A consideration of cleavage crack propagation in Fe2Si steel

It is well established that within the lower-shelf temperature range of Fe2-3Si polycrystalline steels, the brittle fracture occurs predominately by transgranular cleavage, unless subject to embrittling heat-treatments. The cleavage fracture develops on the well established {001} planes of the bcc structure. In this paper we revisit the growth, of these cleavage cracks by considering crack propagation in single crystals of Fe2Si steel. Three point bend specimens manufactured from oriented crystals have been tested by impact loading at a temperature of -196ºC. High spatial resolution focused ion beam imaging combined with ion milling is used to examine in detail the crack propagation path and has provided a new insight into the mechanisms involved. In particular it has been established that within the process zone of the propagating cracks local strain is accommodated by the formation of {112} twins. The results are discussed with respect to the overall crack propagation mechanism