Effect of Precipitated Austenite on the Fracture of a Ferritic Cryogenic Steel

摘要

The effect of precipitated austenite on the fracture of an Fe-8Ni-2Mn-0.1Ti steel was investigated. To understand the effect an attempt was made to correlate the microstructure, mechanical properties, and the fracture surface appearance of specimens heat treated to contain austenite or be austenite-free. The fracture surfaces were quantitatively studied using a 3D imaging technique in the SEM. It was found that the presence of austenite had a beneficial influence on mechanical properties by lowering the DBTT. Part of this decrease was found to be due to the austenite gettering deleterious elements off the grain boundaries. Specimens that contained precipitated austenite were also found to have a smaller median facet size, when fractured in a brittle transgranular mode, than specimens with no austenite. The decrease in DBTT and change in fracture surface appearance is related to the austenite transforming to martensite of a different variant than the matrix which effectively grain refines the steel and raises the cleavage stress. (ERA citation 09:035803)