The lower bound toughness procedure applied to the Euro fracture toughness dataset

The validity of a statistical method for estimating an engineering lower bound fracture toughness in the ductile-to-brittle transition region is investigated using the Euro fracture toughness dataset generated in the European SM&T Project “Fracture Toughness of Steel in the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Regime”. The lower bound method is based on the empirical evidence that, in the low probability regime, the cumulative failure probability function tends to be a straight line rather than a curve as is the case for Weibull distributions. The investigation demonstrates that the engineering lower bound toughness values as predicted by the method are related to a cumulative cleavage failure probability lower than 2.5%. Such bound predictions can be achieved on the basis of a small number of cleavage toughness values measured at the temperature of interest. The results confirm the validity of the method.