Fatigue & Fracture of

Engineering Materials & Structures

doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2695.2009.01401.x

Study of influence of notch root radius on fracture behaviour of extra

deep drawn steel sheets
V . V . C H A U D H A R I 1, D . M . K U L K A R N I 1 a n d R . P R A K A S H 2
1 Mechanical Engineering Group, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Goa Campus, Goa 403 726, India, 2 Mechanical Engineering Group,
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan 333 031, India

Received in final form 1 September 2009

A B S T R A C T Fracture tests are carried out on extra deep drawn steel CT specimens containing
notches with different values of notch root radius (ρ = 0.07–0.75 mm). Experimental
findings clearly show a critical notch root radius (ρ c ) below which the fracture toughness
remains independent of ρ and above which it varies linearly with ρ. The 3D finite element
analysis shows that the location of maximum stress level causing crack initiation is in the
vicinity of notch tip. The maximum stress level is independent of ρ; however, its location
is shifted away from notch tip along unbroken ligament length with increase in ρ.

Keywords critical notch radius; CTOD; extra deep drawn steel; fatigue pre-cracking;
WEDM.

NOMENCLATURE a0 = initial crack length

b = unbroken ligament length
B = thickness of specimen
E = elastic modulus
K = stress intensity factor
SY = yield strength
V pl = plastic load-line displacement
W = width of specimen
r pl = plastic rotational factor
α = a0 /W ratio
δ el = elastic CTOD
δ pl = plastic CTOD
δ c = critical CTOD
ρ = notch radius
σx = stress in x-direction
σy = stress in y-direction
σz = stress in z-direction
WEDM = wire electric discharge machine

INTRODUCTION is a time consuming process as well. The other option

‘wire electric discharge machine’ (WEDM) is extensively
Fatigue pre-cracking is always preferred for pre-cracking
used with least wire diameter for pre-cracking. WEDM
process on test samples for fracture test. However, it is
produces notched specimens with finite notch radius. In
observed that specimens are damaged during fatigue pre-
the early 1960s, many studies have been made to see how
cracking process as crack direction is changed because of
the apparent fracture toughness was dependent on notch
vibrations in machine and in fixture holding the specimen.
root radius. At that time, the discussions were mainly
It is also observed that the fatigue pre-cracking induces
devoted to linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). The
residual plastic stresses. Such samples may produce wrong
present work is devoted on a thin sheet steel material in
results on fracture toughness. The fatigue pre-cracking
which the LEFM conditions do not apply. In this study, an
experimental and finite element investigation of influence
Correspondence: V. V. Chaudhari. E-mail: vcvikas@gmail.com of notch radius on fracture toughness is presented.


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976 V . V . C H A U D H A R I et al .

