Proceedings of the 2012 9th International Pipeline Conference IPC2012 September 24-28, 2012, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

IPC2012-90165
EFFECT OF PLASTIC DEFORMATION ON OCCURRENCE OF ABNORMAL FRACTURE DURING DWTT
Taishi FUJISHIRO Nippon Steel Corporation Kimtsu R&D lab. 1 Kimitsu Kimitsu Chiba Japan 299-1141 Takuya HARA Nippon Steel Corporation Kimtsu R&D lab. 1 Kimitsu Kimitsu Chiba Japan 299-1141 Shuji AIHARA The University of Tokyo Department of Systems Innovation 73-1 Hongo Bunkyo Tokyo Japan 113-8656

ABSTRACT Demand for natural gas using LNG and pipelines to supply the worlds gas markets is increasing. Under the large demand for high-strength linepipe, crack arrestability is one of the most important properties. DWTT (Drop Weight Tear Test) is the major test method for evaluating crack arrestability. Generally, a DWTT shear area of 85% or higher is required as the acceptance criteria, such as those of the API (American Petroleum Institute). In high-toughness linepipe steels, the abnormal fracture frequently occurs in DWTT. Abnormal fracture is defined as a cleavage fracture on the hammer side. However, the mechanism for occurrence of the abnormal fracture during DWTT has not been fully clarified. This paper describes the effect of plastic deformation on occurrence of abnormal fracture during DWTT using various steels with different microstructures. Each DWTT was carried out at the same test temperature using 20 mm plates with approximately the same tensile strength. This paper describes the deformation during DWTT, which consists of deformation caused by hammer impact, bending compression, and bending tension. The deformation due to the impact of the hammer during DWTT on a 20 mm plate was limited, and the location affected by the hammer impact did not correspond to that where abnormal fracture occurred. Moreover, the equivalent plastic strain from bending deformation was dominant as compared with that of hammer impact regardless of the microstructure. This suggests that abnormal fracture occurred by exceeding the critical equivalent plastic strain due to the bending deformation. INTRODUCTION The demand for natural gas using LNG and pipelines to supply the world gas markets is increasing as a substitute for oil and coal. The use of high-strength linepipe leads to a reduction in the cost of gas transmission pipelines, thus enabling high-

pressure transmission of large volumes of gas, and accordingly, many high-strength line pipe materials have been developed over the last few decades around the world. With regard to these large demand for high-strength line pipe, crack arrestability is one of the most important properties for line pipe reliability. In fact, it is essential that cracks are arrested, even if brittle fractures occur from welds, such as those in girth welds. Cracks must also be arrested if the line pipe body is subject to ductile fracture. The DWTT is one of the primary testing methods for evaluating the crack arrestability of brittle fractures. In the past, ductile-to-brittle transition curves obtained from full-scale burst tests almost coincided with those obtained from DWTT, although the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Temperature from full-scale burst tests was different from that of Charpy Vnotched test [1]. In particular, the DWTT evaluates whether a ductile crack is transferred from a brittle fracture after a brittle crack is initiated just under the notch. Previous results indicated that if the crack speed was lower than 450 m/s, the crack was arrested during a full crack burst test, with regard to line pipes with a DWTT shear area of more than 40% [1]. Generally, a DWTT shear area of 85% or higher is required for acceptable ductility, such as to meet the API specification, because of the DWTT shear area scattering being taken into account in the circumferential direction. In high-toughness linepipe steels, a shear fracture frequently initiates at the notch of the DWTT specimen and a cleavage fracture often occurs on the hammer side, as shown in Fig. 1. This fracture is called as an abnormal (or inverse) fracture. Here, we focus on the abnormal fracture that the cleavage fracture appears on the hammer side. Concerning the mechanism for the occurrence of the abnormal fracture, it is reported that the abnormal fracture is mainly formed by work hardening due to hammer impact [2]. In addition, the work

