Fracture toughness cannot be readily measured in metal sheet because the
small thickness in which they are used (1-3 mm). In this sense the essential work of
fracture (EWF) has been successfully applied to determine fracture toughness in
polymers films and many metal sheets. However, their information about the
applicability of this methodology to AHSS is relatively scarce. In the present work the
fracture toughness of some advanced high strength steel Dual Phase and drawing steel
sheets has been measured by means of the EWF. The results show that AHSS steels
with yield strength up to 800 MPa meet the requirements of the method, and therefore
the values obtained for the EWF are valid. Thus, the EWF is postulated as methodology
to evaluate the fracture toughness and can be used as a mechanical parameter to
characterize the fracture behavior during crash of AHSS steel sheets