Micromechanical Analysis of In-Plane Constraint Effect on Local Fracture Behavior of Cracks in the Weakest Locations of Dissimilar Metal Welded Joint

In this work, a set of GTN (Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman) parameters of the Alloy52M dissimilar metal welded joint (DMWJ) have been calibrated, and a micromechanical analysis of in-plane constraint effects on the local fracture behavior of two cracks, which located in the weakest regions of the DMWJ, has been investigated by the local approach based on the GTN damage model. The results show that the partition of the material and the variation of the q2 parameter make the J-resistance curves obtained by numerical simulations close to the experimental values. The numerical J-resistance curves and crack growth paths are consistent with the experiment results, which show that the GTN damage model can incorporate the in-plane constraint effect. Furthermore, after the stress, strain and damage fields at the crack tip during the crack propagation process have been calculated, and the change of the J-resistance curves, crack growth paths and fracture mechanism with in-plane constraint have been analyzed.