Analysis of Environmentally Assisted Cracking Processes in Notched Steels Using the Point Method

This paper proposes the use of the Point Method (PM) to analyse Environmentally Assisted Cracking (EAC) processes in steels containing U-shaped notches. The PM, a methodology included within the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD), has been extensively validated by many authors for the analysis of fracture and fatigue phenomena of different types of materials containing notches. However, it has never been applied to other critical or subcritical cracking processes such as EAC or creep crack propagation.
This work provides a PM-based analysis of EAC emanating from notches, which is validated by testing CT notched specimens of X80 and S420 steels subjected to aggressive environments under hydrogen embrittlement conditions.
The results reveal that the PM accurately predicts the crack propagation onset condition, as well as the evolution of the material’s apparent EAC resistance.