The project aims to develop an understanding of the effect that different notching techniques have on the fracture toughness measured for low alloy steel. V-notches will be created by conventional machining, electric discharge machining (EDM) and water jet cutting, and the fracture toughness subsequently measured. The assessment of fracture toughness is essential for the assessment of remaining service life of engineering components. Microstructural analysis, tensile, fatigue pre-cracking and fracture toughness testing are some of the experimental activities to be carried out by the student. Key Objectives

Develop an understanding of fracture toughness measurement Develop parameters for controlling the fatigue pre-cracking of the steel Complete fracture toughness measurements for all notched sample types Characterise their microstructure by microscopy and measure their micro-hardness Assess microstructure of samples before and after fracture toughness testing