Heavy-section fracture toughness screening specimen

The reported study has the objective to fix the proportions and limits of application of a double-edge-notch specimen with one of the notches tipped with a fatigue crack (DENC). Details regarding the DENC specimen are discussed, taking into account specimen length, notch length, specimen width and thickness, and the loading pins. The influence of specimen width and thickness on the crack strenght and apparent plane-strain fracture toughness of the specimen has been determined for eight alloys. It is concluded that the DENC specimen shows promise for screening alloys with reference to their plane-strain fracture toughness in sections up to 1 in.