Abstract: The effect of notch depth on the cryogenic fracture behavior has been studied using a low car- bon steel.An analysis was made for the fracture features at T_c~*(cryogenic brittleness-char- acteristic temperature)at which the facture load reaehes a valley value.Furthermore,accord- ing to the experimental results and engineering design practice,a concept of critical notch (crack)'size for cryogenic brittleness,a_c,as well as its limit value a_c~*,was put forward and recommended to be a basic characteristic parameter for controlling the brittleness. Mathematical derivation was carried out to give the expression of a_c and a_c~*,the reliability of which was verified by the modeling tests under both static and cyclic loading conditions.

Key words: low carbon steel, cryogenic brittleness, notch(crack)size