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Fig. 1 Schematic illustrations of DWTT fracture appearances. (a) Normal fracture (b) Abnormal (or Inverse) fracture hardening due to compressive pre-strain was correlated with the size of the abnormal fracture, based on the results of hardness and indentation tests on the hammer-impacted region [3,4]. It is also reported that high compressive pre-strain was introduced on the hammer side of the DWTT specimen as both the threepoint bending and the hammer impact affected the hammerimpacted region [5]. However, the deformation behavior and mechanism for the occurrence of abnormal fracture during DWTT have not been fully understood. In this study, deformation behavior during DWTT was investigated using various steels with different microstructure. DWTT was conducted at the same test temperature using 20 mm plates with approximately the same tensile strength. The deformation behavior at the surface of the DWTT specimen was measured using a high-speed camera. In addition, the equivalent plastic strain was calculated from the strain measurement. The focus is to show which deformation is dominant for abnormal fracture; the deformation due to hammer impact or bending. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Material A 300-ton slab with a chemical composition given in Table 1 was melted in a converter and continuously cast. 100-mmthick slabs without center segregation were cut from the continuously cast 240-mm-thick slabs. The 100 mm slabs without center segregation, after being austenized, were rolled into 20-mm-thick plates and accelerate-cooled. TMCP (Thermo-Mechanical Control Process) conditions and tempering conditions are provided in Table 2. A grain

refinement effect in the case of FB steel reheated at 1000 oC can be expected as compared with the other steels reheated at 1200 o C. Formation of bainite structure can be expected for the C-B steel whose start cooling temperature is above the Ar3 point which means the austenite-to-ferrite transformation temperature. By contrast, formation of ferrite-bainite structure can be expected for other steels whose start cooling temperature is below the Ar3 point. All plates were accelerate-cooled to room temperature (RT) after rolling. Then, the plate whose start cooling temperature was above Ar3 point was tempered at 500 o C in order to reduce its strength to the same level as the other plates of which start cooling temperature was below Ar3 point. The microstructures of these plates were observed using an optical microscope. The strength of these plates was also measured using a tensile test. The round bar tensile specimens (6 mm diameter, gage length = 24 mm) for the transverse direction were taken from the mid-thickness of the plates and tensile tests were conducted at room temperature. Table 1 Chemical compositions of tested steels. (mass%)

Fe bal.

C 0.04

Si 0.33

Mn 1.55

Others Ni, Cr, Mo, Nb, Ti

Table 2 TMCP conditions and tempering conditions of tested steels.

Steel C-B C-FB FB 1000 Reheating Start cooling Stop cooling Tempering temperature, temperature, temperature, temperature, / oC 1200 / oC >Ar3 <Ar3 / oC RT / oC 500 -

DWTT properties The DWTTs were conducted at 20 oC and the DWTT shear areas were measured in accordance with API 5L/ISO (International organization for standardization) 3183. Fig. 2 shows the shape of the DWTT specimen. 5 mm press-notched DWTT specimens, with dimensions of 76.2 mm 305 mm 20 mm, in the transverse direction were taken from the plates.

Full plate thickness (20mm)

Hammer Radius: 25.46.35mm

Depth 50.5mm

Width 76+2mm

Length: 3045mm Press Notch Angle: 45o2o

Radius: 14.31.5mm

Span: 2541.6mm

Fig. 2 Dimensions of the DWTT specimen.

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Deformation behavior Plastic strain during the DWTT was investigated using the scribed-circle method and a high-speed camera in order to clarify the deformation behavior. 5 mm diameter scribed circle grid was printed on the surface of the DWTT specimens. Highspeed camera equipment with a capacity 18,000 frames per second was used to monitor the deformation during the DWTT. The plastic strain at each circle during DWTT was measured by analyzing the images obtained from the high-speed camera. The true strain, x, in the direction parallel to crack propagation and the true strain, y, in the direction perpendicular to the crack propagation were calculated from the change in grid length. In addition, the equivalent plastic strain, applied from the time hammer impacted to the time crack reach the measured location, was calculated from the strain measurement. The equivalent plastic strain, , at each circle was obtained by

a) C-B

Ferrite

b) C-FB
Ferrite

= d =

2 3

(d x )2 + (d y )2 + (d z )2

(1)

, where d is the equivalent plastic strain increment [6]. The true strain, z, in the through-thickness direction was obtained considering the condition of volume constancy [6]. According to the volume constancy condition, z, can be obtained by (2) z = ( x + y ) The d is calculated at 0.5 microsecond intervals. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Microstructure and tensile properties Fig 3 shows the microstructures at mid-thickness of the tested plates. The coarse tempered bainte, coarse ferrite-bainite, and fine ferrite-bainite microstructures were formed under different TMCP and tempering conditions. Coarse tempered bainite microstructures were formed for C-B steel, which was reheated at 1200 oC, and accelerate-cooled above the Ar3 point, although they contain a very small amount of ferrite. A coarse ferrite-bainite microstructure was formed in the C-FB steel which was accelerate-cooled below the Ar3 point. A fine ferritebainite microstructure was formed in the FB steel which was reheated at 1000 oC, and accelerate-cooled below the Ar3 point. Fig. 4 shows the tensile strength (TS) and yield strength (YS) of the tested steels. All these steels have approximately the same TS, although they have different YS value. The TS of all steels was about 645 (22) MPa. The YS of steel C-B with a coarse bainite microstructure, was higher than that of the other steels with a ferrite-bainite microstructure. DWTT properties Fig. 5 shows the DWTT shear area of the steels tested at 20 oC (SADWTT). The DWTT shear areas of the C-FB and FB steels with ferrite-bainite microstructures were 100 %. By contrast, the DWTT shear area of the C-B steel with a bainite microstructure was lowered by the abnormal fracture. Fig. 6 shows the DWTT fracture appearances of the tested steels. Brittle fracture surfaces are indicated by dotted lines. Abnormal

