Equivalent upper shelf toughness requirements for weld bead bend test (AUBI) substitution
For about more than ten years, in Germany, the weld bead bending test, the so called “Aufschweißbiegeversuch“ (AUBI), has been abolished for a series of cases, especially for fine grain structural steels. However, the corresponding investigations had revealed only an empirical correlation with charpy energy on upper shelf. The material and mechanical interactions so far, had not been clarified. So it was the task to bring light into the complexity of upper shelf toughness and AUBI using hybrid damage models and taking into account of both brittle cleavage and tough ductile failure. This allows the simulation of lower and upper shelf behaviour including the transition range. As a result, now the AUBI can be analyzed far better as we are able to establish a material‐mechanically justified correlation with the charpy energy. Interestingly, it revealed that the resulting upper shelf toughness requirements for constant bending angles are different for different steel grades. Such requirements for upper shelf toughness are necessary for the development of the ultimate loads in the ULS, especially for bridges or other structures, where cracks are to be expected.