An Evaluation on Fracture Toughness in SUS304 at High Strain Rate Considering Process Zone

Some research works report the relationships between transformation toughening and process zone. In SUS304, the reduction of transformation toughening at high strain rate is expected from the result of a small punch test. Currently, the process zone in SUS304 is fuzzily defined. Therefore, a consideration of damaging process is necessary in order to understand a fracture mechanism associated with transformation toughening and process zone. In this study, at first, tensile tests of pre-cracked sheet specimens made of SUS304 are conducted by the split Hopkinson pressure bar in order to understand the fracture mechanism phenomenologically at high deformation rate. During the test, a DC potential difference method is introduced to capture onset time of fracture.