Plane Strain Crack Toughness Testing of High Strength Metallic Materials

This report deals with the design and testing of crack-notched specimens for determination of the resistance of high strength metallic materials to unstable opening-mode crack extension under plane strain conditions. Test methods concerned with subcritical crack extension due to repeated loading or aggressive environments are not discussed. It is assumed that the reader will be familiar with the terminology and concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanics used in earlier reports of ASTM Committee E-24 on Fracture Testing of Metals [1–5]. Much of the background has been thoroughly reviewed recently [6].