Experimental and numerical investigations on brittle failure probability and ductile resistance property

The scatter of measured fracture toughness data and the transferability of toughness between different crack configurations and loading conditions are major obstacles in applications of fracture mechanics. To address these issues, worldwide, significant efforts have been devoted to establishment of the local approach. The purpose of this work is to further investigate both brittle rupture and ductile rupture of typical nuclear materials by using miniature specimens. Systematic finite element analyses as well as corresponding fracture toughness tests are performed with respect to compact tension and pre-cracked V-notched specimens. Subsequently, assessment of brittle failure probabilities and estimation of fracture resistance curves are carried out. Promising results have been observed through comparisons between experimental and numerically predicted data, which enables one to determine practical safety margins of nuclear components containing a defect.