Investigation of Cleavage Fracture Behavior in Notched Specimens of a low Alloy Hot Rolled Steel 16MnR

The cleavage fracture behaviors are studied in notched specimens of a low alloy hot rolled steel 16MnR. The results show that two types of cleavage initiation sites are existed in notched specimens, one being related to the inclusions ahead of notch root (IC type) and the other related to inclusions located ahead of string cracks far from the notch root (SIC type). The types of initiation sites are influenced strongly on temperature, changing from IC type at -196 degrees C to SIC type at -130 degrees C. In both IC and SIC initiation mechanisms, the crack nucleation is induced by inclusions and the final fracture is controlled by propagation of a ferrite grain-sized crack into matrix grain. The cleavage fracture of IC initiation type in notched specimens satisfies a dual-criterion model, i.e. a critical plastic strain epsilon(p)>=epsilon(pc) for initiating a crack nucleus and a critical tensile stress sigma(yy)>=sigma(f) for its propagation. While for SIC initiation type, the dual-criterion model is evolved with the expression of epsilon(p)+epsilon(ps)>=epsilon(pc) and sigma(yy)+sigma(yys)>=sigma(f).