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Tempered martensite embrittlement in a 32NiCrMoV125 steel

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Abstract

This study focused on tempered martensite embrittlement in a 32NiCrMoV125 steel through examination of the effects of austenite grain size and tempering temperature on the mechanical properties and fracture morphology of this material. Two different austenite grain sizes were obtained by austenitizing at 870 and 950 °C. After quenching, the specimens were tempered in the temperature range of 200–650 °C. The results obtained in this research indicate that by increasing the tempering temperature, the strength and hardness decrease, but ductility increases. However, impact testing indicated that tempered martensite embrittlement occurred when samples were tempered in the range of 250–400 °C. Fractography revealed intergranular and quasi-cleavage fracture. In summary, increasing the austenite grain size decreased strength, but increased impact toughness, except for samples tempered between 200 and 350 °C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, Tarbiat Modarres University, P.O. Box 14115-143, Tehran, Iran

    A. Abdollah-Zadeh & A. Jafari-Pirlari

  2. GST Research Center, P.O. Box 13185-665, Tehran, Iran

    M. Barzegari

Authors
  1. A. Abdollah-Zadeh
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  2. A. Jafari-Pirlari
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  3. M. Barzegari
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Abdollah-Zadeh, A., Jafari-Pirlari, A. & Barzegari, M. Tempered martensite embrittlement in a 32NiCrMoV125 steel. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 14, 569–573 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1361/105994905X64657

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1361/105994905X64657

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