Failure Mechanisms in Stainless Steel/Carbon Steel Clad Plate Under Shear Tensile Loading: Experimental and Modeling Methods

The deformation behavior of a stainless steel/carbon steel (SS/CS) clad plate under interface shear loading is characterized in this work. A 2D digital image correlation method is applied to track the strain field variation near the interface during shear tensile tests. Then, a cohesive zone model (CZM) finite‐element method is developed to clarify the delamination behavior of the tested clad plate. Finally, the interfacial failure characteristics of the SS/CS clad plate are further presented through the comparison between the finite‐element method and fractography analysis at the interface. In the experimental and simulation results, it is shown that the mixed‐mode CZM, which couples the constitutive equations of three fracture modes, demonstrates excellent capabilities in capturing SS/CS interfacial deformation behavior. The main deformation mode in shear tensile tests is variable according to locations. The central region at the bonded surface is dominated by the shear delamination mode, and the region near the notches shows shifted crack propagation toward normal mode. These abrupt interfacial failures can be clarified via stress state and local damage analysis of the well‐reproduced finite‐element model of cladding material.