FRACTURE OF METALS
Abstract
A study was made of the mechanism of brittle fracture produced in engineering metals under stress when wetted by certain low-melting liquid metals and the relation these phenomena have to similar behavior in other environments. The embrittlement by mercury of Al alloys in various states of anneal, cold work, and aging was studied. Sub-yield point failure is confined to dispersion-hardened structures and is intensified by combinations of aging and small degrees of cold work. Large plastic strains imposed upon the aged state reduce the level of embrittlement. The case is made that a critical strain rather than a critical stress condition governs the occurrence of brittle fracture. A model for the various trends of embrittlement was built from considerations of slip plane population, coherency stress fields, and the interactions between these. The conditions for sub-yield point brittle fracture in quenched and tempered 300M steel as-H-charged or as-wetted with molten Li are the same. The embrittlement by stress-corrosion of Al alloys i being studied to indicate that the embrittlement was basically similar to that produced by wetting with liquid Hg.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0268558
Entities
Organizations
- IIT Research Institute