Assessment of tearing resistance of ductile metals: Using a new concept of tearing toughness

Tensile and three-leg trousers tearing tests of the cold-rolled 20 steel sheets heat-treated at different temperatures were investigated. A concept of tearing toughness γ is proposed for the first time to evaluate the resistance to crack propagation, and to reflect the comprehensive properties of strength and ductility of ductile metallic materials. The present results show that the tearing process is steady, and the tearing toughness is dependent on the microstructures and tensile properties of the 20 steel sheets.