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Effect of Tempering on the Ductile-to-Brittle Transitional Behavior of Ni-Cr-Mo Low-Alloy Steel

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Abstract

Background

About 10 years ago, super-high energy Charpy specimens at the National Institute of Standards and Technology were removed from inventory due to unacceptable variability in absorbed energy, leading to the advent of new methods and materials to reduce the variability and maintain the prescribed energy levels.

Objective

In this paper, we investigated the ductile-to-brittle transitional behavior of Ni-Cr-Mo low-alloy steel by testing Charpy specimens with side-grooves as a function of the final temper temperature to define the processing conditions for these super-high energy levels.

Methods

For each temper, absorbed energy and force-displacement data were measured as a function of test temperature; the former was used to assess transition temperature and upper-shelf energy and the latter was used to estimate shear fracture appearance (SFA).

Results

From the upper-shelf energy results, it was found that two of the temper conditions yielded energies in the super-high energy range and that side-grooves reduced the variability of the energy by preventing the formation of shear lips. From the SFA data, it was shown that the instrumented striker data and fractography were in excellent agreement, with the minor discrepancies attributed to difficulties with transitional fracture surfaces in the fractography and multiple crack arrest points in the instrumented striker data.

Conclusions

In all, the data provided clear evidence that Ni-Cr-Mo low-alloy steel is a good solution for super-high energy Charpy indirect verification specimens.

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Acknowledgments

Contribution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the US government; not subject to copyright in the USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA

    F.W. DelRio, M.L. Martin, R.L. Santoyo & E. Lucon

Authors
  1. F.W. DelRio
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  2. M.L. Martin
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  3. R.L. Santoyo
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  4. E. Lucon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F.W. DelRio.

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DelRio, F., Martin, M., Santoyo, R. et al. Effect of Tempering on the Ductile-to-Brittle Transitional Behavior of Ni-Cr-Mo Low-Alloy Steel. Exp Mech 60, 1167–1172 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-020-00630-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-020-00630-4

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