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SYMPOSIUM ON
STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY
OF M E T A L S A T E L E V A T E D
TEMPERATURES
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO
E F F E C T S OF N O T C H E S A N D
METALLURGICAL CHANGES
Presented at the Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting

(FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY MEETING)
A M E R I C A N SOCIETY FOR T E S T I N G M A T E R I A L S
New York, N. Y., June ~3, I952
@
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off.
A S T M Special Technical Publication No. z2S

FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY PUBLICATION
Published by the
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING MATERIALS
i916 Race St., Philadelphia 3, Pa.
COPYRIGHT, 1953
BY THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING MATERIALS
Printed in Baltimore, Md.

April, 1953
FOREWORD
The papers and discussions in the Symposium on Strength and Ductility

of Metals at Elevated Temperatures with Particular Reference to Effects
of Notches and Metallurgical Changes were presented at the First, Third,
and Sixth Sessions of the Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting of the American
Society for Testing Materials held in New York, N. Y., June 23, 1952. The
paper by D. E. Furman and A. M. Talbot, "Notch Rupture Tests on Inconol
X and Nimonic 80A," is also being included as being of interest.
This Symposium was sponsored by the Joint ASTM-ASME Committee
on Effect of Temperature on the Properties of Metals. Mr. G. V. Smith,
Research Laboratory, U. S. Steel Corp., acted as Symposium chairman,
while Mr. E. L. Robinson, General Electric Co., Mr. J. D. Lubahn, General
Electric Research Laboratory, and Mr. H. C. Cross, Battelle Memorial
Institute, acted as chairmen for the First, Third, and Sixth Sessions, respec-
tively.
NowE.--The Society is not responsible, as a body, for the statements
and opinions advanced in this publication.
CONTENTS
])AGE
Introduction--J. D. L u b a h n and G. V. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A Survey of Embrittlement and N o t c h Sensitivity of Heat Resisting Steels--George
Sachs and W. F. Brown, Jr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Influence of Sharp Notches on the Stress-Rupture Characteristics of Several Heat-
Resisting Alloys--W. F. Brown, Jr., M. H. Jones, and D. P. N e w m a n . . . . . . . 25
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Effect of a N o t c h and of Hardness on the R u p t u r e Strength of " D i s c a l o y " - - F . C.
Hull, E. K. H a n n , and H. Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
N o t c h R u p t u r e Tests on Inconel X and Nimonic 8 0 A - - D . E. F u r m a n and A. M.
Talbot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Effect of N o t c h Geometry on R u p t u r e Strength at Elevated T e m p e r a t u r e s - - E . A.
Davis and M. J. Manjoine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '. 88
Investigations into the Influence of Notches on Creep Strength at High Temperatures
- - W . Siegfried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Theory of Time-Dependent R u p t u r e and Interpretation of Some Stress-Rupture
D a t a - - D . N. Frey 131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
T h e Effect of Grain Size Upon the Fatigue Properties at 80, 1200 and 1600 F of
"Precision Cast" Alloy X - 4 0 ~ P . R. Toolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Recovery and Creep in an Alloy Steel--H. A. Lequear and J. D. L u b a h n . . . . . . . . . . 163
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
An Experimental Study of the Strength and Ductility of Steel at Elevated T e m p -
eratures--J. Glen 184 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Effect of Sigma on Strength and Ductility of 25 Cr, 20 Ni Steel--G. V. Smith and
E. J. Dulis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
T h e Structure and Properties of Stainless Steels After Exposure at Elevated T e m p -
eratures--A. B. Wilder and E. F. Ketterer 237 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
SYMPOSIUM ON S T R E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF METALS AT

ELEVATED T E M P E R A T U R E S
INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY
BY J. D. LUBAHN1 AND G. V. SMITHs
In the past several yekrs, considerable the smooth-bar ductility exhibits a mini-
interest has developed regarding the ef- mum when the notch weakening is at a
fects of notches on metals at elevated maximum.
temperatures under either static or dy- The latter correlation between mini-
namic loading. The papers and discussion mum smooth-bar ductility and maximum
comprising this Symposium bring to- notch weakening is also found by Messrs.
gether much of the information available Brown, Jones, and Newman; but contrary
on the subject. to the German results, notch weakening
Sachs and Brown have prepared a occurred with smooth-bar ductility values
thorough survey of the prior literature on anywhere from 8 per cent to 20 per cent
both notch effects and long-time embrit- or more. The correlation of notch weak-
fling effects at elevated temperature. The ening with notched-bar ductility is more
analysis indicates that the notch effects consistent than with smooth-bar duc-
may be intimately related to long-time tility. Messrs. Brown, Jones, and New-
changes in the metal at elevated tempera- man also find that notch weakening is
tures. The part of the survey on notches more severe at lower temperatures than
is devoted partly to a number of German at high temperatures, but longer times
investigations and partly to the work of to rupture are required before notch
Brown, Jones, and Newman, which com- weakening set in if the temperature is
prises another paper in this symposium. comparatively low.
The German investigations indicated Messrs. Hull, Hann, and Scott find
that notch weakening (notch strength good correlation between the smooth-bar
less than unnotched strength for a given ductility and the notch-strength ratio
time) occurs when the smooth-bar duc- (notch strength divided by unnotched
tility is less than 5 or 6 per cent, but that strength at the same rupture time); but,
notch strengthening (notch strength just as found by Brown, Jones, and New-
greater than unnotched strength) occurs man, the boundary values of smooth-bar
for higher values of smooth-bar ductility. ductility between notch weakening
Also, the German investigations revealed (notch strength less than unity) and
notch strengthening (notch strength
1 General Electric Research Laboratory, Schenectady, greater than unity) is higher than that
N.Y. reported by Sachs and Brown for the
~Research Laboratory, United States Steel Corp.,
Kearny, N. J. earlier German investigations.
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2 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
Furman and Talbot find that there is strength ratio and the nature of the prop-
no definite value of unnotched ductility agation of the failure. For one of 15
marking the boundary between notch stainless steels, the notch strength is con-
weakening and notch strengthening. siderably less than unity, and the crack
They observed a notch strength ratio of is of the brittle, rapidly propagating
unity for unnotched ductilities as low as variety. Of the other 14 steels, those with
5 per cent and as high as 15 per cent. notch-strength ratios near unity show
Davis and Manjoine find that the many intercrystalline cracks, filling a
notch-strength ratio is greater than unity large volume before final failure, and
for smooth-bar ductility values between those with notch strength ratios con-
25 and 40 per cent and that the notch siderably in excess of unity show ductile
strength ratio is less than unity for all type of cracks, where gradual tearing
but the most mild of notches for smooth- open is accompanied by considerable
bar ductility values between 2.5 and 4 strain.
per cent; but for smooth-bar ductility Frey attempts, to explain the fact that
values between 7 and 12 per cent, the aging improves the ductility at high
appearance of notch weakening or notch stress but. not at low stress and the fact
strengthening depends upon the grain that notch strengthening occurs at high
size. The coarse-grained material shows stress while notch weakening occurs at
notch weakening, while the fine-grained lower stress. He uses a concept that
material of the same smooth-bar ductility envisions fracture at high stress being
shows notch strengthening. caused by the piling up of dislocations
Whereas the other investigators used at a grain boundary or phase boundary,
a single arbitrary notch geometry, Davis while fracture at low stress is caused by
and Manjoine investigated a variety of the growth of initial microcracks be-
values of notch sharpness (notch root cause of thermal fluctuations.
radius divided by specimen diameter at Toolin investigates the effect of
the notch). They find the behavior simi- notches on the elevated-temperature fa-
lar to that at room temperature as re- tigue behavior. He finds that the notch
vealed by the investigations of Sachs and fatigue strength is less than the un-
Lubahn; the notch-strength ratio tends notched fatigue strength for both coarse-
to increase due to triaxiality as the notch grained and fine-grained material. The
becomes sharper, but the more brittle notch strengths of the two materials are
materials show an' eventual decrease about the same, but since the unnotched
again in the notch-strength ratio when fatigue strength of the fine-grained ma-
the notch becomes sufficiently sharp. terial is higher than for the coarse-grained
From the above four papers that con- material, the notch has the greater weak-
tain smooth-bar and notched-bar infor- ening effect on the fine-grained material.
mation, it appears that one is not justi- The second part of this two-part sym-
fied in making the generalization that posium is concerned with the effects of
notch weakening always occurs when the metallurgical changes on strength and
smooth-bar ductility is less than a certain ductility of metals at elevated tempera-
value and that notch strengthening will tures. This is an aspect of elevated-
occur when the smooth-bar ductility is temperature metallurgy with which we
greater than that value. have been concerned under various guises
Siegfried's paper contains data that for a number of years: metallurgical
permit correlation between the notch- changes, microstructural stability, micro-
INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY 3
structural instability, or internal sta- strable, there has been heretofore little
bility. The term elevated temperature or no effort to investigate the r61e of re-
should be taken in a relative sense, recog- covery occurring at the same tempera-
nizing that in some metals changes may ture as the strain hardening, as, for
take place at room temperature, or even example, in a creep test. Thus, the popu-
lower. lar characterization that the curve of
Many kinds of metallurgical changes creep against time represents a running
take place in metals under the influence balance between strain hardening and re-
of time and temperature, whether or not covery has been lacking in experimental
the metal is subjected to stress, though support.
stress and plastic deformation may alter Lequear and Lubahn investigate this
the rate at which they occur; illustrative question by interrupting creep tests of
of the changes which may occur are car- quenched-and-tempered chromium-mo-
bide spheroidization or graphitization in lybdenum-vanadium steel with results
low-alloy steels, sigma precipitation in which demonstrate the occurrence of re-
the ferritic chromium or austenitic stain- covery at 1000 F (but not at 800 F). This
less steels, and precipitation phenomena is shown by the fact that the creep rate
of one kind or another in a wide variety after reapplying the load is greater by an
of alloys. amount which increased with the dura-
These metallurgical changes and their tion of the interruption.
effects are of interest in any investigation The authors further demonstrate how
of metals at elevated temperatures. to obtain the "plastic creep curve" by
Thus, while the papers of the latter part substracting the anelastic strain from the
of the symposium deal specifically with total creep strain. The plastic creep rate
this subject, it is also true that the papers is observed to become constant if re-
dealing primarily with notches, reviewed covery occurred, but in the absence of
above, have in a number of cases con- recovery this rate decreases continuously.
sidered metallurgical changes as being The paper by Glen summarizes an
responsible for certain observed effects-- investigation of the effects of manganese
for example, the change in effectiveness (up to 3.5 per cent) and of molybdenum
of notches with time to rupture. (up to 1.5 per cent), as well as deoxida-
Metallurgical changes take place even tion with aluminum, on strength and
in pure metals if we use the term in its ductility of steel at elevated tempera-
broad sense, as we should, and include tures. This leads to the conclusion that
the phenomena of recovery and recrystal- precipitation phenomena are capable of
lization. The paper by Lequear and Lu- explaining many of the observed effects.
bahn is concerned with the particular The author was led to the investigation
type of change known as recovery, which by.the well-known fact that the elevated-
occurs in strain-hardened metals and is temperature strength of steels may be
characterized by a decrease in the altered by change of initial microstruc-
amount of strain hardening in the ab- ture by heat treatment and that the
sence of any observable change in the optimum treatment for one test tempera-
microstructure. (Strain hardening is also ture and strain rate is not necessarily
decreased by recrystallization, that is, optimum for other conditions, which is
the formation of new undistorted grains.) presumably explainable in part on the
Whereas the recoverY of strain-hard- basis of metallurgical changes occurring
ened metal on heating is readily demon- during test.
Glen's investigation consists in making steels. These suggestions furnish much