Table 1 Composition of the investigated EDD steel sheet in wt%

Material C Mn S P Si Al N, ppm Fe

EDD steel 0.06 0.38 0.03 0.017 0.05 0.040 47 Balance

The present research work is a case study of extra deep
drawn (EDD) steel sheets of thickness 3.2 mm with vari-
ous notch radii.
EXPERIMENT
Material
The material chosen for the present study is cold rolled
and annealed EDD low carbon steel sheet. Under the do-
main of EDD steel, various chemical compositions are
possible. The chemical composition for the tested EDD
steel sheet is mentioned in the Table 1. The amount of
carbon in EDD steel is 0.06%. According to IS 513,1 this
is an upper limit for the EDD steel sheets, below which
the desired carbon level is good for formability. For me-
chanical properties of material, tensile tests are carried
out using specimens machined as per ASTM standard E
8 M.2 The specimens are tested along three directions,
with the tensile axis being parallel (0◦ ), diagonal (45◦ ) and
perpendicular (90◦ ) to the rolling direction of the sheet on
100 kN capacity Universal Testing Machine. The stan-
dard tensile properties, namely yield strength (YS), ulti-
mate tensile strength (UTS), uniform elongation and total
elongation are determined from the load–elongation data
obtained from these tests. A constant cross-head speed of
0.5 mm/min is employed in all cases. Three samples are
tested in each of the three directions and average values
are taken to account for the scatter. The value of E and Sy
are obtained as 210 GPa and 333.14 MPa, respectively.
Other mechanical properties of the EDD steel sheets
for three different rolling directions are summarized in
Table 2.
The microstructure of the EDD steel sheets in the as-
received condition is studied using scanning electron mi-
croscopy. The value of average grain size determined by
the linear intercept method is 7.2 μm. These values are
accurate to within 2 μm.
Specimen preparation
The geometry of CT specimen used in the current work is
as per the recommended design in ASTM standard E 399-
91.3 According to this standard, for CT specimen, B/W
ratio should be in between 0.25 and 0.5. The EDD steel
material is available in sheet form and it is very difficult to
maintain the B/W ratio in the specified range. The B/W
ratio is taken as 0.133 and other proportions are kept same.
The crack length is taken as 10.5 mm with a0 /W as 0.44.
Specimens are prepared by using: WEDM to maintain the
exact relationship in between all the dimensions. Figure 1a
shows the specimen dimensions following ASTM E 399-
913 and Fig. 1b shows a prepared specimen for fracture
test. Different sizes of notch radii were introduced us-
ing fatigue pre-cracking and WEDM process. The notch
root radius (ρ) was measured using a profile projector
with a magnification of 50×. All specimens in the cur-
rent study are fabricated with crack/notch perpendicular
to the rolling direction. Eight specimen were planned for
fatigue pre-cracking, however out of eight specimens five
are failed either because of change in crack direction or ex-
cessive plasticity ahead of crack-tip. In the present study,
crack is generated using fatigue pre-cracking process and
WEDM process. Table 3 shows specimen code, notch
radius and the operation used for notch creation. Stan-
dard metallurgical procedure is followed for polishing all
specimens.
Experimental set-up
The fracture tests are carried out using a 100 kN Univer-
sal Testing Machine. The experimental set-up is shown

Table 2 Mechanical properties of EDD steel sheet

Orientation w.r.t RD YS (MPa) UTS (MPa) Uniform elongation Total elongation

Mechanical properties of EDD steel (◦ ) (Sy ) (SU ) (%) (%)

0 335.08 387.12 15.60 29.69

45 332.87 391.88 15.31 25.23
90 331.74 386.65 14.46 23.87
Average 333.14 389.38 15.12 26.26
Average, X = (X0 + 2×45 + X90 )/4


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 EXTRA DEEP DRAWN STEEL SHEETS 977

Fig. 1 (a) Dimensions of specimen as per

ASTM standard. (b) Prepared CT specimen.

Table 3 Geometry of CT specimens to study the effect of notch

in Fig. 2. The lower load cell (0–5 kN) is used for more
radius in EDD steel sheet accuracy. Strain rate of 0.2 mm/min is used for the fracture
test. Crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) gauge
Specimen code Notch radius (ρ) mm Notch operation is used to measure load-line displacement.

S1 0.07 FC
S2 0.085 FC
Critical load for fracture
S3 0.10 FC The crack initiation in EDD steel sheet is addressed by
S4 0.11 WEDM
Kulkarni et al.4 In crack initiation study, it is concluded
S5 0.12 WEDM
S6 0.13 WEDM
that crack initiates at load maxima. Therefore, ‘load drop
S7 0.14 WEDM technique’ is used as a fracture criterion for crack initia-
S8 0.15 WEDM tion. The fracture test on every sample is stopped at load
S9 0.16 WEDM drop point. A graph of load versus load-line displacement
S10 0.17 WEDM is obtained. Table 4 shows critical load values for all the
S11 0.18 WEDM specimens.
S12 0.25 WEDM
S13 0.40 WEDM
S14 0.60 WEDM Mode of failure
S15 0.75 WEDM
Thermal shock treatment is carried out using liquid nitro-
FC = fatigue cracking, WEDM = wire electric discharge machine. gen to break the tested specimens into two halves along


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978 V . V . C H A U D H A R I et al .

Fig. 3 Fracture surface of broken open-up specimen.

an indication of brittle fracture. The brittle fracture is due

to the thermal shock treatment.
Fig. 2 Test set-up for CT type specimen along with CMOD
gauge.
Measurement of fracture toughness (critical CTOD)
Table 4 Specimen code and corresponding critical load from According to the ASTM standard E 1290-89,5 the crit-
experiment and FE analysis ical crack tip opening displacement during the loading
consists of elastic (δ el ) and plastic (δ pl ) part, given by
Critical load
Eq. (1)
Notch (P c ) in kN Critical load
Specimen radius (experimental (P c ) in kN δc = δel + δpl . (1)
code (ρ) mm results) (FEA results)