c) FB
Ferrite

Fig.3 Optical micrographs at mid-thickness of tested plates. a) C-B steel, b) C-FB steel, c) FB steel.
1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200
C-B C-FB Steel FB

TS YS

Fig.4 Tensile strength (TS) and yield strength (YS) of tested steels.

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fractures occurred in the hammered side for C-B and C-FB steels with coarse microstructures. An abnormal fracture was not formed in the other DWTT specimen of C-FB steel. However, no abnormal fracture occurred in the FB steel with fine ferrite-bainite microstructure. The abnormal fractures formed in the C-B steel lowered the DWTT shear area, although this was not the case with the C-FB steel. This is because the abnormal fracture formed in C-FB steel was small and excluded
100 98 96 94 92 90
C-B C-FB Steel FB

from evaluation of the DWTT shear area under API specifications. Fig. 7 shows the location of the abnormal fracture away from the hammer-impacted side of the DWTT specimen. In the C-B steel, the abnormal fractures were located between 11 and 21 mm or 16 and 22 mm from the hammerimpacted side. In the C-FB steel, the abnormal fracture was located between 9 and 16 mm from the hammer-impacted side. Deformation behavior Dynamic strain analysis Plastic strain during DWTT was investigated using the scribed-circle method and a high-speed camera in order to clarify the deformation behavior during DWTT and the effect of the deformation on abnormal fracture. Fig. 8 shows representative photographs of the deformed surfaces of the DWTT specimens in the hammered side for C-B steel. The abnormal fracture of this DWTT specimen was located between 11 and 21 mm from the hammer-impacted side as mentioned before. Each plastic strain located from 1 to 61 mm from the hammer-impacted side of the DWTT specimen was measured using these photographic records. Fig. 9 shows the time dependence of the true strain in the direction perpendicular to the crack propagation (y) and the equivalent plastic strain () applied from the time the hammer impacted to the time the crack reached the measured location. From the results of the strain analysis, the deformation behavior can be classified roughly into three regions, the hammer-impacted region, the bending-compression region, and the bending-tension region. Strain analysis for Hammer-impacted region At locations 1, 6, and 11 mm from the hammer-impacted side, the DWTT specimen was deformed by the hammers impact, compression caused by bending, and tension caused by bending, as shown in Fig. 9-a). The true strains in Fig. 9-a) increased in a positive direction to around 0.6 ms. This is because the hammers impact provided tensile strain at circles located 1, 6, and 11 mm from the hammer-impacted side. It is confirmed that the circles at 1, 6, and 11 mm from the hammerimpacted side were elongated in a direction perpendicular to the crack propagation as shown in Fig. 8-b). This result suggests that hammer impact causes the initial tensile strain at around 0.6 ms. After the initial increase in a positive direction caused by hammer impact, the strains increased in a negative direction from 0.6 to around 3 ms. These compressive strains were due to bending deformation on the inside of the bend. Then, the strains started to increase in a positive direction again from around 5 ms. The tensile strain was due to bending deformation on the outside of the bend. As regards bending deformation during DWTT, it could be understood that the neutral plane of the compression region and the tension region shifted continuously due to crack growth. Crack growth reduces the bend radius of the DWTT specimen and the reduction in the bend radius provides the tensile strain at a location near the hammerimpacted side. Here, it is noteworthy that the plastic strain for hammer impact was much smaller than for bending deformation.

Fig. 5 DWTT shear area (SADWTT) of steels tested at 20 oC.

a)

b)

c)

Abnormal fracture

Fig. 6 DWTT fracture appearances of tested steels.

a) C-B steel, b) C-FB steel, and c) FB steel
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
C-B C-FB Steel FB

Fig. 7 Location of abnormal fracture away from hammerimpacted side of DWTT specimen.

