Fracture toughness evaluation of 20MnMoNi55 pressure vessel steel in the ductile to brittle transition regime: Experiment & numerical simulations

In this work, fracture behaviour of 20MnMoNi55 reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steel in the ductile to brittle transition regime (DBTT) is characterised. Compact tension (CT) and single edged notched bend (SENB) specimens of two different sizes were tested in the DBTT regime. Reference temperature 'T0' was evaluated according to the ASTM E1921 standard. The effect of size and geometry on the T0 was studied and T0 was found to be lower for SENB geometry. In order to understand the fracture behaviour numerically, finite element (FE) simulations were performed using Beremin's model for cleavage and Rousselier's model for ductile failure mechanisms. The simulated fracture behaviour was found to be in good agreement with the experiment.