Derivation of elastic fracture toughness for ductile metal pipes with circumferential external cracks under combined tension and bending

Linear elastic fracture mechanics has been widely employed for fracture analysis of cracked pipes. For ductile metal pipes, the existence of plasticity eases the stress concentration at the crack front, which increases the fracture toughness of the pipe. Therefore, when using linear elastic fracture mechanics to predict the fracture failure of ductile pipes, the plastic portion of the fracture toughness should be excluded. This paper intends to...