true stress-strain tension tests of the food for thought and ideas for future
steels over a range of temperature. In research.
the tests of plain low-carbon steel, a The paper by Smith and Dulls is con-
maximum in the stress for a specific cerned with evaluating the specific r61e
strain is observed at about 400 F. This of the sigma phase on strength and duc-
may be recognized as what is commonly tility of 25 Cr-20 Ni steel at elevated
called strain aging. With the addition of temperatures. Considerable interest has
manganese or molybdenum a second lately developed in this phase which
maximum appears, falling at about 575 F forms in high chromium or chromium-
in the case of manganese and at about nickel steels. By comparison of samples
930 F in the case of molybdenum. In al- initially containing no sigma with other
loys containing both manganese and mo- samples in which appreciable quantities
lybdenum, peaks corresponding to both of this phase are developed by 7500-hr
these elements are observed. Mr. Glen exposure at 1300 F, it is found that sigma
attributes these maxima in stress for a is slightly deleterious to creep or rupture
given strain to precipitation during strength at 1300 F. Since sigma phase is
straining; this is not to exclude precipi- precipitated during the testing of metal
tation during heating prior to test, which not initially containing sigma, it seems
is, in fact observed, and explains some not unlikely that at sufficiently long time,
aspects of the observations. The maxi- exposed and unexposed metal might ex-
mum in the plain-carbon steel as well as hibit the same strength; a trend in this
the lower peak in the alloy steels is at- direction is experimentally observed.
tributed to iron carbide (or nitride) pre- In contrast to its effect at elevated
cipitation, whereas the additional peaks temperatures, sigma causes increased
in the alloy steels are attributed to yield and tensile strengths and reduced
precipitation of alloy carbides. ductility at room temperature, in confir-
Deoxidation of several manganese mation of previous knowledge. The most
steels with aluminum reduces the strain- pronounced effect of sigma is to reduce
aging corresponding to the first stress notch impact strength, even at the maxi-
maximum and provides further confir- mum temperature studied, namely 500 F.
mation of the idea that nitrogen is of The final paper, by Wilder and Ket-
greater importance in strain aging than terer, describes some of the results of a
carbon, but has little or no effect on the continuing investigation into the nature
higher temperature maximum. and effects of the metallurgical changes
The results further show that, associ-
occurring in a wide variety of steels dur-
ated with each maximum in stress at a
ing long heating in the temperature range
given strain, there is a minimum in strain
900 to 1200 F. In this particular paper,
at fracture. These minima are also at-
microstructural observations made on
tributed by Glen to carbide precipitation,
in this case, at the grain boundaries, various ferritic and austenitic stainless
giving rise to intergranular weakness. steels heated for up to 34,000 hr are de-
On the basis of these experimental re- scribed, along with the results of tension
sults Mr. Glen is led to make a number and creep-rupture tests.
of interesting suggestions which would In both the ferritic and the austenitic
appear to explain certain observations grades, the principal microstructural
regarding the effects of heat treatment on changes observed are carbide spheroidi-
creep strength and ductility of low-alloy zation and agglomeration and the pre-
INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY 5
cipitation of sigma phase. The most strength in some instances. The remain-
marked mechanical property change of ing grades show comparatively minor
the steels examined in this respect is ob- changes. The ductility of the rupture
served in room temperature ~ension tests tests either remains essentially un-
of the 17 per cent chromium steel expo~d changed or increases slightly, with the
at 900 F, which increases 35 per cent in exception of the free-machining 18 Cr-8
tensile strength with associated loss of Ni exposed at 900 F, which suffers a loss.
ductility. This is a manifestation of fa- Wilder and Ketterer also made tests of
miliar 885 F embrittlement. Changes in a few materials exposed for 10,000 hr at
room temperature tensile properties of 1050 F under stress (maximum working
the remaining steels are not of great stress, ASME Boiler Code) with results
magnitude. showing little difference from material
The 17 per cent chromium steel ex- exposed without stress.
posed at 900 F also shows a large change In summary, it seems unnecessary to
in creep-rupture strength. The stress for state that much yet remains to be done
rupture in 1000 hr of this grade is one in this matter of metallurgical changes.
third greater after 10,000-hr exposure at There can be little question that these
900 F than before exposure. The 18 Cr-8 changes are of great importance in the
Ni-Mo grade exposed at 1050F also field of creep, particularly of metals of
shows increased creep-rupture strength commercial purity, and in fact that they
as the result of exposure. In contrast, the may be the greatest deterrent to the
18 Cr-8 Ni-Ti and 18 Cr-8 Ni-Cb grades development of adequate theories of
show significant loss in creep-rupture creep behavior.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
A SURVEY OF E M B R I T T L E M E N T AND NOTCH SENSITIVITY OF H E A T

R E S I S T I N G STEELS
BY GEORGE SACHS1 AND W. F. BROWN, JR. 2
The phenomenon of embrittlement ERIBRITTLEMENT OF STEEL BOLTS

of steels after heating for extended IN SERVICE
periods of time has been recognized for Probably the first indications of the
many years. That the addition of a embrittlement of heat-resisting steels
stress can accelerate this embrittlement when subjected to long time heating
has been claimed by.some and denied by under stress were given by the failure
other investigators. Recently what ap- of boiler flange bolts after several years
pears to be a closely related phenomenon, of service operation. Such bolts were
namely the severe weakening effect generally designed to operate at stresses
caused by notches in creep loading, has giving large factors of safety based on
been reported in a number of German laboratory-determined high-temperature
and Swiss papers. properties. Nevertheless, premature fail-
It is the purpose of this survey to ures were frequently encountered. Bailey
assemble the most pertinent of this (1)'~ and Houdremont (2) reported that
widely scattered information. Unfortu- bolts operating at temperatures be-
nately, several quite different experi- tween 450 and 500 C (842 and 932 F)
mental approaches have been made to were sometimes found either to be
the general problem, and in any one fractured in the threaded sections or
approach only a very limited range of embrittled to such an extent that they
the variables was investigated. There- could be easily knocked off with a
fore on the basis of the results of any hammer. W. Buchmann (3) in a survey
particular test method it is impossible of such failures reported that the service
clearly to define the effects of stress, time necessary for embrittlement varied
temperature, and time on the embrittle- from 3000 to 12,000 hr, depending on
ment. the steel composition and the loading
In the following discussion the results conditions.
of each series of experiments will be The retained properties of broken
presented separately and an attempt will bolts were determined at room tempera-
be made to determine the general effects ture by a number of investigators. It was
of the important variables, to show the found that neither hardness nor unnotch-
relationship between the phenomena ob- bending tests could reveal the embrittle-
served, and to suggest a mechanism for ment, but that significant results could
the embrittlement. be obtained with notch-impact tests.
Such results have been reported by
i Director of Metallurgical Research, Syracuse Univer- Reincke (4), Kiessler (5), Houdremont (2),
sity, N. Y., and Consultant to NACA.
2 Research Metallurgist, Lewis Flight Propulsion 3 The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the list
Laboratory, NACA, Cleveland, Ohio. of references appended to this paper, see p. 19.
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S A C H S A N D ~ B R o w N ON E M B R I T T L E M E N T AND NOTCH S E N S I T I V I I u
12
ever, in a few cases (4) the impact energy
was not appreciably affected.
IO Apparently, chromium, nickel, molyb-
Cr-Mo stee "---- . denum steels embrittled most readily
while trouble was seldom encountered
g
~ 8
with chromium, molybdenum steels.
o Unstressed From tests on unstrained sections of
~7 A .14,200 psi
E bolts (6), that is, the heads, it was
16 evident that at sufficiently long times,
c 22,000 hr, heating without stress will
~ 5 severely embritfle Cr-Ni-Mo steels. I t
Cr-Ni-Mo steel
was also reported that the impact
properties could be greatly increased by
a reheat treatment of the bolts.
Cr-l~ steel ~___ ~ ~