S1 0.07 2.488 2.685

Calculation for the elastic part (δ el )
S2 0.085 2.493 2.691
S3 0.10 2.489 2.719 The elastic part is calculated by using a standard equation
S4 0.11 2.519 2.720 for plane stress condition,
S5 0.12 2.500 2.720
S6 0.13 2.540 2.722 K2
S7 0.14 2.538 2.722 δel = , (2)
E Sy
S8 0.15 2.587 2.730
S9 0.16 2.591 2.746 where the elastic modulus (E) and yield strength (Sy ) are
S10 0.17 2.622 2.819 the mechanical properties. The linear stress intensity fac-
S11 0.18 2.664 2.865
tor K is calculated by the relation, K = BWP1/2 f (α) given
S12 0.25 2.710 2.944
by Murakami.6 The value of P is equal to P c , load at crack
S13 0.40 2.754 3.028 2
+14.72α 3 −5.6α 4 )
S14 0.60 2.853 3.134 initiation and f (α) = (2+α)(0.886+4.64α−13.32α
(1−α)3/2
,
a
S15 0.75 2.912 3.238 where α = W0 .

Calculation for the plastic part (δ pl )

the crack surface. The fracture surfaces of broken open-up
specimens are studied to check the validity of fracture cri-
terion. Figure 3 shows fracture surface of broken open-up
specimen at the load drop point. The fracture surface at
the load drop point consists of two parts. The smaller part
is with minute ductile tearing in the necking zone with an
indication of crack initiation and a large shiny zone with
In general, the plastic CTOD (δ pl ) is determined by using
plastic hinge method (PHM). This method assumes a lin-
ear relation between plastic load-line displacement (V pl )
and plastic CTOD (δ pl ). According to Wilson and Lan-
des,7 this method can be used for smaller plastic load-line
displacement. In case of EDD steel sheet, it is observed
that there is a significant deformation ahead of crack tip


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 EXTRA DEEP DRAWN STEEL SHEETS 979

From the skeleton photograph of the specimen, it is

also observed that crack flanks, if extended further, meet
exactly at point O . The distance O G is found to be greater
than the distance r pl b in case of PHM. From the properties
of similar angle triangle:
OG
(δpl )CFOA = Vpl . (3)
O  G + a0

Results

Influence of notch radius on fracture behaviour

It is observed from the experimental results that criti-
cal load values are fluctuating between 2.488 kN and
2.587 kN (i.e. within 100 N) up to a notch radius of
0.15 mm. This scatter in experimental data is expected.
Thereafter, the critical load increases with increase in
notch radius. According to Srinivas and Kamat9 and
Faucher et al.10 larger load is required to open the notch,
as the degree of blunting increases with increase in notch
Fig. 4 Skeleton photograph of tested CT specimen to measure radius.
plastic CTOD using CFOA method. In EDD steel sheet, it is observed that the critical CTOD
is larger than the notch radius. The reason may be high
formability, smaller size of sheets, almost 100% degree
resulting in higher value of plastic load-line displacement. of shear-lip and large plastic zone size. Figure 5 shows
Moreover, in PHM, the determination of fracture tough- the degree of shear lip during stable and complete tearing
ness is independent of thickness of specimen. Therefore,
crack flank opening angle (CFOA) method suggested by
Kulkarni et al.4 is used to determine the plastic component
of the critical CTOD.
Similar to PHM, the plastic portion (δ pl ) is determined
by assuming that the unbroken ligament works like a plas-
tic hinge with its centre at a distance O G from the crack
tip G as shown in Fig. 4. The only difference in these
two methods is in the measurement of distance from the
crack tip. Part of the unbroken ligament is under tension
and the remaining part is under compression. Similar to
a neutral axis in case of bending of a beam, there is a
neutral line exists along thickness which falls into a point
view O on the specimen surface. The apparent axis of Fig. 5 General features of fracture surfaces produced during stable
rotation, i.e. point O is found with the help of hardness and complete tearing.
measurement across the elastic-plastic boundary of plas-
tic zone. Hardness measurement across the elastic plastic
boundary clearly shows the difference in hardness values.
The deep point inside the plastic zone and ahead of crack
tip is severely deformed showing highest hardness value.
The apparent axis of rotation (O ), i.e. the common point
of tensile and compressive plastic zone can be easily de-
termined by measuring the hardness along the unbroken
ligament length. The hardness value at O point is equal
to the hardness value in elastic field. The above findings
are also confirmed by Cotterell et al.8 He reported signif-
icantly higher hardness values in the region close to the Fig. 6 Plastic zone ahead of notch tip for specimen code S10 at
crack tip, where localized deformation is occurred. crack initiation load, i.e. 2.622 kN in this case.


