Experimental – Numerical Analysis of Stress State in Front of the Crack Tip of Modified and Unmodified G17CrMo5-5 Cast Steel by Rare Earth Metals in a Brittle-Ductile Transition Region

In the paper presented experimental data and numerical analysis of stress distribution in front of the crack of two melts of low-alloy G17CrMo5-5 cast steel-modified (M) by rare earth metals and original, unmodified (UM) in the temperature range, according to the brittle-ductile transition region. Experimental tests include determination of the tensile properties and fracture toughness characteristics for the UM and M cast steel. Numerical analysis includes determination of stress distribution in front of the crack at the initial moment of the crack extension. In the numerical computations, experimentally tested specimens SEN(B) were modeled. The true stress-strain curves for the UM and M cast steel were used in the calculation. It was shown that the maximum of the opening stresses at the initial moment of the crack extension occurs in the axis of the specimens and reaches similar level of about 3.5σ0 for both UM and M cast steel. However, the length of the critical distance, measured for stress level equal 3σ0, is great for the M in comparison to the UM cast steel. Also was shown that the UM cast steel increased the level of the stress state triaxiality parameters that resulted in a decrease of fracture toughness