Assessment and analysis of the resistance to crack initiation and propagation in austenitic stainless steels

The work is a part of a program on the resistance to crack initiation and propagation in austenitic stainless steels and in particular on the influence of specimen geometry on the J-R resistance curve on the limits of applicability of the J-R resistance curve in the analysis of the loading behaviour of cracked components. Results are reported on the assessment of the resistance to crack initiation and propagation of a type AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel by means of three point bending specimens. Results are also reported on the analysis of the loading behaviour by means of the GE/EPRI engineering scheme. The results show that the estimation is strongly dependent on the description of the flow properties of the material by the Ramberg-Osgood law.