ABSTRACT
A local approach methodology which takes into consideration of void nucleation, growth and coalescence in the material constitutive equation, has been constructed for the assessment of ductile fracture behaviour of welded (tubular) joints, including crack initiation and development at the weld toe. Results have shown that by calibrating the damage parameters from simple smooth and notched specimens made of base and heat-affected-zone materials, the present methodology accurately predicts the ductile cracking behaviour as well as ultimate capacity of small welded T-joints made from the chord material of rectangular hollow sections.