EMBRITTLEMENT BY HEATING WITH AND
I'
WITHOUT APPLIED LOADS
The development of embrittlement in
0 500 1000 t 500 P_O00
Time at 932 F (500 G}, hr
bolting steels was a characteristic prop-
erty of certain compositions. Several
FIG. 1.--Effects of Heating With and With- investigations (7, 8, 9) were undertaken
out Applied Load on Impact Properties of Sev-
eral Steels (9). in which specimens were subjected to
50,
45 =
0.29 C, 2.86 Ni, 1.08 Cr
o Unstressed 1540 F {840 C), oil quench
401 A 11,200 psi
stress 1042 F (560 C), oil quench
351 '~ 0.32 G, 2.91 Ni, 1.24 Cr, 1.44 M(
x Unstressed ), 1540 F (840 C), oil quench
o I t , 2 0 0 psi j 1162 F (630 GI, oil quench
stress
~.25
E
-o 20
0
N
-15
x x--
I0 ~ D I D =- - "
I
5~ ~ oJ n I
i
f
0 400 800 12LO0 1600 ~ 2 0 0 0 2400 2800
Time at 932 F (500 C), hr
FIG. 2.--Effects of Heating With and Without Applied Stress on the Impact Energy of Two Steels
Notched After Heating (8).
and Wellinger and Keil (6). In most cases, long time heating with and without
the impact energy of the entire bolt was load and the retained properties deter-
reduced to extremely low values. How- mined at room temperatures. In some
cases the heating was cyclic or tests were healed Cr-Ni-Mo steel, creep damage is
carried out under cyclic tensile stress large compared to the embrittlement
varying about a mean value. In general, due to heating alone. A large effect of
the temperatures investigated were con- the applied stress on a Cr-Ni-Mo steel
fined to 500 C (932 F) and the stresses was also noticed by Siebel and Wellinger
were limited to the design creep (lo). In these tests buttonhead specimens
strengths. It was pointed out (8) that were subjected to loads necessary to
the embrittlement in these tests could produce 1.5 per cent strain in the re-
not be revealed by tension, unnotch- duced sections in time periods from 50
bending or hardness tests. The notch- to 900 hr at 500 C (932 F). Impact
bar impact test, however, was found to values of specimens cut from these bars
60 q
o l
"\
~- 4 0 .
" 2,X
a. 30 ,-x \
0 ~'D
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 9400 2800

Time at 932 F (500 C), hr
FIG. &--Effects of Heating With and Without Applied Stress on the Impact Energy of a Steel
Notched Before Heating (8).
clearly reveal the embrittlement and indicated embrittlement only in the

therefore has been employed by nearly strained sections.
all investigators. Additional data on the effects of ap-
Some typical results obtained by plied stress at 932 F (500 C) are given by
Michailov-Michejev (9) and by Lea and Wellinger and Keil (11) for a number of
Arnold (8) are shown in Figs. 1 to 3. Cr-V and Cr-Mo-V steels. In these tests
It is evident from tests on cylindrical a stress equal to the (Deutsche Ver-
bars (Figs. 1 and 2) that (1) all steels suchsanstalt fiir Materialpriifung) creep
investigated are embrittled by heating strength at 932 F (500 C) was applied
under stress and (2) the major portion for 500 hr. A number of Cr-V steels were
of the embrittlement when it was large embrittled by heating for 500 hr without
(Cr-Ni and Cr-Ni-Mo steels) resulted stress, some of them severely. Those
from heating alone. Cyclic stress tests which were not severely embrittled by
(8) showed, furthermore, that a steel heating alone were tested with the ap-
which was not embrittled by heating plied stress and only a small effect of
alone was not' significantly affected by this stress could be noted. The Cr-Mo-V
cyclic stress. steels were embrittled only slightly by
Tests on bars notched before heating heating alone up to 3000 hr. A small
are shown in Fig. 3. One additional fact acceleration of this embrittlement by
is revealed, namely that for the an- the applied stress is noted for those
SACHS AND BROWN ON EMBRITTLEMENT AND NOTCH SENSITIVITY 9
steels of this group having the highest systematically studied by only a few
creep strengths. investigators. Information of this type
EMBRITTLEMENT AFTER CREEP LOADING is sometimes included in manufacturers'
AT VARIOUS STRESSES catalogues (12); however, such data
The properties retained in specimens covers only a very limited range of
subjected to creep loading have been stresses and fracture times.
TABLE L - - S T E E L S I N V E S T I G A T E D BY T H U M AND R I C H A R D (14).
I Chemical Composition, per cent j

Steel Type - - - - _ _ Heat Treatment
_ _ _Z_c s~ M~ c~ Mo N~ Othe,~
Armcoiron . . . . . . . . . . . I 0.22 / 0.24 I 0.52 I .... I ... I .. , I . . . . I
Cr-Ni-Mo . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.11 0.22 0.46 0.72 0.88 1 53 [ 1598 F, oi1--1092 F air
Stainless . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ 0.10 [ 0.60 ] 0.62 [ 18.0 ] .... ] 8.4 ] 0.67Ti ] 1886 F, water '
Cr-Mo- (V, W) . . . . . . . 0.19 0.36 0.34 2.71 0.51 .... 0.74 V. I 1940 F, air--1256 F, air
I I t I I I I~ /
~
g
lOI
81
I [ I' I
~~
I I &Withrehe~ I I
o Without reheat,L
'
I I-I
~
I_ . ~ I.
(;ar~onsTee~
I I
Reheot-~
I
E
i
~, 300
0 102 103 lO IO5 i0 2 103 104.

Rupture Time, hr
E 12-~ I I
E
Cr- Mo-(V,W) steel
io--~ i
,, With reheat
o Withoutreheat
Hardness . Hardnesss
8:__1 "-; / =l 41 W
500 ==
E I
6 ~00
T,
c
4 ) ~oo
\--L
E
O' f "0
i0 ~ tO3 104 105
Rupture "rime, hr
Fro. 4.--Retained Impact Strength and Hardness of F r a c t u r e d Stress-Rupture Specimens for
Several Steels (14).
I0 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
The retained impact properties of for the carbon steel and the stainless
fractured stress-rupture specimens 4 were steel, both of which exhibited a com-
determined before and after reheat paratively small and slowly developing
treatment by Thum and Richard (13, 14) embrittlelnent effect. Reheat treatment
for the alloys shown in Table I. In generally increases the impact strength,
addition, for three steels measurements this increase being dependent on the
were made of the hardness. In all cases alloy and most pronounced for the
the stress-rupture tests were carried stainless steel and the Cr-Mo-(V, W)
out at 932 F (500 C). The results for steel.
12
I0
C ~'~
8
Creep at 57,000 psi~' ~ ~,
E
u
4
, X ,After rup,ure-t I \ ". o ~ I ~" After
2 \ , -'1 ~ t /) I )\ ~' , ~ - ' , L~rupture--
"--.~ . . . . L_~___q I I ~ L z Y J z - T - I
E
0
I0
8 "~ Creep at 23,000 psiv ~\^ ' ,
u
Creep ot 28,500 p s i \ '
m F } .... )
E ~After rupture I A ~-After rupture \
4
2
I --L. . . . . . --- . . . . .
0
I0 02 i0 3 i0 4 I0 2 I0 3 10 4 105
Time, hr
FIG. 5.--Retained Impact Strength for Specimens of Cr-Ni-Mo Steel With and Without Reheat
Treatment Mter Creep at Various Stresses at 932 F (500 C) (14).
several low alloy steels and one stainless Thum and Richard (13, 14) also
steel are shown in Fig. 4. The hardness determined the retained impact and
of these materials remains practically tensile properties at room temperature
unchanged, except for the Cr-Ni-Mo after creep for various times and at a
steel which exhibits a continuous de- number of stress levels. Impact tests
crease. The impact strength reveals first were carried out with and without a
a progressive embrittlement with in- reheat treatment. Results for several of
creasing time to rupture, the rate and the steels in Table I were reported.
extent of which vary with the material. However, with two exceptions, namely
Very severe and rapid embrittlement the stainless steel and the Cr-Ni-Mo
is observed for Armco iron and a Cr- steel, the data are insufficient to draw
Ni-Mo steel. At sufficiently long times significant conclusions.
to rupture, the impact strength recovers The data obtained by Thum and
Richard for these two steels have been
4 Thum and Richard do not report whether the frac-
ture was of the intercrystalline or transcrystalline type, assembled in Figs. 5 and 6 using a semi-
12
IO
E o----o Without reheot

9~ With reheot
Creep at
o
t~ / [ ~-~.,OOO ps,
E
I01 10 2 lO 3 104 102 I 0:3 104 I05

Time, hr
Fro. 6.--Retained Impact Strength for Specimens of a Stainless Steel With and Without Reheat
Treatment Mter Creep at Various Stresses at 932 F (500 C) (14).
I00
I I I
Creep at 57,000 p ~
8 80
% 60
~D
o 40
/, I
!
E Creep at 2, /
o
o 20 !
I I
/
Q) I
0
~, I00
O_ - - Creep damage j
.... Permanent damage /
o
9 Rupture /;
/
go 6o
E
2, 4o
Creep at 28,5~,.,//I
I /, / //
2o Creep at 2 3 i ~ s-
/ J
%, iO2 103 10 4 I02 103 104 is

