Numerical and experimental comparison of fractural characteristics of 316L stainless steel

In this thesis, fracture behavior of the 316L stainless steel is investigated with using two fracture models: Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) and Johnson Cook (J-C). Out-of-plane tests are performed and experimental FLD and fracture curves are obtained. Analytical values are calculated using the Simufact and Ls-Dyna software packages. When comparing the fracture curve graph, the left side and right side of the Forming Limit Diagram (FLD) are considered. The reasons for the deviations in fracture curve predictions of both models are discussed for the tensile stress and biaxial stress regions. Results indicate that for the left side of the FLD, both models describe fracture behavior of 316L specimen very close to experimental values. However, for the right side of the FLD, both model contain analytically insufficient points and the GTN model predicts fracture curve better than the J-C. Although the GTN model predicts fracture curve of 316L stainless steel slightly better than the J-C, both models predict the fracture curve of 316L sheet specimens and strain values at fracture points very close to the experimental strain values.