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980 V . V . C H A U D H A R I et al .

2.9

2.7
Critical CTOD (mm)

2.5

2.3

2.1

1.9
Critical Notch Root
Radius FEM
1.7
CFOA Fig. 7 Variation of critical CTOD with
1.5 notch radius in EDD steel (ρ = 0.07–0.75).
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8
Notch Radius (mm)

of the specimen. Plastic zone has two parts: tensile and dius. According to Srinivas and Kamat9 and Schindler,11
compressive. As observed from Fig. 6, the plastic zone the fracture toughness beyond the critical notch radius
touches the boundary of ligament. These features of EDD is referred as apparent fracture toughness. Available lit-
steel sheet help to increase the deformation ahead of notch erature9–16 shows a linear relationship between appar-
tip. Based upon this observation, it is suggested that using ent fracture toughness and notch radius. They have used
notch is convenient instead of using fatigue crack for pre- J-integral as a fracture toughness parameter. In the
cracking in case of EDD steel sheets. present work, we have used CTOD as a fracture tough-
The results on critical CTOD for different notch radii ness parameter and our results are in agreement with the
are presented in Fig. 7 and Table 5. It shows the variation literature. The linear increase of apparent fracture tough-
of critical CTOD with notch radius (ρ = 0.07–0.75). From ness can be approximately expressed by Eq. (4) for CFOA
Fig. 7 and Table 5 it is observed that there is an increase method.
of 0.93% in fracture toughness in the notch radius range
CTODc,App = 0.91ρ  + CTODc (4)
0.07 mm to 0.15 mm. From a practical point of view this
change in fracture toughness is negligible. Furthermore, where, ρ  = (ρ − ρ c ). Equation (4) is valid for notch radius
it is observed that there is a sharp increase in fracture (ρ), grater than or equal to critical notch radius (ρ c ). The
toughness in the notch radius range 0.15–0.75 mm. approximate slope of line is 0.91 in this case. The value of
Therefore, the notch radius of 0.15 mm is considered critical CTOD (CTODc ) is equal to 2.16 mm. Therefore,
to be a critical notch radius value, below which, frac- the relation given by Eq. (4) becomes
ture toughness remains almost independent of notch ra-
CTODc,App = 0.91(ρ − 0.15) + 2.16 (5)

Table 5 Notch radius and critical CTOD calculated from FEM

Srinivas and Kamat9 have given the explanation for the
and CFOA method increase in apparent fracture toughness with increase in
notch radii. According to them, the fracture toughness
Notch radius (ρ) (δ c )FEM (δ c )CFOA is proportional to the work done for fracture per unit
Specimen code (mm) (mm) (mm) of ligament area. It is asserted that the existence of a
finite notch root radius causes an increase in the value of
S1 0.07 2.19 2.16 toughness, because an additional energy is used for plastic
S2 0.085 2.193 2.16
deformation in order to increase the stress concentration
S3 0.10 2.195 2.165
S4 0.11 2.197 2.165
at the notch root to an equivalent level at the crack tip.
S5 0.12 2.2 2.17 There is a critical notch radius below which there is no
S6 0.13 2.203 2.173 significant effect of notch radius on fracture toughness.
S7 0.14 2.205 2.175 In the present study, an attempt is made to analyse this
S8 0.15 2.21 2.18 observation with the help of 3D FE model.
S9 0.16 2.225 2.1825
S10 0.17 2.238 2.2
S11 0.18 2.25 2.222 FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
S12 0.25 2.32 2.29
S13 0.40 2.4595 2.4295 3D FE model
S14 0.60 2.62 2.58
S15 0.75 2.75 2.72
In finite element analysis, 3D, 20-nodded structural solid,
i.e. SOLID95 element is used. This element is a higher


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 EXTRA DEEP DRAWN STEEL SHEETS 981

Fig. 8 Arrangement of nodes and elements

around notch.