Time, hr
FIG. 7.--Creep Damage and Permanent Damage for a Cr-Ni-Mo steel at 932 F (500 C).
12 S Y M P O S I U M ON S T R E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF M E T A L S
log plot which clearly reveals the effects time. The onset of damage is shifted to
of reheat treatment. The curves desig- longer times with decrease in the creep
nated "after rupture" are identical for a stress.
given steel and are taken from the impact 2. Permanent damage is developed
curves of ruptured specimens shown in only if a certain value of creep damage
Fig. 4. For the purpose of this discussion is exceeded. With increases in creep
the trend curves for the observed test damage beyond this critical value the
values have been replotted in Figs. 7 and permanent damage progressively in-
100
Creep damage
so permanent damage
9 Rupture
~= 60
~ 4O
E
o
o 20
c
I ,oJoJ,/ Creep at 52,
~ 0
o
,oo
O_
o
g 60
o
E
o
(El
40 i
o. Creep at 47,000 p Creep at 4 4 ~ I
10 10 2 10 3 10 h' 10 2 10 3 10 4
Time, hr
FIG. 8.--Creep Damage and Permanent Damage for a Stainless Steel at 932 F (500 C).
8 to show the per cent reduction in im- creases with increasing creep time, while
pact strength as a function of the creep the difference between creep damage
time. 5 This per cent reduction in impact and permanent damage decreases.
strength due to creep will be referred 3. At a given value of creep damage
to as the "creep damage" and the per the permanent damage increases with
cent reduction after reheat treatment as decreasing creep stress.
the "permanent damage." 4. Specifically, for both the Cr-Ni-Mo
The following statements regarding steel and the stainless steel the critical
the effects of stress and time and the
value of creep damage which is necessary
relation between creep damage and
to initiate permanent damage increases
permanent damage can be made from
Figs. 7 and 8. with increasing creep stress.
1. At all stresses investigated both 5. For the Cr-Ni-Mo steel, the per-
steels developed creep damage com- manent damage at any stress develops
paratively early in the test and this progressively during the course of the
damage increased with increasing creep creep test and at fracture is only slightly
From Fig. 4 it can be seen that reheat-treatment of less than the creep damage. In contrast,
the unstrained bars of the stainless steel increased the
impact strength slightly. In the construction of Fig. 6 the permanent damage of the stainless
this initial increase has been subtracted from curves for
the reheat-treated conditions. steel at any stress does not become great
SACHS AND B R O W N ON EMBRITTLEMENT AND N O T C H SENSITIVITY 13
tO0
Q
~, 6o
E
o 40
Q
Greep stress
,/f x Ipstl
~ 20
/~ o 57,000
* 4 2,500
0 ~ 28,000
x 23,000
o lOC
o A
" 80
Ah/y~
o
E 613
!.y
~ 40
7
~ zo f
J
J
O
a. 0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 9O 100
iO
Per cent Creep Time - to- Rupture
FzG. 9.--Creep Damage and Permanent Damage at Various Stresses for a Cr-Ni-Mo Steel as a,
Function of the per cent Creep Time to Rupture.
until a relatively large fraction of its I00

total life is exhausted. u 8C
The data for the Cr-Ni-Mo steel have m
•,• 0
been further analyzed in Fig. 9, using

the reported impact strength values
"~4C
shown in Fig. 5. The creep damage o Without r e h e a t ~ o
a With reheat
and the permanent damage correspond- 20
ing to the data points have been plotted
o
as a function of the per cent time to
rupture for each stress level. Within oE 12
the limits of scattering, a universal
curve independent of stress is obtained , With reheaJ
for the creep damage. For the per- -
o. ,o -'\'" < I
manent damage, however, there appears
-~ Without reheat J X \
to be a stress dependence. A comparison
of the curves for creep damage with
those for permanent damage confirms if)
several of the conclusions made pre-
viously; namely, the creep damage
_ 0
necessary to initiate permanent damage i01 102 103 i@
decreases with decreasing creep stress Time, hr
and at any value of creep damage the FIG. 10.--Comparison of Retained Tensile
permanent damage increases with de- Ductility and Impact Strength for a Cr-Ni-Mo
Steel After Creep at 42,530 psi at 932 F (500 C)
creasing creep stress. (14).
14 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
The type of simple behavior repre- INFLUENCE OF NOTCHES IN STRESS-

sented in Fig. 9 is undoubtedly charac- R U P T U R E TESTS
teristic of only a few alloys which exhibit The observations relating to brittle
severe embrittlement and only in the fracture of steel bolts in service indicate
range of stresses where the creep damage that in many cases deformationless
of the ruptured specimens is practically breaks occurred in the threaded sections
constant. or at the location of abrupt changes in
The retained tensile ductility (reduc- cross-section. Apparently, therefore, the
tion of area at fracture) was reported presence of a stress or strain concentra-
(14) for the Cr-Ni-Mo steel after creep tion contributed to the premature and
for various times at 42,500 psi. In Fig. brittle failure.
10, data for specimens with and without A number of investigations have been
reheat treatment are compared with the conducted primarily in Germany and
't20 000 r
'~ BO~oo,
~, 60 O0
~, 4o oool b
\
'
oJ
20 o o o
,v
~ 40 0 0 0 0
o Unnotch
& Notch
3 0 ooo
L=
20 0 0 0
%\
toooo
c
o
J
I0 0 I01 102 tO5 i0 4 105
Rupture Time, hr
Fla. l l . - - U n n o t c h and Notch Rupture Strength and Ductility for a Cr-Ni-Mo Steel at 932 F
(500 c) (13, 16).
previously discussed retained impact Switzerland to determine the influence of

properties from Fig. 7. notches on the stress-rupture properties
There is practically no effect of the of bolting steels. These investigations by
reheat treatment on the retained tensile Thum, Richard, Siegfried, Wellinger,
ductility. As revealed by the impact Keil and Siebel have been reviewed
tests, the onset of the tensile embrittle- recently in detail by the authors (15).
ment occurs at approximately the same In general, it was found that a notch
time as the onset of permanent damage. could either strengthen or weaken the
Furthermore, these two curves are very material. From the German data this
similar in trend and show comparably weakening effect appeared to be related
large effects in the same range of creep to a decrease in the reduction in area of
times. It must therefore be concluded the unnotch specimen below approxi-
that both the reheat treated impact mately 5 or 6 per cent.
test and the tension test are indicators Notch -rupture tests are reported
of the same factors which produce (13, 16) for the previously discussed Cr-
permanent damage. Ni-Mo steel and have been replotted in
SACHS A N D BROWN O N ]~IVfBRITTLEMENT A N D N O T C H SENSITIVITY 15
Fig. 11. Comparing Fig. 11 with Figs. conclusion that the phenomena of creep
4 and 5 it will be noted: damage and notch sensitivity are related
1. The notch weakening effect occurs in low alloy steels and that the ductility
in the same range of rupture time as of a ruptured specimen gives some
yields extremely low values of the un- indication of the magnitude of the creep
notch ductility and when the unnotch damage at rupture.
200 0 0 0 I I I I I -- I
zx Notch tests
o Unnotch tests
180000z;900 F-- + Timken unnotch t e s t s "
,I000 F ~c~u Tension t e s t s
160000 7 x .x'~" \
fifO0 F \ \
140 0 0 0 -...
ooo 900 - 32C

g lO00 E ~ ~" ~ 900 F
g
,ooooo
~,oo F ~ _
9
"--"~'i 900 F
80 000 ~\~ "'~ ~
" IO00 F
40 0 0 0 "~ ~ b~ % IO00 F
20 0 0 0
"~ ~ " ~ ~ IIO0 F
O I
~: :~ ~2oo
0.01 0.I I I0 tO0 I000

Rupture Time, hr
FIo. 1 2 . - - U n n o t c h and N o t c h R u p t u r e S t r e n g t h for Cr-lV[o-V Steel a t Several T e m p e r a t u r e s .
ductility recovers at very long times to Some recent experiments conducted at

rupture, the notch-rupture strength ap- the NACA (17) have shown that a
proaches that of the unnotched specimen. variety of heat-resisting materials are
2. The trend of the creep damage weakened in stress-rupture tests by the
curve for the rupture specimens deter- introduction of a sharp 60 deg "V"
mined by impact tests closely parallels notch removing 60 per cent of the
that of the unnotch rupture ductility. cross-sectional area of a cylindrical bar.
3. Both, large creep damage and high Included in these tests were a number
notch sensitivity are observed in the of low alloy steels in the normalized
same range of stresses (57,000 to 23,000 and stress relieved condition. Some
psi)i These observations point to the typical results at a series of temperatures
for a Cr-Mo-V alloy (Timken, "17-22A" GENERAL EFFECTS OF TIME

S) are shown in Fig. 12. All alloys so AND TEMPERATURE
far investigated behaved in this general Unfortunately, most of the reported
manner. The response of the metal to a data are for only one temperature,
notch was time and temperature de- namely, 500 C (932 F). Regarding the
pendent and the temperature range of effects of time at this temperature it is
notch sensitivity depended on the alloy evident that creep embritflement as
composition. In general, if the alloy were revealed by the impact test develops
tested in its range of maximum notch progressively with increasing time and
sensitivity, the strength of the notch that a recovery in impact energy can
bar was from 50 to 60 per cent of the occur if the heating time is sufficiently
corresponding unnotched specimen. prolonged (Fig. 4). These statements
t.8
Hr
-0.1
.ro |.E
j t-.-.,,~_
,v. 1.4
s
100 I ,/' . //z
g~ o.8
g
~,o.6
o.4
8oo 900 IOCO I lOd 1200 1300 1400
Test Temperoture, deg Fohr
Fla. 13.--Notch Rupture Ratio as a Function of the Testing Temperature for a Cr-Mo-V Steel
with Rupture Time as Parameter.
It was found that the onset of notch apparently also apply to the permanent
sensitivity is not clearly related to any damage retained after heat treating.
particular value of the unnotch ductility. Tentative conclusions regarding the
Depending on the temperature of test- effect of time and temperature on creep
ing, notch sensitivity may develop at embrittlement can be obtained from an
either low or comparatively high values analysis of the notch rupture data pre-
of unnotch ductility. However, the sented in Fig. 12, if it is assumed that
maximum notch sensitivity at a given the two phenomena are manifestations
temperature is associated with a mini- of the same mechanism. In Fig. 13 the
mum unnotch ductility. Also, the trend notch rupture-strength ratio e for the
of the unnotch ductility with increasing steel shown in Fig. 12 has been plotted
rupture time at any temperature paral- as a function of temperature for several
lels that of the notch sensitivity. The times-to-rupture. These curves clearly
notch ductility follows much the same reveal that for the temperature range
trend as the unnotch ductility; however, investigated the embrittlement for a
the onset of notch sensitivity is always given time is restricted to a rather
associated with notch ductilities less
6Ratio between the notch and unnotch rupture
than approximately 2.5 per cent. time.
strength at a given
narrow range of temperatures. The of the metal occurs progressively during

