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The Evaluation of Tempered Martensite Embrittlement in 4130 Steel by Instrumented Charpy V-Notch Testing

  • Symposium on Tempering of Steel
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Abstract

Tempered martensite embrittlement (TME) was studied in vacuum-melted 4130 steel with either 0.002 or 0.02 wt pct P. TME was observed as a severe decrease in Charpy V-notch impact energy, from 46 ft-lb. at 200 °C to 35 ft-lb. at 300 °C in the low P alloy. The impact energy of the high P alloy was consistently lower than that of the low P alloy in all tempered conditions. Fracture was transgranular for all specimens; therefore, segregation of P to the prior austenitic grain boundaries was not a factor in the occurrence of TME. Analysis of load-time curves obtained by instrumented Charpy testing revealed that the embrittlement is associated with a drop in the pre-maximum-load and post-unstable-fracture energies. In specimens tempered at 400 °C the deleterious effect of phosphorus on impact energy became pronounced, a result more consistent with classical temper embrittlement rather than TME. A constant decrease in pre-maximum-load energy due to phosphorus content was observed. The pre-maximum-load energy decreases with increasing tempering temperature in the range of 200 °C to 400 °C, a result explained by the change in work hardening rate. Carbon extraction replicas of polished and etched as-quenched specimens revealed the presence of Fe2MoC and/or Fe3C carbides retained after austenitizing. Ductile crack extension close to the notch root was related to the formation of fine microvoids at the retained carbides.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 80401, Golden, CO

    F. Zia-Ebrahimi (Postdoctoral Research Associate) & G. Krauss (AMAX Foundation Professor)

Authors
  1. F. Zia-Ebrahimi
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  2. G. Krauss
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Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation made at the “Peter G. Winchell Symposium on Tempering of Steel” held at the Louisville Meeting of The Metallurgical Society of AIME, October 12-13, 1981, under the sponsorship of the TMS-AIME Ferrous Metallurgy and Heat Treatment Committees.

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Zia-Ebrahimi, F., Krauss, G. The Evaluation of Tempered Martensite Embrittlement in 4130 Steel by Instrumented Charpy V-Notch Testing. Metall Trans A 14, 1109–1119 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02659859

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