Performance of digital image correction technique for mild steel with different strain hardening effects

This paper investigates the performance of Digital Image Correction (DIC) technique in determining the initial fracture toughness of mild steel with different strain hardening effects. To achieve this goal, the results of DIC technique-based method are compared with those of the commonly used unloading compliance (UC) method. The comparison results reveal that the DIC technique-based method exhibit a good agreement with the UC method in determining initial fracture toughness, with a deviation of less than 3.0 %. Additionally, the DIC technique-based method demonstrates the consistency in determining the initial fracture toughness, independent of the ratio of initial pre-crack length to width. Furthermore, the importance of strain hardening effects on initial fracture toughness follows the order of strain hardening capacity, effective yield stress, and yield offset. The significance of this paper is that it provides a deep understanding of the performance of the DIC technique in determining the initial fracture toughness of mild steel.