temperature of both the maximum and creep. Furthermore, it has been shown
the minimum notch rupture-strength that creep damage must develop to a
ratio shifts to lower values with an in- certain extent before permanent damage
crease in testing time. The maximum is observed, Figs. 7 and 8, and that the
embrittling effect moves progressively to permanent damage is largest for alloys
lower temperatures and increases in exhibiting highest creep damage.
magnitude as the time to rupture in- Assuming that a precipitate is re-
creases. sponsible for the creep damage of a
specimen leading to rupture and that
M E C H A N I S M OF THE EMBRITTLEMENT the precipitate is located in grain bound-
While the data available thus far are aries, then the following hypothesis for
incomplete in many respects, it is pos- progressive creep damage leading to
sible to make a tentative appraisal of rupture can be postulated. The effects
the mechanism of embrittlement. of the precipitate would be first to
Both long time heat embrittlement increase the resistance to grain boundary
without load and creep damage develop deformation and to reduce the ductility.
progressively with increase in time, and The result of this process is to produce a
recovery can occur if the times are material very sensitive to stress con-
sufficiently prolonged. This recovery centrations either in the form of external
phenomena appears to be particularly notches or internal flaws. The produc-
pronounced for rupture specimens which tion of internal flaws in the form of
show only moderate creep damage (Fig. intercrystalline cracks is a known phe-
4). Reheat treatment, Figs. 4, 5, 6, in nomenon accompanying the creep of all
every case restores a portion of the polycrystalline metals above a certain
retained impact energy of specimens temperature. The precipitate is thought
subjected to creep. The retained tensile to aid in the formation of such inter-
ductility of a Cr-Ni-Mo steel, Fig. 10, crystalline cracks and to provide a
was sensitive to the permanent damage structural condition of low ductility
but not the creep damage. Notch which results in progressive fracture at
rupture sensitivity, Fig. 13, has been these locations of high stress concentra-
shown to be a time and temperature de- tion.
pendent phenomenon exhibiting a maxi-
EFFECT OF ALLOY COMPOSITION AND
mum effect which shifts to lower tem- H E A T TREATMENT
peratures with increases in rupture time.
These facts point strongly to a pre- As Scherer and Kiessler (m) pointed
cipitation reaction being responsible in out, the data available in the literature
part for both creep damage and notch at that time did not permit definite
rupture sensitivity. Possibly the mech- conclusions regarding the effects of
anism in low-alloy Steels is closely re- alloying elements on creep embrittle-
lated to that which is responsible for ment. At the present time the situation
temper brittleness in the ordinary sense. has not improved significantly; however,
The presence of permanent damage on the basis of numerous publications
as revealed by the impact test on reheat- (11, 13, 18, 10, 20) a tentative appraisal
treated creep and stress rupture speci- can be made of the composition variables
mens as well as by the tension test on on creep embrittlement and notch-rup-
creep specimens without the reheat ture sensitivity~ primarily at 932 F
treatment indicates that a deterioration (500 C).
Alloying elements which cause a insensitive to notches at 932 F (500 C).

carbon steel to become temper brittle However, on the basis of recent tests
in normal heat-treating procedures at the NACA (17) it appears that freedom
should also cause a correspondingly fast from notch sensitivity at one temperature
embrittlement in creep tests. The effect is no assurance that large effects will not
of composition on temper brittleness be noticed at another temperature. The
has been discussed in detail by Rudorff same statement could be expected to
(20) and Hollomon (21). apply to creep damage.
Other steel compositions which are Arriving at conclusions regarding the
free from temper brittleness in the effects of heat treatment is even more
ordinary sense are known (20) to era- difficult than to make meaningful state-
brittle considerably on long time heating ments regarding the composition effects.
at temperatures in the neighborhood of An increase in the quenching or normal-
950 F. This heat embrittlement would izing temperature appears to increase
presumably be also present in creep the susceptibility to notch rupture
tests a n d then possibly to an increased sensitivity (19). Spheroidizing eliminates
extent. the notch rupture sensitivity observed
Certain compositions appear to be for Cr-Ni-Mo steel (16). In general, heat
free from this long time heat embrittle- treatments designed to increase creep
ment. Included in such steel types are strength appear to increase the tendency
plain carbon steels, manganese and to notch rupture sensitivity and creep
chromium steels, and most molybdenum- damage (11, 16).
containing chromium and chromium-
nickel steels. I t should be noted that CONCLUSIONS
Mauer, Wilms, and Kiessler (22) found
On the basis of the limited evidence
that the beneficial effect of molybdenum
presented in this report it is possible to
on phosphorus-containing steels is re-
draw several tentative conclusions re-
duced if amounts greater than certain
garding the embrittling effect of creep
critical molybdenum content are ex-
loading on heat resisting materials:
ceeded. This maximum effective amount
1. All steels investigated thus far were
d~pends on the alloy composition. Ap-
found to be subject to embrittlement or
parently, freedom from long time heat
creep damage when heated under applied
embrittlement does not necessarily insure
stress at 932 F (500 C). The magnitude
that a steel will not develop high creep
of this effect varies widely depending on
damage or notch rupture sensitivity.
the alloy.
Thus, the previously discussed Cr-Ni-Mo
2. The rate and magnitude of creep
steel was embrittled only slightly by
damage depend on the creep stress.
heating at 932 F (500 C) for times up to
The rate increases with increases in
9000 hr (13) but was subject to high
stress. The magnitude increases with
creep damage and notch-rupture sen-
decreases in stress to a maximum value
sitivity. The German work definitely
indicates that the addition of nickel to and then for very long times (low
Cr-Mo steels in amounts of from 0.9 to stresses) may decrease with stress.
1.5 per cent exerts a deleterious effect on 3. If creep damage exceeds a certain
the sensitivity to notches in stress- critical value which depends on the
rupture tests. Thum and Richard (23) re- stress, it cannot be eliminated by a
ported a number of low-carbon (0.07 reheat treatment.
to 0.18 per cent) low-alloy steels to be 4. Thus, the creep process results in a
p e r m a n e n t damage to the material which 7. I t is not known definitely w h a t

