This paper deals with problems of failure mechanisms of S235JR structural steel. One of the fundamental parameters of the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman damage mechanics-based material model is considered in order to describe the behaviour of the material at the plastic range. The analysis was performed on the void volume fraction f_F determined at failure of S235JR steel. The case of low initial stress triaxiality η = 1/3 was taken into consideration. Different from the most popular methods such as curve-fitting, the experimental method based on the digital image analysis of the fracture surface of S235JR steel is proposed in order to determine the critical parameter f_F.

The effect of the initial porosity on the material response under multi-axial stress state for S235JR steel using the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) material model was examined. Three levels of initial porosity, defined by the void volume fraction f₀, were considered: zero porosity for fully dense material without pores, average and maximum porosity according to the metallurgical requirements for S235JR steel. The effect of the initial porosity on the material response was noticed for tensile elements under multi-axial stress state defined by high stress triaxiality σₘ/σe = 1.345. This effect was especially noticeable at the range of the material failure. In terms of the load-bearing capacity of the elements, the conservative results were obtained when maximum value of f₀ = 0.0024 was used for S235JR steel under multi-axial stress state, and this value is recommended to use in the calculations in order to preserve the highest safety level of the structure. In usual engineering calculations, the average porosity defined by f₀ = 0.001 may be applied for S235JR.