The results from the study of the fracture processes will be used for a cohesive zone model for simulation of the competition between cleavage fracture and ductile rupture. The objective is to increase the understanding of the mechanisms leading to dynamic crack embrittlement and crack arrest. Toughness testing at elevated load rates. Efforts are made to characterize and predict loading rate and geometry dependencies of fracture toughness data, i.e., transferability. The principal objective is to determine the sensitivity to loading rate for ordinary structural steels at low temperatures.
Materials affected by welding are of particular interest.
Our results are applied to assess defect tolerance and residual life of older structures, e.g., railway bridges. Fracture of layered materials and coatings. Several ongoing projects are investigating the effects of cracks interacting with interfaces between materials with different properties. Effects of plasticity are studied. The objectives are to clarify conditions for crack tip shielding.