is t h o u g h t to be associated w i t h flaws or alloy compositions or h e a t t r e a t m e n t s
cracks in the structure. F o r steels which a r e affected least b y the discussed em-
develop a high creep damage this brittling phenomena. However, it can
p e r m a n e n t damage develops at smaller be definitely stated t h a t both tempera-
values of creep d a m a g e as the applied ture a n d time m u s t be considered in
stress is lowered. F o r steels which do making selections for service applica-
not e m b r i t t l e severely the p e r m a n e n t tions and t h a t freedom from embrittle-
d a m a g e occurs only shortly before rup- m e n t at one time and t e m p e r a t u r e does
ture. n o t insure freedom a t other times and
5. I t has been shown for one steel temperatures.
t h a t the creep stress range which results
Acknowledgment:
in high creep d a m a g e is also the same
range which yields low r u p t u r e ductilities T h e authors wish to t h a n k D. P.
and high notch sensitivity. N e w m a n and M. H. Jones of the Lewis
6. B o t h creep d a m a g e and notch L a b o r a t o r y of N A C A for their helpful
r u p t u r e sensitivity a p p e a r to be asso- criticism and advice during frequent
ciated with a precipitation phenomenon. discussions of the data.
REFERENCES
(1) R. W. Bailey, "Mechanical Testing of (9) P. B. Michailov-Michejev, Katschestu, Vol
Materials," Proceedings, Inst. Mechanical 4, pp. 19-21 (1936).
Engrs., Vol. 114, pp. 417452 (1928). (10) E. Siebel and K. Wellinger, "Testing of
(2) E. Houdremont, "Material Problems in Steels Regarding Their Brittleness at High
Boilers with Special Reference to the Raw Temperatures," Archiv fu~ das Eisen-
Material Situation," Mitt. d. V.G.B. No. hattenwesen, Vol. 13, No. 9, pp. 387-396
63, pp. 229-242 (1937). (1939-1940).
(3) W. Buchmann, "Deformationless Breaks (11) K. Wellinger and E. Keil, "Creep Be-
of Bolts of Cr-Ni-Mo Steel and Their havior of Mo-Free Heat Interchanger Bolt
Cause, Mitt. d. V.G.B. Ne. 65, pp. 393-396 Steels," Mitt. d. V.G.B. No. 94, pp. 251-
(1937). 256 (1943).
(4) F. Reincke, "Service Experience with Bolts (12) "Digest of Steels for High Temperature
of' EFK 2338 in the Dye Industry at Service," 5th Edition, The Timken Roller
Wolfen, Mitt. d. V.G.B. No. 65, pp. 338- Bearing Co., Steel and Tube Div., Canton,
389 (1937). Ohio (1946).
(5) H. Kiessler, Discussion to Seibel and Wel- (13) A. Thum and K. Richard, "Embrittlement
linger, "Testing of Steels Regarding High and Damage of Heat Resisting Steels in
Temperature Brittleness," Archly f#r das Creep," Archiv far das Eisenhiittenwesen,
EisenMittenwesen, No. 9, Vol. 13, p. 394 Vol. 15, pp. 33-45 (1941-42).
(1940). (14) A. Thum and K. Richards, "The Damage
(6) K. Wellinger and E. Keil, "Contribution to Line in Creep," Archly. far das Eisen-
the Problem of Embrittlement of Bolting hiittenwesen, Vol. 20, pp. 229-242 (1949).
Steels," Mitt. d. V.G.B. No. 94, pp. 179- (15) W. F. Brown, Jr. and George Sachs, "A
182 (1943). Critical Review of Notch Sensitivity in
(7) A. M. McCay and R. N. Arnold, Engineer- Stress Rupture Tests," NACA Technical
ing, Vol. 136, pp. 623-625 and 647-649 Note 2433, Aug. 1951.
(1933). (16) K. Richard, "The Strength Behavior of
(8) F. C. Lea and R. N. Arnold, "Embrittle- Low Alloy Heat Resisting Steels and the
ment of Alloy Steels," Proceedings, Inst. Tendency Toward Brittle Breaks," Archiv-
Mechanical Engrs., Vol. 131, pp. 539-609 Metallkunde, Vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 157-164
(1935). (1949).
20 SYMPOSIU~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
(17) W. F. Brown. lr.. M. H. Jones. and D. P. allurgia, Vol. 28, No. 163, pp. 24-28
Newman, "The Influence of Sharp Notches (1943).
on the Stress Rupture Characteristics of (21) J. H. Hollomon, "Temper Brittleness,"
Several Heat Resistant Alloys," see p. 25. Transactions, Am, Soc. Metals, Vol. 36,
(18) R. Scherer and H. Kiessler, "The Brittle- pp. 473-540 (1946).
(22) E. Maurer, O. Wilms, and H. Kiessler,
ness of Heat Resisting Steels at High
"Influence of Phosphorus and Various Al-
Temperatures," Archly ]~ir das Eisen- loying Elements on Temper Brittleness and
h~ttenwesen, Vol. 12, pp. 381-385 (1939). Long Time Heat Embrittlement," Stahl
(19) A. Thum and K. Richard, "Strength of and Eisen, Vol. 62, p. 81 (1942).
Steels in Creep Loading," Mitt. D. V.G.B. (23) A. Thum and K. Richard, "Rupture
No. 85, Dec. 1941, pp. 171-197. Strength and Ductility of Heat Exchanger
{20) D. W. Rudorff, "Temper Brittleness and Tube Steels," Mitt. d. V.G.B. Nos. 26.87
Long Time Heat Embrittlement," Met- pp. 30-34 (1942).
DISCUSSION
MR. C. L. CLARK1 (presented in written great extent with the old and well-known
form).--The authors are to be compli- phenomenon of temper brittleness. The
mented on the manner in which they work of T h u m and Richard was under-
have treated the available data concern- taken as a result of the brittle failure of
ing the effect of time, temperature, and bolts at 500 C, (932 F). This is the tem-
stress on the possible embrittlement of perature at which steels susceptible to
steels. I t is apparent that considerably temper brittleness are most readily em-
more experimental work will have to be brittled. Perhaps the most thorough in-
done to support many of their assump- vestigation that has been made of the
tions and conclusions, and it is hoped effect of chemical composition on suscep-
that in the meantime everyone will not tibility to embrittlement is that of
be fearful of brittle failures in their high- Greaves and Jones reported in 1925. 3
temperature equipment. Examination of Their findings have been subjected to
many alloy steels, after service lives up extensive analysis by J. T. Holloman 4
to 100,000 hr, is definite proof that em- who has made a very comprehensive
brittlement does not always occur. study of the whole matter of temper
If stress is a factor in this possible em- brittleness. Greaves and Jones stated
brittlement, as indicated in Figs. 5 to 9, t h a t " the numerical value of the suscepti-
inclusive, of the authors' paper, it would bility ratio of any given steel depends on
seem that a correlation might exist be- the conditions of hardening and temper-
tween the total plastic deformation, due ing, the rate of cooling from the temper-
to the applied stress, and the embrittle- ing temperature, and probably also upon
ment phenomenon. Did the authors at- the amount of work put on the steel in
tempt such a correlation? If such does forging, rolling, etc., and on the direction
exist it would be of value to the operating in which the tests are made." Thum and
engineer, as equipment fabricated from Richard have not hesitated to draw con-
steels known to undergo embrittlement clusions from the behavior of one steel
could be removed from service when the tempered at 1092 or 1112 F as compared
plastic deformation reached the point to that of another steel tempered at
indicating severe embrittlement. 1256 F. Greaves and Jones found, as have
MR. FRANCIS B. FOLEY2 (by letter).-- others, that steels of presumably the
This review devoted largely to the same composition differ in susceptibility
German literature, particularly the work to embrittlement. Acid open-hearth, elec-
of T h u m and Richard, is concerned to a tric furnace, and crucible steels, in that
x Metallurgical Engineer, Special Steel Developments,
The Timken Roller Bearing Co., Steel and Tube Division, 3 J o u r n a l , Iron and Steel Institute Vol. 111, No. 1, p.
Canton, Ohio. 231 (1925). See a so Vol. 100, No. 2, p. 329 (1919) and Vol.
2 Metallurgical Consultant, The International Nickel 102, No. 2, p. 171 (1920).
Co., Inc., Bayonne, N. J. * Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 36, p. 473 (1946).
21
22 SYMPOSIUM ON S T R E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF M E T A L S
order, had decreasing tendencies to em- would have been just as effective as it
brittlement. Holloman thinks that " t e m - was in the case of the other steels.
per brittleness is caused by a precipita- MR. J. GLENs (by letter).--ln this
tion from alpha iron which occurs paper the authors have reached some
preferentially at the (prior austenitic) very interesting conclusions on a limited
grain boundaries. The assumption that amount of evidence. I t seems clear that
the precipitate is a phase consisting of some steels are subject to embrittlement
iron and an element which supersaturates when heated under applied stress and
alpha iron at low temperatures is con- that if this embrittlement or"creep dam-
sistent with the known facts." He states age" exceeds a certain value it cannot be
further: "Manganese, chromium, and eliminated by a reheating treatment.
nickel all definitely appear to increase the The fact that other steels do not ap-
susceptibility, for without any of these pear to be embrittled under the same
elements (manganese less than about 0.60 conditions can, however, be explained by
per cent) steel is apparently not suscepti- the fact that the-transition temperature
ble to temper brittleness . . . . Manganese of these steels in the impact test is prob-
seemingly has a greater effect than chro- ably below room temperature so that a
mium and chromium greater than room temperature impact test does not
nickel." W. T. Griffith 5 found that a reveal any change in impact. I t would
carbon steel with no susceptibility with probably be found, however, that the
a nitrogen content of 0.004 per cent be- transition temperature is increased.
came temper brittle when its nitrogen Thus, if the impact tests were carried out
content was increased to 0.014 per cent. at some lower temperature, embrittle-
Recently the form of the nitrogeI~ was ment would be detected.
found by the Bureau of Standards to Since this problem appears to be due
have considerable effect on the transition to precipitation at the grain boundaries,
temperature; a lowering of the tempera- any treatment which tends to spheroidize
ture at which brittle fracture occurred the precipitate will reduce the embrittle-
was experienced when it was in the form ment and also increase the ductility in
of A1N, whereas nitrogen in other forms rupture tests. Unfortunately for many
tended to raise the transition tempera- low-alloy steels such a tempering treat,
ture. ment would seriously reduce the creep
Composition and heat-treating effects properties. In our experience, however, a
are shown in the work of Thum and steel such as Mo-V or Cr-Mo-V can be
Richard. The 0.11 per cent carbon Ni- tempered at about 1300 F for several
Cr-Mo steel which, after quenching and hours and the creep strength is actually
tempering at 1112 F, was notch sensitive increased. At the same time the ductility
when tested for stress-rupture at 932 F in the rupture test is also increased be-
had notched stress-rupture values at 932 cause there is less tendency for precipita-
F higher than the unnotched values when tion at the grain boundaries. The effect
the same steel was tempered at 1255 F, in this case seems to be that by temper-
the same temperature used to temper the ing, the grain boundary precipitate is
nonembrittled Cr-Mo-V steel, for 500 hr. partially spheroidized and further heat-
Shorter time tempering at 1255 F was ing at the testing temperature only
not used in treating the Ni-Cr-Mo steel, serves to increase the ductility at high
but there is reason to believe that it temperature and reduce any tendency to
embrittlement at low temperature.
5 J o u r n a l , Iron and Steel Institute, Vol. n l , No. 1, p.
257 (1925). 6 Colvilles Ltd., Motherwell, Scotland.
DISCUSSION ON ]~MBRITTLEMENTAND NOTCH SENSITIVITY 23
Unfortunately it is difficult to obtain larly true if the part contained sharp

