
metal, HAZ and weld metal have the average J-integral
toughness values.
2. In FE analyses, higher stress triaxiality values occur at
crack tip in the center of even-matched (nodular iron) mod-
els for all crack lengths than those of under-matched and
annealed models, and these  h / e values are generally
diminished with the decreasing values of crack length. Loss
190 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 1 9 8 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 183–190
of constraint can occur if plasticity extends to a free sur-
face. In the case of a ductile layer (weld metal) between
HAZs, additional constraint of the plastic zone occurs when
plasticity extends across the weld metal. This constraint
also results in higher triaxial stresses ahead of crack tip.
The increasing constraint limits the crack tip blunting,
thereby raising local crack tip stresses.
3. Annealing treatment provides slightly lower stress triax-
iality values than that of under-matched models for all
crack lengths. Significant decrease in stress triaxiality val-
ues around crack tip could not be obtained by annealing
treatment because yield strengths of the HAZ, base and
weld metal decreased proportional to original state. In this
manner, annealing process must be discussed as expensive
and prolonged treatment in order to promote higher crack
propagation resistance.
4. In equivalent plastic strain distribution on the models,
plastic zone of the weld metal is larger than those of the
base metal and HAZ. When the mechanical property of
the weld metal is analyzed for the structure, the under-
matched welded metal may have greater strain, which
results in the crack opening driving force increasing. The
opposite conclusion can be reached for the HAZ and base
metal. Dissimilarity in the yield strength of the weld metal,
HAZ and base metal clearly affects the plastic strain exten-
sion. When the plastic zone expands to the HAZ, the
development of the plastic zone to base metal is sup-
pressed. Hindrance in plastic deformation shielding by HAZ
also causes high local strain hardening and high local mag-
nification in the strain rate. All of these result in increasing
the tendency of brittle fracture.
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