Fig. 9 True stress–strain curve for EDD

steel sheet.
2

ρ = 0.05 mm 1.5
♦ σ x / Sy
σ y / Sy 1

σ z / Sy y
Stress ratio

0.5
-x
0
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-0.5
z
-1
Fig. 10 Normalized stresses σx , σy , σz along
the unbroken ligament of the specimen at -1.5
mid-section thickness (ρ = 0.07 mm). Distance along unbroken ligament at mid-thickness section (mm)

order version of 3D, eight-nodded structural solid. It has
capability to tolerate irregular shapes without much loss
in accuracy. The regions undergoing plastic deformation
require a high integration point density. Higher-order el-
ements have been preferred for plasticity analysis. This
element has compatible shapes and is also suitable to
model curved boundaries of smaller notch radii. A tri-
angular wedge shaped element is formed by collapsing
the top plane of a brick element along the surface diago-
nal. The most important region in a fracture model is the
region around the crack front. Meshing has to be graded
from fine at the crack tip to coarse at the solid boundary.
The element size, which varies from 0.0035 to 0.06% of
the absolute crack length (i.e. a0 ), is considered around the
crack front. Figure 8 shows the arrangement of elements
with multiple nodes along different radial rows around
the crack front. Approximately 12 648 nodes and 8184
elements are generated. However, these numbers depend
upon the thickness of the specimen model.
Fracture criterion
Material nonlinearity and fracture criterion
Elastic-plastic finite element analysis can be considered
as an extension of elastic analysis by incorporating extra
conditions pertaining to nonlinear plasticity conditions
as suggested by Newman.17 According to him, nonlinear
material behaviour is modelled by using the incremental
theory of plasticity. Von Mises yield criterion is consid-
ered to be valid for these materials. A true stress–strain
curve up to breaking-strain point is used with multi-
linear isotropic hardening to incorporate non-linear ma-
terial properties. This is referred as a large strain code by
Kulkarni et al.4 In a large strain code, a true stress–strain


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982 V . V . C H A U D H A R I et al .

ρ = 0.1 mm 1.5
♦ σx / Sy 1
σy / Sy y
Stress ratio

σz / Sy 0.5
-x
0
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-0.5
z
-1

-1.5 Fig. 11 Normalized stresses σx , σy , σz along

Distance along unbroken ligament at mid-thickness section the unbroken ligament of the specimen at
(mm) mid-section thickness (ρ = 0.10 mm).

2
ρ = 0.12 mm
1.5
σ x / Sy
σ y / Sy
1
σ z / Sy
0.5
y
Stress ratio

-x
0
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-0.5
z
-1
Fig. 12 Normalized stresses σx , σy , σz along
-1.5 the unbroken ligament of the specimen at
Distance along unbroken ligament at mid-thickness section (mm) mid-section thickness (ρ = 0.12 mm).

ρ = 0.17 mm 1.5
♦ σ x / Sy 1
σ y / Sy y
Stress ratio

σ z / Sy 0.5
-x
0
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-0.5
z
-1
Fig. 13 Normalized stresses σx , σy , σz along
-1.5
the unbroken ligament of the specimen at
Distance along unbroken ligament at mid-thickness section (mm) mid-section thickness (ρ = 0.17 mm).

ρ = 0.2 mm 1.5
♦ σx / Sy
1
σy / Sy
Stress ratio

y
σz / Sy 0.5
-x 0
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-0.5
z
-1
Fig. 14 Normalized stresses σx , σy , σz along
-1.5 the unbroken ligament of the specimen at
Distance along unbroken ligament at mid-thickness section (mm) mid-section thickness (ρ = 0.20 mm).


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 EXTRA DEEP DRAWN STEEL SHEETS 983

2
ρ = 0.3 mm
1.5
♦ σ x / Sy
σ y / Sy 1
y
σ z / Sy

Stress ratio
0.5
-x 0
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-0.5
z
-1

-1.5

Fig. 15 Normalized stresses σx , σy , σz along -2

the unbroken ligament of the specimen at Distance along unbroken ligament at mid-thickness section
mid-section thickness (ρ = 0.30 mm). (mm)

z/B
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
y
-0.005
x
-0.01 z
σz / Sy

-0.015
B

-0.02
Fig. 16 Normalized stress σz through the
thickness and ahead of crack front for the
specimen code S10. -0.025

400
σx
350 σy
σz
300

250

200
Stress

150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Fig. 17 Stress values in the vicinity of notch
-50
tip at mid-section thickness for each load
step for the specimen code S10. Load Step

curve is used up to a breaking strain point (B) with con-
stant value of ultimate stress beyond the ultimate stress
point (U) as shown in Fig. 9. The notch tip is released by
killing an associated element as and when the load reaches
the breaking-strain point.
Stress analysis
In order to understand the reason of increase in fracture
toughness with increase in notch radius, the stress plots
along the unbroken ligament length at the mid-thickness
section and in the vicinity of notch tip are studied for
a few notch radii (ρ = 0.05, 0.10, 0.12, 0.17, 0.20 and
0.30 mm).
Stress variation along unbroken ligament length
Figures 10–15 show the plots of the normalized stresses
along unbroken ligament length. The normal stresses (σx ,
σy and σz ) are normalized with respect to the yield strength