sufficient material from creep tests to changes in cross-section which resulted
carry out systematic impact tests at low in stresses and local strains higher than
temperature. For this reason it would be the average load stress and the resulting
preferable to use some other method of creep strains in adjacent sections. Mr.
detecting the embrittlement produced. Clark is quite correct in stating that
Perhaps the authors could suggest some many alloy steels are free from embrittle-
method of carrying out such tests. ment after 100,000 hr of service. The
MESSRS. G. SACHSAND W. F. BROWN, steel types which are free from embrittle-
JR. (authors' closure).--The authors wish ment are discussed in the paper. How-
to thank Mr. Clark, Mr. Foley, and Mr. ever, the recently developed high-
Glen for their comments. strength low-alloy steels, particularly
In answer to Mr. Clark, we should like those containing B and W, have been
to call attention to an analysis of the shown by Mr. Clark 7 to possess very low
creep damage data made by Thum and smooth-bar elongations. In addition, he
Richard for the Cr-Ni-Mo steel, shown points out that overheating (above 1850
in Fig. 5. Using the creep time values F) of the steel 17-22A (S), such as might
from Fig. 7 for the beginning of creep occur during welding or brazing opera-
damage and permanent damage, it is tions, can reduce the elongations in a
possible to plot these points on stress- rupture test to nearly zero. These facts
time coordinates. Two curves are ob- point to the importance of gaining more
tained, one for creep damage a n d one for information and a better understanding
permanent damage. These curves may of the effects of stress concentrations and
then be compared with curves represent- creep damage.
ing various amounts of total creep. In Regarding the comments of Mr. Foley,
the case of this particular steel, it is found the authors wish to state that they dis-
that the stress required to initiate perma- cussed the possibility of creep embrittle-
nent damage at 1000 hr is approximately ment being due to temper brittleness in
70 per cent of the stress required to pro- this paper. In addition, several references
duce 0.2 per cent total creep. The stress on the subject of temper brittleness were
necessary to initiate creep damage under cited. The authors cannot prove that the
the same conditions is only 50 per cent observed effects are not related in some
of that necessary to produce 0.2 per cent way to temper brittleness. However, for
total creep. On the other hand, Thum reasons pointed out in this paper, it is
and Richard show data for a 0.31 C, 2.58 felt that more evidence is necessary be-
Cr, 0.26 Mo, 0.48 V steel which at 932 F fore any definite conclusion can be drawn
(500 C) does not develop damage at times in this respect. The statement made by
up to 50,000 hr until the stress is well Mr. Foley that T h u m and Richard draw
above that necessary to produce 1.0 per conclusions by comparing the behaviors
cent total creep. This latter steel is not of steels of different composition and of
notch sensitive at 900 F for rupture times varying heat treatments is true. How-
up to 100,000 hr. ever, the conclusions drawn are not
necessarily in error as Mr. Foley implies.
Regarding the practical significance of
Thum and Richard were primarily con-
these comparisons, it should be pointed
cerned with the embrittlement developed
out that in certain cases the deformations
by various steels (which in most cases re-
present in service loading may be difficult
C. L. Clark, "Lower Alloys Developed for High Tem-
or impossible to measure. This is particu- perature Use," Iron Age, Feb. 21, 1952.
24 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF METALS
ceived commercial heat treatments) at a German papers reviewed by Brown and

single service temperature of 932 F (500 Sachs (reference 15).
C). The conclusions drawn concern pri- Mr. Glen is probably quite right re-
marily the relative susceptibility of these garding the fact that embrittlement
various structures to embrittlement at could be detected at lower impact testing
this service temperature. It is correct temperatures for the steels which do not
that no systematic studies have been show creep damage in room temperature
made of either composition or heat-treat- impact tests. Unfortunately, the magni-
ment effects. Such studies would be ex- tude of creep damage measured will vary
tremely interesting, but appear to have depending on the test used to measure
attracted little interest thus far. The it. Thus, all tests which yietd creep dam-
Cr-Ni-Mo steel to which Mr. Foley refers age values are probably good only for
was completely spherodized after the comparison purposes. Also, it is not
500-hr treatment at 1256 F and cannot known that an embrittlement revealed in
be compared with the structure of a a low temperature impact test would
heat-treated steel produced at this tem- measure a damage the material might
pering temperature after a short time. feel at some elevated temperature under
One such steel is a 0.21 C, 1.00 Cr, 1.01 creep loading. The authors feel that, be-
Mo, 0.07 V steel tested by Thum and fore a suitable test can be selected to
Richard (reference 19) which was tem- measure creep damage, more experimen-
pered at 1292 F. This steel was found to tal information is necessary to help define
be very notch sensitive at 932 F (500 C). just what structural changes comprise
Similar examples can be found in other this damage.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
I N F L U E N C E OF SHARP N O T C H E S ON T H E STRESS-RUPTURE
C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S OF SEVERAL
H E A T - R E S I S T I N G ALLOYS
BY W. F. BROWN, JR., 1 M. H. JONES,1 AND D. P. NEWMAN1
SYNOPSIS
Stress-rupture tests were carried out on a number of low-alloy steels, fer-
ritic stainless steels and austenitic alloys. Both unnotched and sharply
notched bars were tested at various temperatures. The ductilities were de-
termined for both the unnotched and notched specimens.
It was found that all alloys tested were subject to notch weakening. The
time and temperature range of this weakening effect and its magnitude varied
greatly with the alloy composition. Tests carried out at 900, 1000, 1100, and
1200 F on a low alloy chromium-molybdenum-vanadium steel indicated the
notch sensitivity to be time-temperature dependent. The general trends of
the data conform to the conception that a precipitation reaction is responsible
for the notch sensitivity.
No definite conclusions regarding notch-rupture sensitivity can be made
by an examination of the data for the unnotched bars except possibly when
this quantity is extremely low. The notch apparently can reduce the ductility
of an otherwise ductile metal to the point where there is insufficient plastic
flow to eliminate the initial stress concentration.
The influence of notches on the static The premature and brittle failure of
tensile properties of many materials has boiler flange bolts such as reported over
been investigated and reported by Sachs 20 years ago by Bailey (5) and discussed
(1, 2, 3), 3 and by MacAdam in numerous more recently by Houdremont (6) in-
publications. In certain of these investi- dicated that the notch effect of threads
gations (1, 2), it has been shown that could also be responsible for high-tem-
low-alloy steels heat treated to high perature (900 to 1000 F) failures under
hardnesses are very ductile in the con- creep loading. As a result of such obser-
ventional tension test but nevertheless vations the German industry during the
are severely embrittled and weakened past 10 years instituted several rather
by the presence of a sharp notch. Suchca extensive programs to determine the
notch sensitivity has been shown to ac- influences of notches on the stress-rup-
count for the failure of heat-treated ture characteristics of various bolting
steel components in service at low loads and boiler steels at 932 F (500 C). This
(4). work was carried out primarily by
Thum, Richard, Seibel, and Wellinger.
1 Research Metallurgists, Lewis Flight Propulsion Lab- In addition, Seigfried in Switzerland has
oratory, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,
Cleveland, Ohio. reported notch-rupture data for several
2 The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the list
of references appended to this paper, see p. 45. non-ferrous and a few super alloys. These
25
Copyright
Copyright 9 Int'lby
by ASTM ASTM
(all rights Intemational
reserved); www.astm.org
Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
publications have been recently reviewed interest to both steam- and gas-turbine
in detail by Brown and Sachs (7). Several manufacturers. Results for seven of
general conclusions seemed possible on these materials are now sufficiently com-
the basis of the previous work: (1) The plete to report. The data have so far
presence or absence of notch sensitivity been obtained for only one notch geom-
appeared to be related to the value of etry, namely, a sharp, 50 per cent, 60-
the reduction in area at fracture (duc- deg, " V " notch. Metallographic ex-
tility) of the unnotched bar. Highly aminations have been made of the frac-
ductile materials were not notch sensi- tured sPecimens , and retained impact
tive whereas a progressively increasing properties and hardness tests are now
notch-weakening effect developed if the under way. For this report an attempt
unnotch ductility fell below approxi- is made to reveal: (1) the influence of
TABLE L--COMPOSITION, HEAT TREATMENT, AND HARDNESS OF ALLOYS TESTED.
Composition, per cent Hard-

ness,
Alloy Mo- [ Man. Heat Treatment Rock-
Car- ]Chro- Nic- Sili- Iron Others well
bon mium kel con C
"17-22A" (S) 0.30 1.25 0.25 0.60 Bal. V--0.25 1725 F, 1~ hr, Air: 1200F, 33
6 hr, Air
SAE 4340 0. 373' 0.74 1.75 0.23 I 0.60 0.21 Bal. 1750 F, 1/~hr, Air: 120OF, 29
2 hr, Air
Jessops H-40 0.29 3.05 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.26 Bal. V--0.85 1950 F, 1/6hr, Air: 1225 F, 38
W--0.55 5 hr, Air
AMS 5616 0.12 12.88 1.98 0.50 0.35 0.31 Bal. W--2.86 1800 F, 2 hr, Air: 1050 F, 36
2 hr, Air
Crucible 422 0.23 13.19 0.65 1.03 0.81 0.16 Bal. V--0.25 1900 F, 1/6 hr, Oil: 1200 F, 33
W--0.84 2 hr, Air
Haynes 88 0.07 12.48 15.48 2.74 1.38 0.51 Bal. W--O.77 2100 F, 1 hr, Air: Worked 28
ri--o. 45 40 per cent at 1400 F
B--0.11
Inconel X a 0.08 15 72 .... 0.70 0.50 ri--2.5 2100 F, 4 hr, Oil: 1550 F, 32
:b--1.0 24 hr, Air: 1300 F, 20
t_l~. 7 hr, Air
a Nominal composition.
mately 5 per cent. (2) The notch sensi- unnotch and notch ductility on the notch
tivity of a chromium-nickel-molybdenum sensitivity, (2) the mechanism of em-
steel appeared to be time and tempera- brittlement, (3) relative severity of notch
ture-dependent in terms of both its onset sensitivity for the various alloys in-
and magnitude. (3) Certain compositions vestigated, and (4) the presence of or
particularly low and medium-carbon absence of intercrystalline deterioration
chromium-molybdenum steels appeared for the one most completely investigated
to be free from notch embrittlement at low-alloy steel.
932 F (500 C) up to 10,000 hr.
M A T E R I A L AND P R O C E D U R E
The object of this investigation now
under way at the Lewis laboratory of the The composition, heat treatment, and
National Advisory Committee for Aero- hardness of the alloys investigated are
nautics is to survey the notch-rupture shown in Table I. With the exception of
sensitivity of a number of heat-resisting the Haynes 88, all material was received
alloys at various temperatures. Materials as { or 1-in. diameter hot-rolled bar
have been chosen which should be of stock. The Haynes 88 was received as
BROWN, ET AL., ON INFLUENCE OF SHARP NOTCHES 27
x~-lnll
9 . diameter rods in the finished rolled used in these tests to insure concentricity
condition, as shown in Table I. In all of loading for the notched specimens.
cases heat treating was carried out prior While such precautions would certainly
to machining. seem desirable, the reproducibility of
The threaded end specimens employed the notched bar data (see Fig. 3) even
are shown in Fig. 1; both have a mini- for the extremely brittle conditions in-
mum diameter of 0.300 in. The un- dicates that eccentricity effects if pres-
notched bar was provided with a radius ent are not large.
to insure that fracture would occur at The furnaces were of the external
the minimum section. This radius was shunt type. With this type of furnace,
the longitudinal temperature distribu-
tion between the specimen heads was
Blank Lenqth (Approx 2 4~'' ) .- . . - ~
[" i 5"
uniform to within -I-3 F. The furnace-
temperature control circuit is shown in
Fig. 2. A Variac is manually set to pro-
vide a voltage, V1, slightly higher than
,,+ I_" 3"

