• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제72권3호
• /
• pp.313-327
• /
• 2019

Damage evolution in the form of void nucleation, propagation and coalescence is the primary cause that is responsible for the ductile failure of microalloyed steels. The Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) damage model has proven to be extremely robust for characterizing the microscopic damage behavior of ductile metals. Nonetheless, successful applications of the model on a given metal type are limited by the correct identification of damage parameters as well as the validation of the calculated void growth rate. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, we aim to identify the damage parameters of the GTN model for Q345 steel (Chinese code), due to its extensive application in mechanical and civil industries in China. The identification of damage parameters is facilitated by the well-suited response surface methodology, followed by a complete analysis of variance for evaluating the statistical significance of the identified model. Second, taking notched Q345 cylinders as an example, finite element simulations implemented with the identified GTN model are performed in order to analyze their microscopic damage behavior. In particular, the void growth rate predicted from the simulations is successfully correlated with experimentally measured acoustic emissions. The quantitative correlation suggests that during the yielding stage the void growth rate increases linearly with the acoustic emissions, while in the strain-hardening and softening period the dependence becomes an exponential function. The combined experimental and finite element approach provides a means for validating simulated void growth rate against experimental measurements of acoustic emissions in microalloyed steels.