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CTODtestingJobKnowledge76
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CTODTesting
JobKnowledge76
TheconceptoffracturetoughnesswasintroducedinanearlierConnectarticle,Jobknowledge71,whichdiscussedthe
CharpyVtest,asimplequalitativetestthatgivesonlyanindicationofthetoughnessofametal.
Thenextfewarticleswilllookattheteststhatenablefracturetoughnesstobeaccuratelymeasuredinaquantitative
mannerbyusingafullsizespecimencontainingacrackwithloadingthatisrepresentativeofserviceconditions.
Thisallowsafitnessforpurposeanalysistobecarriedoutwhichenablesacriticaldefectsizetobecalculated.Thus,
priortofabrication,realisticacceptancestandardscanbesetanddecisionsonappropriateNDEtechniquesand
detectionsensitivitiescanbemade.
Forequipmentalreadyinservice,itispossibletojustifythecontinueduseofcrackedorotherwiseflawedcomponents
untilsuchtimeasrepairorreplacementcanbeeffected.Suchengineeringcriticalassessmentscansaveanoperator
largeamountsoftimeandmoney,runningintoperhapshundredsofmillionsofpoundsinthecaseofanoilrigfor
example.WhilsttheCrackTipOpeningDisplacement(CTOD)testwasdevelopedforthecharacterisationofmetalsit
hasalsobeenusedtodeterminethetoughnessofnonmetallicssuchasweldableplastics.
TheCTODtestisonesuchfracturetoughnesstestthatisusedwhensomeplasticdeformationcanoccurpriorto
failurethisallowsthetipofacracktostretchandopen,hence'tipopeningdisplacement'.
Unliketheinexpensive10mmby10mmsquareCharpyVtestpiecewithabluntmachinednotch,theCTODspecimen
maybethefullthicknessofthematerial,willcontainagenuinecrackandwillbeloadedataratemorerepresentative
ofserviceconditions.Conventionallythreetestsarecarriedoutattherelevanttemperaturetoensureconsistencyof
results.
Thetestpieceitselfis'proportional'thelength,depthandthicknessofeachspecimenareinterrelatedsothat,
irrespectiveofmaterialthickness,eachspecimenhasthesameproportions.
Therearetwobasicformsasquareorarectangularcrosssectionspecimen.Ifthespecimenthicknessisdefinedas
'B',thedepth(W)willbeeitherBor2Bwithastandardlengthof4.6W.Anotchismachinedatthecentreandthen
extendedbygeneratingafatiguecracksothatthetotal'defect'lengthishalfthedepthofthetestpieceseeFig.1.A
testona100mmthickweldwillthereforerequireaspecimenmeasuring100mmthick,200mmwideand920mmlong
anexpensiveoperation,thevalidityofwhichcanonlybedeterminedoncethetesthasbeencompleted.

Fig.1.ProportionalrectangularcrosssectionCTODspecimen

Thetestisperformedbyplacingthespecimenintothreepointbendingandmeasuringtheamountofcrackopening.
Thisisdonebymeansofastraingaugeattachedtoaclipplacedbetweentwoaccuratelypositionedknifeedgesat
themouthofthemachinednotch(Fig.2)

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Fig.2.Typicaltestarrangement.Thespecimencanbe
easilyimmersedinacoolingbath

Asbendingproceeds,thecracktipplasticallydeformsuntilacriticalpointisreachedwhenthecrackhasopened
sufficientlytoinitiateacleavagecrack.Thismayleadtoeitherpartialorcompletefailureofthespecimen.Thetest
maybeperformedatsomeminimumtemperatureegtheminimumdesigntemperatureor,morerarely,atarangeof
temperatures.
Thevaluesthatarerequiredforthecalculationoftoughnessarefirstlytheloadatwhichfractureoccursandsecondly
theamountbywhichthecrackhasopenedatthepointofcrackpropagation(Fig.3).

Fig.3.PositionofCTODspecimen
immediatelypriortocrack
propagation

Sincethelengthofthecrackandtheopeningatthemouthofthenotchareknownitisasimplemattertocalculate
thecracktipopeningbysimplegeometry.Whilstthetestisinprogresstheresultsarerecordedautomaticallyona
load/displacementchart(Fig.4).Thisillustratesthevariousshapesofcurvethatmaybeproduced(a)isatest
wherethetestpiecehasfracturedinabrittlemannerwithlittleornoplasticdeformation.(b)exhibitsa'popin'
wherethebrittlecrackinitiatesbutonlypropagatesashortdistancebeforeitisarrestedintoughermaterialthis
mayoccurseveraltimesgivingthecurveasawtoothappearanceorafterthisonepopindeformationmaycontinue
inaductilemannerasin(c)whichshowscompletelyplasticbehaviour.

Fig.4.Loadvscrackopening
displacementcurvesshowingthree
typesoffracturebehaviour
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ThelocationofthenotchintheweldHAZorparentmetalisimportantasanincorrectlypositionedfatiguecrackwill
notsampletherequiredarea,makingthetestinvalid.Tobecertainthatthecracktipisinthecorrectregion,
polishingandetchingfollowedbyametallurgicalexaminationareoftencarriedoutpriortomachiningthenotchand
fatiguecracking.Thisenablesthenotchtobepositionedveryaccurately.Examinationmayalsobecarriedoutafter
testingasfurtherconfirmationofthevalidityofthetestresults.
Oncethesampleisbrokenopenthecracksurfaceisexaminedtoensurethatthefatiguecrackhasareasonably
straightfront.Theresidualstressespresentinaweldedjointmaycausethefatiguecrackfronttobeirregularifthis
isexcessivethetestmaybeinvalid.Toovercomethisproblemthetestpiecemaybelocallycompressedatthe
machinednotchtiptoredistributetheresidualstress.
Twodepressionseachsideofthesamplecanoftenbeseenwherethiscompressionhasbeencarriedout.Thefatigue
crackingitselfshouldbecarriedoutusingalowstressrange.Theuseofhighstressestospeedupthefatigue
crackingprocesscanresultinalargeplasticallydeformedareaaheadofthefatiguecrackandthiswillinvalidatethe
resultsofthetest.

Othercausesoftestfailurecanunfortunatelyonlybedeterminedoncethetesthasbeencompletedandthecrack
surfaceexamined.Thepreciselengthofthefatiguecrackismeasuredthisisrequiredfortheanalysisbutifthe
lengthofthecrackisnotwithinthelimitsrequiredbythespecificationthetestisinvalid.Ifthefatiguecrackisnotin
asingleplane,ifthecrackisatanangletothemachinednotchorifthecrackisnotinthecorrectregionthetestmay
needtoberepeated.

Relatedspecifications
BS
Parts14FractureMechanicsToughness
7448 Tests
BS
GuideonMethodsforAssessingthe
7910 AcceptabilityofFlawsinMetallicStructures.
ASTM StandardTestMethodforMeasurementof
E1820 FractureToughness.
15653MetallicMaterialsMethodoftestfor
BSEN
thedeterminationofquasistaticfracture
ISO
toughnessofwelds
ThisarticlewaswrittenbyGeneMathers.

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