Experimental study of ّFafracture Surface Characteristics of Inhomogeneous Drop Weight Tear Test Specimen Made from API X65 Steel

Authors

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birjand, Birjand

Abstract

In this study, the fractograghy of the inhomogeneous specimen (including seam weld) of API X65 steel was performed, for the first time by the drop weight tear test. The fracture surface of the test specimen consisted of three zones of base metal, heat affected zone and weld metal. The test was performed according to API 5L standard. The crack initiated with a cleavage flat fracture from notch root and continued up to 14.7 mm from the fracture path. The cleavage fracture immediately changed to a ductile shear fracture with a 45 degree angle to the surface plane, which continued to the inverse fracture zone. SEM images of all three zone of the base metal, heat affected zone and weld metal showed signs of ductile fracture, including dimples of varying size, orientation and shape. Also, faint chevron marks with high density were observed in the root of crack in the base metal. Furthermore, in the hammer impact zone, an inverse cleavage fracture was observed, which was enclosed on both sides by shear surfaces with an angle of 45 degrees. The calculated ductile fracture surface was within the standard range and indicated the confirmed toughness of these steels for the use in gas transportation pipe lines.

Keywords


[1] Standard Test Method for Drop-Weight Tear Tests of Ferritic Steels (2008) ASTM E436-03.
[2] Sung HK, Sohn SS, Shin SY, Lee S, Kim NJ, Chon SH, Yoo JY (2012) Effects of finish rolling temperature on inverse fracture occurring during drop weight tear test of API X80 pipeline steels. Mater Sci and Eng A. 181-189.
[3] Yang Z, Kim CB, Feng Y, Cho CH (2008) Abnormal fracture appearance in drop-weight tear test specimens of pipeline steel. Mat Sci Eng A-Struct 483(1): 239-241.
[4] Yang Z (2014) The fracture during drop-weight tear test of high performance pipeline steel and its abnormal fracture appearance. Proc Mater Sci 3: 1591-1598.
[5] Hwang B, Lee S, Kim YM, Kim NJ, Yoo JY, Woo ChS (2004) Analysis of abnormal fracture occurring during drop-weight tear test of high-toughness line-pipe Steel. Mat Sci Eng A-Struct 368: 18-27.
[6] Amanoa T, Fujishirob T, Shinohara Y, Inoue Y (2016) Evaluation of pre-strain effect on abnormal fracture occurrence in drop-weight tear test for linepipe steel with high charpy energy. Procedia Struc Integ 2: 422-429.
 [7] Kobayashi T, Kim H, Morita S (2001) Progress and development in instrumented charpy impact test.  Materialwiss Werkst 32(6): 525-531.
[8] Fang J, Zhang J, Wang L (2014) Evaluation of cracking behavior and critical CTOA values of pipeline steel from DWTT specimens. Eng Fract Mech 124-125: 18-29.
[9] El-Danaf E, Baig M, Almajid A, Alshalfan W, Al-Mojil M (2013) Mechanical, microstructure and texture characterization of API X65 steel. Mater Design 47: 529-538.
[10] Majidi Jirandehi AA, Hashemi SH (2018) Investigation of macroscopic fracture surface characteristics of spiral welded API X65 gas transportation pipeline steel. Modares Mechanical Engineering 17(11): 219-228.
[11] Hashemi SH, Mohammadyani D (2012) Characterisation of weldment hardness, impact energy and microstructure in API X65 steel. Int J Pres Ves Pip 98: 8-15
[12] Hashemi SH (2011) Strength–hardness statistical correlation in API X65 steel. Mat Sci Eng A-Struct 528: 1648-1655.
[13] American Petroleum Institute (1996) API RP 5L3 recommended practice conducting drop-weight tear test on line pipe. 3rd ed. Washington DC.
[14] American Petroleum Institute (2013) API specifications 5L, specifications for line pipe. 43rd edn.
[15] Becker WT, Lampman S (2002) Fracture appearance and mechanisms of deformation and fracture. Vol 11. ASM Handbook.
[16] Broek D (1982) Elementary engineering fracture mechanics. 3th edn. Kluwer, Boston.
[17] Sowards J, McCowan CN, Drexler ES (2012) Interpretation and significance of reverse chevron-shaped markings on fracture surfaces of API X100 pipeline steels Mat Sci Eng A-Struct 551: 140-148.
[18] Hashemi SH (2012) Comparative study of fracture appearance in crack tip opening angle
testing of gas pipeline steels. Mat Sci Eng A-Struct 558: 702-715.
[19] Hashemi SH, Sedghi S, Soleymani V, Mohammadyani D (2012) CTOA levels of welded joint in API X70 pipe steel. Eng Frac Mech 82: 46-59.
[20] El-Naaman SA, Nielsen KL (2013) Observations on mode I ductile tearing in sheet metals. Eur J Mech A-Solid 42: 54-62.
[21] Hertzberg RW, Vinci RP, Hertzberg JL (2012) Deformation and fracture mechanics of engineering materials. 5th edn. Wiley, New York.