Tensile Fracture of Ductile Materials

For brittle materials, circular voids play an important role relative to fracture, intensifing both tensile and compressive stresses. A maximum intensified tensile stress failure criterion applies quite well to brittle materials. An attempt was made to explore the possibility of extending the approach to the tensile fracture of ductile materials. The three dimensional voids that exist in reality are modelled by circular holes in sheet metal. Mathematical relationships are sought between the shape and size of the hole, after the material is plastically deformed, and the amount of deformation induced. Then, the effect of hole shape, size and orientation on the mechanical properties is considered experimentally. The presence of the voids does not affect the ultimate tensile strength of the ductile materials because plastic flow wipes out the stress intensification caused by them. However, the shape and orientation of the defect is found to play an important role in affecting the strain at fracture.