On catastrophic fracture of steel structures at temperatures lower than cold brittleness threshold

摘要

The paper considers crack propagation in elements of homogeneous steel structures and those with welded joints. For analysis of failure of the structures, diagrams of quasi-brittle fracture have been plotted. When constructing quasi-brittle fracture diagrams, the model of elastic-plastic material having an ultimate strain was used. The data report for quasi-brittle fracture diagrams of common elements of structures has been given. Analysis of parameters used in the proposed model was carried out for temperatures near or lower the brittleness threshold. Parameters of the model are selected from two laboratory experiments (critical stress intensity factor and classical stress-strain diagram) performed at appropriate temperatures. It has been established that weld structures with cracks in the vicinity of a welded joint exhibit decreased crack toughness. The effect of structure break under monotonic loading conditions is clearly visible inasmuch as ultimate loads essentially decrease with increasing a crack length. The attention is given to the parameter characterizing plastic material deformation and exhaustion of plasticity resource under preliminary plastic material deformation. After the plasticity resource is exhausted, the temperature of brittleness threshold approaches a room temperature.