Fracture Toughness Measurements at Elevated Loading Rates - SCK•CEN activities 2008 within ISO, ASTM and IAEA CRP-8 (topic area #2)

This report summarizes the activities performed in 2008 by SCK•CEN for the standardization of fracture toughness tests performed at loading rates higher than the quasi-static range presently envisaged by the ASTM E1921-08 standard (i.e. dK/dt > 2 MPaVm/s). More specifically, efforts have been focused on impact toughness tests performed on precracked Charpy (PCC) specimens using instrumented pendulums at loading rates in the order of 10^5 MPaVm/s. An account is given of SCK•CEN contributions to the relevant standardization activities currently in progress within both ASTM (subcommittee E08.08, revision of E1921 and E1820) and ISO (committee TC164/SC4F, preparation of a new test standard). Furthermore, a final update is provided on the Coordinated Research Project Phase 8 (CRP-8) of IAEA, topic area #2 (loading rate effects). The project is now completed (the final meeting was held in Vienna in April 2008) and the Final Report (IAEA TECDOC) is currently in preparation.