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a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

5mm

f)

g)

h)

i)

j)

Fig. 8 Representative photographs of the deformed surfaces of DWTT specimens for C-B steel on the hammered side. a) 0 ms, b) 1 ms, c) 2 ms, d) 3 ms, e) 4 ms, f) 5 ms, g) 6 ms, h) 7 ms, i) 8 ms, and j) 9 ms after hammer impact.

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

Fig. 9 Time dependence of the true strain in the direction perpendicular to the crack propagation (y) and the equivalent plastic strain ( ) for C-B steel. a) y for hammer-impacted region, b) y for bending-compression region, c) y for bending-tensile region. d) for hammer-impacted region, e) for bending-compression region, f) for bending-tensile region. 5 Copyright 2012 by ASME

Strain analysis for bending-compression region At the locations 16, 21, 26, and 31 mm from the hammerimpacted side, deformation behavior was classified as either a bending-compression region or a bending-tension region. The DWTT specimen was not deformed by the hammer impact, but rather by the compression and tension due to bending as shown in Fig. 9-b). This result suggests that no deformation due to hammer impact during DWTT using 20 mm plate is observed at locations more than 16 mm from the hammer-impacted side. The true strain in the bending-compression region increased in a negative direction due to the compression caused by bending initially. Then, the crack growth reduced the bend radius of the DWTT specimen and the true strain increased in a positive direction by shifting in the neutral plane of the compressive region and tensile region during bending. Strain analysis for bending-tensile region At locations more than 36 mm from the hammer-impacted side, deformation behavior was classified as a bending-tension region. In this region, the DWTT specimen was only deformed by tension caused by bending as shown in Fig. 9-c). Effect of strain on occurrence of abnormal fracture It is reported that abnormal fracture was affected by work hardening [3,4]. Then, the occurrence of abnormal fracture would be related to the magnitude of equivalent plastic strain. Fig. 9-d), e), f) shows the time dependence of the equivalent plastic strain () applied from the time the hammer impacted to the time the crack reached the measured location. These equivalent plastic strains were calculated by the equation (1) and (2). The equivalent plastic strain increased, as the measured location was close to hammer-impacted side. In Fig. 9-d), the
True strain in the direction perpendicular to crack propagation, y

equivalent plastic strain located 6 and 11 mm from the hammerimpacted side substantially increased until around 3 ms. This large increase was caused by the hammer impact and the compression under bending deformation. However, the equivalent plastic strain for hammer impact was much smaller than for bending deformation. The equivalent plastic strain moderately increased from 3 to 6 ms. This small increase observed when the true strain turned from bending-compression to bending-tension. The equivalent plastic strain rose again from around 6 ms. This rinsing is caused by tension under bending deformation. In Fig. 9-e), the equivalent plastic strain was increased by the bending-compression and the bendingtension. In Fig. 9-c), the equivalent plastic strain was only increased by the bending-tension. Here, the rise in equivalent plastic strain caused by tension was observed at any location. These results suggest that the deformation due to bending is dominant at locations where abnormal fracture occurs. It is known that the cleavage fracture toughness of steels deteriorates by pre-straining [7-9]. In this study, the compressive strain for bending deformation increased the equivalent plastic strain near the abnormal fracture. Therefore, it seems more likely that the abnormal fracture formed in this study was caused by the high compressive strain during DWTT. Whether the compressive strain during DWTT affects the occurrence of abnormal fracture or not is future subject. Effect of microstructure on abnormal fracture The time dependence of the true strain in a direction perpendicular to the crack propagation (y) and the equivalent plastic strain () for C-B steel, C-FB steel, and FB steel are c)

a)

b)

11 mm 16 mm 21 mm

11 mm 16 mm 21 mm

11 mm 16 mm 21 mm

0.50

Equivalent plastic strain,

0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00

d)

e)

f)

11 mm 16 mm 21 mm

11 mm 16 mm 21 mm

11 mm 16 mm 21 mm

Fig. 10 Time dependence of the true strain in the direction perpendicular to the crack propagation (y) and the equivalent plastic strain ( ). a) y for C-B steel, b) y for C-FB steel, c) y for FB steel, d) for C-B steel, e) for C-FB steel, f) for FB steel. 6 Copyright 2012 by ASME

