ON ESTIMATION OF MAXIMUM THICKNESS OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS TO PREVENT CLEAVAGE FRACTURE

摘要

The European Standard EN 1993-1-10 contains design guidance to determine the maximum permitted thickness of the structural element made of steel. The element thickness should be smaller than the maximum value to avoid brittle fracture. The standard includes a table where the maximum thicknesses are listed for different steel grades, temperatures and loading. However, no theoretical justification for these recommendations is given. We derive a simple formula for the maximum permitted thickness that includes, in addition to the parameters in European Standard, the following parameters or quantities: the secondary stresses following from the welding process or temperature gradients, the shape and size of the structural element, the tensile properties of the material, the fracture toughness, the probability of fracture, and the in-plane constraint parameter, e.g. the Q-parameter.