ISSN: 1945-7553
CODEN: JTEVAB
Page Count: 6

Linear-Elastic Fracture of High-Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steels at Liquid Helium Temperature

Tobler, RL
National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, CO

Reed, RP
National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, CO

Purtscher, PT
National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, CO

(Received 28 October 1987; accepted 14 July 1988)

Abstract

Four commercial Fe-Cr-Ni-Mn austenitic stainless steels containing 0.14, 0.26, 0.28, and 0.37 wt% N were fractured in liquid helium at 4 K, and measurements of the linear-elastic plane-strain stress-intensity factor, K_Ic, were made. Interstitial nitrogen significantly strengthens these steels at low temperatures so that brittle fractures occur under plane strain conditions at 4 K despite moderate ductility in uniaxial tension. The brittle fracture mechanism at 4 K involves a form of cleavage or slip-band cracking as evidenced by the formation of transgranular facets on {111} planes.

Keywords:
austenitic stainless steels, cryogenic properties of materials, fracture mechanisms, fracture toughness, mechanical properties, stainless steel alloys

Paper ID: JTE11533J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE11533J
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