A new statistical local criterion for cleavage fracture in steel. Part I: model presentation

Since it was first proposed in the early eighties, the local approach to cleavage fracture, or Beremin model, has been applied to a wide range of engineering problems. However, several results have cast doubts on both the predictive capabilities and fundamental assumptions of the Beremin model. This three-part paper shows that most problems encountered with the original Beremin model result from an unnecessarily oversimplified description of the local cleavage event. A new statistical local criterion for cleavage is proposed, which expresses the necessity of maintaining a critical dynamic connectivity between microcrack nucleation and unstable propagation in order for cleavage fracture to occur. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.