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984 V . V . C H A U D H A R I et al .
(Sy ). The coordinate system is shown at the blunt crack
tip in every plot. The unbroken ligament length is along
negative x-direction.
From the stress plots (Figs 10–15), it is observed that
stress in z-direction (σz ) is almost zero indicating a pre-
Fig. 18 Plastic zone ahead of crack tip for
various notch radii by FE analysis.
dominantly plane stress condition along unbroken lig-
ament length. Stress in –x-direction assists the notch
tip to grow in –x-direction (i.e. along unbroken liga-
ment length). The stress in y-direction assists the notch
tip to grow along y-direction for crack tip opening

c 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 32, 975–986

displacement. The compressive stress starts approxi-
mately at a point 7 mm from notch tip along unbro-
ken ligament length till ligament boundary. For lower
notch radii, the peak stress level is in the vicinity (within
0.50 mm) of notch tip. It is observed that there is a minor
variation in the intensity of peak stress level (σ / Sy ) with
increase in notch radius. However, with increase in notch
radius it is observed that the location of peak stress level
is shifting away from the notch tip along the unbroken
ligament length.
From these stress plots, it is also found that the stresses
are localized in the vicinity of crack tip for lower
value of notch radii (0.07, 0.10, 0.12 and 0.17 mm).
Therefore, crack initiation occurs at lower critical load,
due to high stress concentration in the vicinity of
crack tip.
Stress variation along thickness direction
The normalized stress σz is also plotted across the thick-
ness direction, starting from the mid-thickness section
(z/B = 0) to a surface (z/B = 0.5). As observed from
Fig. 16, the stress magnitude as well as the difference
in stress magnitude across the thickness is very small.
Therefore, it is concluded that the crack front is almost
uniformly loaded in plane stress condition.
Stress variation in the vicinity of notch tip
The crack initiation load is applied in 20 steps. Figure 17
shows the values of stresses (σX , σY and σz ) at mid-section
thickness for each load step for S10 specimen. From these
values, it is clear that there is a triaxial state of stress
in the vicinity of notch tip at all load steps. However,
the state of stress distribution at lower load is different
than the state of stress at crack initiation load. At lower
load, the magnitude of σz is comparable with σx and σy ,
however, at crack initiation point, the magnitude of σz
is negligible compared to σx and σy . Therefore, at low
load, the stress distribution corresponds to a plane-strain
condition and progressively enters into a predominantly
plane stress condition.
DISCUSSIONS
From the 3D FEM study, it is observed that peak stress
level is not reduced, however the location of peak stress
level is shifted from the crack tip along the unbroken lig-
ament length as the notch radius is increased. The reason
may be a predominant plane stress condition ahead of
notch tip mentioned by Kulkarni et al.4
It is also observed that with increase in notch radii, there
is increase in the plastic zone size as observed from Fig. 18.

c 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 32, 975–986
EXTRA DEEP DRAWN STEEL SHEETS 985
The plastic zone is increasing gradually with notch radii
and assists the degree of blunting. There is hardly increase
in plastic zone size up to 0.15 mm notch radius. Beyond
0.15 mm notch radius, there is continuous increase in
plastic zone size.
CONCLUSION
The contributions of the paper are presented with com-
ments below.
1 The relation between notch radius and fracture toughness
is presented and critical notch radius for EDD steel sheet
is determined.
2 The apparent fracture toughness linearly varies with the
notch radius. This result is in agreement with the results
available in literature.
3 From fracture test point of view, the fatigue cracking pro-
cess is time-consuming and expensive. For this reason,
WEDM process is proposed, which produces notched
specimens with blunt notch. The results obtained in the
present work are in agreement with the existing literature
for ductile material.
4 In EDD steel sheet, the CTOD is larger than the
notch radius because of high formability, smaller size of
sheets, 100% degree of shear-lip and large plastic zone
size.
5 Higher notch root radius and lower thickness of steel
sheet exhibit greater plasticity due to lack of material
constraint.
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c 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 32, 975–986