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Fracture mechanics in design and service: ‘living with defects’ - Assessment of defects: the c.o.d. approach

In welded construction particular problems arise with the application of fracture mechanics for the assessment of the effect of defects on structural performance. In many practical cases the use of plane strain linear elastic fracture mechanics methods is invalidated by the actual material thicknesses of interest, by residual stresses or by local stress concentration effects, and by local yielding. The crack opening displacement approach was originally devised as a means of extending linear elastic methods to more widespread application to welded structures. This required the development of a means of assessing fracture toughness, and a means of relating this fracture toughness to the applied loading conditions, and to sizes and types of defects which might be present. The success of this method of assessing defects over a period of some 10-12 years will be illustrated, together with a discussion of the inherent limitations of the approach and possible improvements resulting from recent research into slow tearing and design curve relationships.