Fracture morphology and its evolution A review on crack path stability and brittle fracture along butt-weld

Considerations are made for the fracture morphology and its evolution in relation to the brittle fracture along butt-weld, where crack path stability may play important roles in various aspects. Analyses of a kinked and curved crack are first reviewed in the present paper. Having learned the solutions of a kinked and curved crack, several crack path criteria are compared for the crack path prediction. Then, some aspects of stability of a crack path are examined as to whether it may propagate, keeping its original direction or not in a homogeneous material, and whether crack kinking in a material having inhomogeneous fracture toughness may be predicted by seeking the state which gives rise to an energetically stable one. Having reviewed the morphology of brittle crack propagation along butt-weld, brittle fracture of extremely thick plates of high tensile steel is discussed for the fracture control of recently emerging large container ships.