4/27/2020 CTOD Testing - TWI

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CTOD TESTING

  

The concept of fracture toughness was introduced in an earlier Connect article, Job

knowledge 71, which discussed the Charpy-V test, a simple qualitative test that gives only an

indication of the toughness of a metal.

The next few articles will look at the tests that enable fracture toughness to be accurately

measured in a quantitative manner by using a full size specimen containing a crack with

loading that is representative of service conditions.

This allows a tness-for-purpose analysis to be carried out which enables a critical defect

size to be calculated. Thus, prior to fabrication, realistic acceptance standards can be set

and decisions on appropriate NDE techniques and detection sensitivities can be made.

For equipment already in service, it is possible to justify the continued use of cracked or

otherwise awed components until such time as repair or replacement can be e ected.

Such engineering critical assessments can save an operator large amounts of time and
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money, running into perhaps hundreds of millions of pounds in the case of an oil rig for
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example. Whilst the Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) test was developed for the
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characterisation of metals it >
has also been used to determine the toughness of non-

metallics such as weldable plastics.

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4/27/2020 CTOD Testing - TWI

The CTOD test is one such fracture toughness test that is used when some plastic

deformation can occur prior to failure - this allows the tip of a crack to stretch and open,

hence 'tip opening displacement'.

Unlike the inexpensive 10mm by 10mm square Charpy-V test piece with a blunt machined

notch, the CTOD specimen may be the full thickness of the material, will contain a genuine

crack and will be loaded at a rate more representative of service conditions. Conventionally

three tests are carried out at the relevant temperature to ensure consistency of results.

The test piece itself is 'proportional' - the length, depth and thickness of each specimen are

inter-related so that, irrespective of material thickness, each specimen has the same

proportions.

There are two basic forms - a square or a rectangular cross section specimen. If the

specimen thickness is de ned as 'B', the depth (W) will be either B or 2B with a standard

length of 4.6W. A notch is machined at the centre and then extended by generating a

fatigue crack so that the total 'defect' length is half the depth of the test piece- see Fig.1. A

test on a 100mm thick weld will therefore require a specimen measuring 100mm thick,

200mm wide and 920mm long - an expensive operation, the validity of which can only be

determined once the test has been completed.

Fig.1. Proportional rectangular cross section CTOD specimen

The test is performed by placing the specimen into three point bending and measuring the

amount of crack opening. This is done

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Fig.2. Typical test arrangement. The specimen can be easily immersed in a cooling bath

As bending proceeds, the crack tip plastically deforms until a critical point is reached when

the crack has opened su ciently to initiate a cleavage crack. This may lead to either partial

or complete failure of the specimen. The test may be performed at some minimum

temperature eg the minimum design temperature or, more rarely, at a range of

temperatures.

The values that are required for the calculation of toughness are rstly the load at which

fracture occurs and secondly the amount by which the crack has opened at the point of

crack propagation (Fig.3).

Fig.3. PositionSubscribe to our newsletter

of CTOD specimen to receive
immediately prior the
to crack propagation
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Since the length of the crack and the opening at the mouth of the notch are known it is a
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simple matter to calculate the crack tip opening by simple geometry. Whilst the test is in

progress the results are recorded automatically on a load/displacement chart (Fig. 4). This

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4/27/2020 CTOD Testing - TWI

illustrates the various shapes of curve that may be produced - (a) is a test where the test

piece has fractured in a brittle manner with little or no plastic deformation. (b) exhibits a

'pop-in' where the brittle crack initiates but only propagates a short distance before it is

arrested in tougher material - this may occur several times giving the curve a saw tooth

appearance or after this one pop-in deformation may continue in a ductile manner as in (c)

which shows completely plastic behaviour.

Fig.4. Load vs crack opening displacement curves showing three types of fracture behaviour

The location of the notch in the weld HAZ or parent metal is important as an incorrectly

positioned fatigue crack will not sample the required area, making the test invalid. To be

certain that the crack tip is in the correct region, polishing and etching followed by a

metallurgical examination are often carried out prior to machining the notch and fatigue

cracking. This enables the notch to be positioned very accurately. Examination may also be

carried out after testing as further con rmation of the validity of the test results.

Once the sample is broken open the crack surface is examined to ensure that the fatigue

crack has a reasonably straight front. The residual stresses present in a welded joint may

cause the fatigue crack front to be irregular - if this is excessive the test may be invalid. To

overcome this problem the test piece may be locally compressed at the machined notch tip

to redistribute the residual stress.

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Two depressions each side of the sample can often be seen where this compression has
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been carried out. The fatigue cracking itself should be carried out using a low stress range.
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The use of high stresses to speed up the fatigue cracking process can result in a large

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4/27/2020 CTOD Testing - TWI

plastically deformed area ahead of the fatigue crack and this will invalidate the results of

the test.

Other causes of test failure can unfortunately only be determined once the test has been

completed and the crack surface examined. The precise length of the fatigue crack is

measured - this is required for the analysis - but if the length of the crack is not within the

limits required by the speci cation the test is invalid. If the fatigue crack is not in a single

plane, if the crack is at an angle to the machined notch or if the crack is not in the correct

region the test may need to be repeated.

Related speci cations

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BS Parts 1- 4 Fracture Mechanics Toughness

7448 Tests

BS Guide on Methods for Assessing the

7910 Acceptability of Flaws in Metallic
Structures.

ASTM Standard Test Method for Measurement

E1820 of Fracture Toughness. 

BS EN 15653 Metallic Materials - Method of test

ISO for the determination of quasistatic

fracture toughness of welds

This article was written by Gene Mathers.

For more information please email:

contactus@twi.co.uk

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Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6AL, UK

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+44(0)1223 899000

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