4 6 Time, t / ms

0 10

4 6 Time, t / ms

10 0

4 6 Time, t / ms

10

shown in Fig. 10. The abnormal fractures of C-B steel were located between 11 and 21 mm or 16 and 22 mm from the hammer-impacted side, while that of C-FB steel was located between 9 and 16 mm from the hammer-impacted side. All DWTT specimens were deformed by bending compression and bending tension mainly at the location where abnormal fractures occurred in the C-B and C-FB steels. Fig. 11 shows the magnitude of equivalent plastic strain, applied from the time the hammer impacted to the time the crack reached the measured location, at locations 11, 16, and 21 mm from the hammerimpact side. In all the tested steels, the strain caused by the hammer impact accounted for only a small fraction of the total strain. By contrast, the strain caused by bending compression and bending tension accounted for a substantial fraction of the total strain. This result suggests that deformation caused by bending should be dominant at locations where abnormal fractures occur regardless of microstructure. In addition, no abnormal fracture occurred in FB steel, although the DWTT specimen of FB steel was deformed in the same way as the other steels. This result suggests that deformation during DWTT should be mainly due to bending deformation, even if no abnormal fracture occurred. In the plate with fine microstructure, no abnormal fracture occurred and no separation was formed as compared with coarse microstructures under bending strain. One possible reason for the suppression of abnormal fracture is thought to be due to the grain refinement which would lower a ductile to brittle transition temperature. The other possible reason for that would be the suppression of separation which can become the precrack of brittle fracture. Future subject is to clarify the effect of the grain refinement and the formation of separation on occurrence of abnormal fracture under bending deformation.
0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 11 16 21 11 16 21 11 16 21 Location away from hammer-impacted side / mm
Hammer impact Bending compression Bending tension

hammer impact or bending deformation. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) Abnormal fractures occurred in coarse tempered bainite steel but did not occur in fine ferrite-bainite steels, although a very small area of abnormal fracture was formed in ferrite-bainite steel when the grain coarsened. (2) Deformation during DWTT consisted of deformation caused by the hammer impact, bending compression, and bending tension. The deformation due to hammer impact during DWTT on a 20 mm plate was located within 16 mm of the hammer-impacted side. (3) The equivalent plastic strain for the bending deformation was larger than that for the hammer impact. The deformation caused by bending was dominant at locations where abnormal fractures occurred. (4) Abnormal fractures did not occur in the plates with fine microstructure under bending strain, although they occurred in plates with coarse microstructures. REFERENCE [1] Eiber, R. J., and Maxey, W. A., (1979), Fracture Propagation Control Methods, Proceedings, Annual Symposium, Society of Flight Test Engineers, pp. 1-16. [2] McClure, G. M., Duffy, A. R., and Eiber, R. J., (1965), Fracture Resistance of Line Pipe, J. of Engineering for Industry, August, pp. 265-278. [3] Hwang, B., Lee, S., Kim, Y. M., Kim, N. J., Yoo, J. Y., and Woo, C. S., (2003), Analysis of Inverse Fracture Occurring in Hammer-impacted Region during DropWeight Tear Test of a High-Toughness Linepipe Steel, Proceedings of The Thirteenth International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, May, pp. 129-134. [4] Hwang, B., Lee, S., Kim, Y. M., Kim, N. J., Yoo, J. Y., and Woo, C. S., (2004), Analysis of abnormal fracture occurring during drop-weight tear test of high-toughness line-pipe steel, Mater. Sci. Eng., A368, pp. 18-27. [5] Iwasaki, N., Yamaguchi, T., and Taira, T., (1975), CHARACTERISTIC S OF DROP-WEIGHT TEAR TEST ON LINE PIPE STEELS, Mech. Work Steel Process, 13, pp. 294-314. [6] Hill R., (1960), THE METHEMATICAL THEORY OF PLASTICITY, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, London, Chap. II. 3. [7] Tagawa, T., Itoh, A., and Miyata, T., (1996), Quantitative Prediction of Embrittlement due to Pre-strain for Low Carbon Steels, Japan Welding Society, 14, pp. 429-434. [8] Yoshinari, H., Enami, K., Koseki, T., Shimanuki H., and Aihara, S., (2001), Ductile and brittle fracture initiation behavior for compressively prestrained steel, The Society of Naval Architects of Japan, 190, pp. 559-567. [9] Enami, K., (2004), The effects of compressive and tensile prestrain on ductile fracture initiation, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 72, pp. 10891105.

C-B

C-FB

FB

Fig. 11 Equivalent plastic strain (), applied from the time the hammer impacts to the time the crack reaches the measured location, at locations of 11, 16, and 21 mm from the hammer-impacted side. CONCLUSIONS The deformation behavior during DWTT was investigated using 20 mm plate with various microstructures. The focus is to show which deformation is dominant for abnormal fracture;

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