Analysis of Statistical Scatter in Charpy Impact Toughness

Abstract

Charpy impact toughness values show large statistical scatter, particularly in the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) range. Although the statistical distribution of Charpy absorbed energy has not been clarified, critical values of the stress intensity factor, J-integral and crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD) at brittle fracture generally show the Weibull distribution with two or three parameters. This study proposes a brittle fracture model, based on the weakest link theory, for evaluating the scatter in Charpy absorbed energy KV. The numerical results show that the amplitude of the opening stress fields ahead of the V-notch at varying amounts of KV are uniquely characterized as the square of the applied load. With these numerical results, the Weibull shape parameter of the statistical distribution of KV is almost equal to 2. The proposed statistical model is verified through experimental results. It is found that the statistical distribution of KV is characterized by a two-parameter Weibull distribution with the shape parameter of 2 under the condition of pure brittle fracture.