ABSTRACT
Structural steel, commonly used at civil engineering structures, exhibits ductile fracture behaviour with significant plasticity. The process of ductile fracture involves microvoid nucleation, void growth and void coalescence. Voids nucleate around secondary particles of carbide when sufficient stress is provided. After nucleation plastic strain and hydrostatic stress cause the voids to grow. Local necking instabilities cause the voids to grow suddenly leading to the formation of a macroscopic fracture surface.
