Blunt defect assessment in the framework of the failure assessment diagram

In order to reduce over-conservatism in fitness-for-service assessment procedures, experimental evidence and recent analytical developments recognise the importance of considering the actual shape of non-sharp flaws and/or the real geometric constraint conditions at the crack tip. This paper addresses the effect of blunt defects on the structural integrity assessment of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and pipeline steels. Parametric studies for compact tension specimens with various notch root radii are performed using finite element analysis. The notch fracture toughness, the resistance to the onset of ductile cracking and the J-integral, quantifying the notch driving force, are evaluated. A stress-modified fracture strain model is used as a virtual testing method. The results are analyzed in the framework of the failure assessment diagram (FAD), showing that the existing shape of the FAD is also suitable for assessments of blunt defects and how the concepts introduced can be used to reduce the conservatism in defect assessment, define margins on failure and indicate when plastic collapse is the dominant failure mechanism.