Fatigue Crack Propagation and Charpy Impact Properties in Armor Steel Welds

The process of welding armor steel is a complex process because of possible welding faults, appearing in the weld metal zone in the form of cracks and pores. Austenitic filler material is traditionally used for welding armor steels. For heavy structural engineering, such as armored military vehicles, which are frequently under the effect of dynamic load, it is important to know the dynamic properties of the most sensitive area of welded joints, the weld metal zone. Due to a significant interest in quantification of material resistance to crack initiation and propagation, the fatigue crack growth rate was measured in the welded metal zone, while the resistance to crack growth in the weld metal was tested by the amount of austenite transformed into martensite. Accordingly, the threshold stress concentration factor was 10 MPa m(1/2). XRD spectral analysis revealed direct transformation of gamma-austenite into alpha'-martensite.