f' -+ I1-s ~ ~ ' l O N.C. Thd.
~" roa-- '3194 rod =
(a) Unnofched Specimen

Line Variac
4o110ge mace $Z Rt
p*~Blonk Length (Approx 2").--- I
FIG. 2 . - - C i r c u i t D i a g r a m for F u r n a c e C o n t r o l
on Stress R u p t u r e M a c h i n e s .
i
that required to maintain test tempera-
0.299 ture. A resistance, R1, in series with
Radius at notch
bottom must not Variac is switched into or out of the
exceed 0 . 0 0 2 in. circuit by the Celectray control which
(b) Notched Specimen senses the temperature at a location near
FIG. 1.--Stress Rupture Specimens. the furnace windings. When the resist-
ance is in the circuit the voltage is re-
su/ficiently large that its effects on the duced to a value, V2, which is slightly
less than that necessary to maintain the
strength and ductility values could be
desired furnace temperature. This gen-
neglected (3). The radius at the base
eral method of oontrol is extremely
of the notch was kept as sharp as pos-
flexible3 and under the best conditions
sible and varied from 0.0005 to 0.002 in.
depending on the machinability of the a For example, in this investigation it was found that
line voltage variations of as m u c h a s 15 per cent were en-
alloy. Variations in this range probably countered during a 24-hr period. These were gradual
do not affect the results significantly. changes and could therefore seriously affect the specimen
temperatures. The effects of such variations could be over-
The stress-rupture tests were carried come by proper adjustment of the operating cycle of the
Celectray control and by selecting a sufficient spread be-
out in Baldwin-Southwark lever type tween VI and V2. With proper operation the voltage vari-
ations encountered never resulted in more than -4-4 F
machines. No special precautions were variation in specimen temperature.
I I I I I
190 000 A Notch tests

o Unnotch tests
180000z ~-900 F - § Timken unnotch t e s t s - -
170 000 z riO00 i ~o-u Tension tests
160 000 ... ~'-. \ .

150 000 ~ rllO0 F "\ \
\
140 000 . \ \ ~ e,
130 000(~ 900 F -... ~
J J"-., .
-2 IIO000:I000F ~ ' ~ ~ . . ~
z, "~'900 F
IO0 000 ~IzO0~ o ~
9 0 0 0 0 (. )900 F
80000 ~ ~ A
rr 70 000|1:1200 .
50 000
40000 % - - "~q. k'~lO00 F
30 ooo ~ \
20 000
~'~'~.. ~ IlO0F
I0000
: ~ ,zoo
O oIOI O,J J tO I00 I000 I0000

Rupture t i m e , h r
Fzo. 3.--Unnotch and Notch Rupture Strength for "17-22 A"(S) at Several Temperatures.
I
130000 s-900 F
120 00( "'~ " ~

zs Notch Tests
I10000 o Unnotch Tests
o- z~- Tension Tests
~00 000
900 F
90 000~ ~'900 F
80000~1100 F
7000o
60 000 - -
n,, 50 000~1100 F
\
I
40 000
30 000
20 000
I0000
0
OOI OI tO I00 I I000 I0000
Rupture Time, hr
FzG. 4.--Unnotch and Notch Rupture Strength for SAE 4340 at 900 and 1100 F.
28
BROWN, E T AL., O N INFLUENCE OF S H A R P NOTCHES 29
160000.
150 000
140000
130000
120000
II0 000
100 000 '
~'
o. 90 000
= 80000,
~- 70000
Qa
60 000
50000
40 000
30 000
20 000
1OOOO
0O.01 0.I I I0 I00 I000 I0000

Rupture Time, hr
Fzo. 5.--Unnotch and Notch Rupture Strength for AMS 5616 at 1000 and 1100 F.
120 0 0 0
I
I I 0 0 0 0 ' ~-1350 F O Unnotch Tests,1350~ 1425 and 1500 F
]-1425 F [] Notch Tests, 1425 F
I00 0001
I',~ A----
x--- --
Notch Tests, 1350 F
Notch Tests, 1500 F
90 000 ( )-1350 F o-z~-E}-x- Tension Tests
i )-1425 F \
v}
80 000 i
!
o. 70 000
.c
60 ooo
50000
4 0 0 0 0 -
rr
1 M35o F
30 000 I I ' ~ "~,
20 000
1500 F
I0000
0
001 0.I IO I00 1000 I0000
Rupture Time, hr
FIo. 6.--Unnotch and Notch Rupture Strength for Inconel X at Several Temperatures.
30 SYMPOSIITM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
will hold the specimen temperature to and the unnotched specimens. Point-end
within at least 4-2 F. micrometers were used to measure the
The circuit shown is unconventional in unnotched bars. 4 The notched specimens
two respects: (1) R1 is in the secondary were measured on a toolmaker's micro-
circuit of the Variac and (2) a toggle scope, and an average of six readings on
switch, $1, is provided between R1 and different diameters is reported in each
the line to the relay, $2. When $1 is open case.
a conventional "on-off" control is pro- For metallographic examination, the
vided which permits the use of high fractured specimens were sectioned at
values of VI for rapid initial heating. On the longitudinal center line and mounted
reaching temperature, S~ is closed and in the conventional manner. A 2 per
the Variac Setting reduced to the proper cent Nital etch was employed. The etch-
value. Lower values of RI can be used ing technique was designed primarily to
120000tr
riO000'
100 000 o Unnotch Tests

A Notch Tests
90 0 0 0 + Hoynes Unnotch Tesls - -
Q.
8(9000
\ (3- ~ 4 Tension Tests
70000
c~
o 6 0 000.
3
=~ 5o o o o
40 000
30000
20000
0,01 O.i iO I00 I000 I0000
Rupture Time, hr
FIG. 7 . - - U n n o t c h a n d N o t c h R u p t u r e S t r e n g t h f o r H a y n e s 88 a t 1350 F .
if it is in the secondary instead of the reveal the presence or absence of inter-

primary circuit since the current is crystalline cracks.
higher in the secondary. Furthermore,
RESULTS
with R1 in the secondary the core of
the Variac is always saturated and The unnotch and notch-rupture
consequently the arcing of the relay S~ strengths of the various alloys are as-
is reduced to a minimum. sembled in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, with the
With the equipment and circuits de- exception of Crucible 422 and Jessops
scribed above the specimen temperature H-40. The data for these two materials
was within • F for the duration of any are not yet sufficiently complete to
test. permit any detailed analysis; however,
The reduction of area at the fracture 4 As might be expected, the scaling which occurred in
the long-time tests on the low-alloy steels render the
hereafter referred to as the "ductility" ductility values for these tests somewhat inaccurate.
However, in no case could this error be considered large
was determined for both the notched enough to mask the reported trends.
the results are discussed in a subsequent SAE 4340, and AMS 5616 are essentially
section. For the purpose of this report similar. The results for "17-22 A" (S) are
a semilog representation is used for the described below in detail and can be
strength since it is felt that the data are considered as typical of the alloys in this
most clearly represented in such a man- general class.
ner. Short-time tension data (5 min) The notch and unnotch rupture
have been plotted on the left ordinate of strength for "17-22A" (S) at 900, 1000,
the charts. It is not intended that these 1100, and 1200 F are shown in Fig. 3 for
1.8
kk_ L ;ooo'# II I ii
| I.,4 ~J ]J] JFJ~
0.6
20 I
4 ______k_l II I I I I? l-"-k4 II r'~F~ I ~.I
|
I II~-I..IIII I IT, lL "klll Im~#l
~, o.~ I ILl i i I il i~.~l t II I J~"~[ It \ I /t i II
~.= 0.6
.~ 0.4 _ _ & 900F LII I ~ IX"Ill XI/I III
o I000 F 13
~. 0.2 ~ III I I II I ~##4~I III
tOO
--
"~ron,iooTe,,,lil I ill
• 1200 F '
I III i~LLI
801 , 111- I &lo=l ~, III L III i ii[I
~ 6O' =~ ~ N~---L.I II ,T"-xI--~II-"I-~.IITr--T---f~,(q
"-- 40
~ ~ ~0 IVILl I I11"~ ~ I/rl[l
g
u 18
0
iIi I
rlr-,,
I III[
OOi
o,, I! I I II,LI I,I,!
~ I ll,Zoo
Rupture Time, hr
FIG. & - - N o t c h R u p t u r e Strength Ratio and R u p t u r e Ductilities for "17-22 A"(S) at Sev-
eral Temperatures.
data be part of the stress-rupture curves, rupture times between 0.1 and 1000 hr.
and the results definitely indicate that At 900 F the notch strengthens the alloy
there is little or no correlation between over the entire range of times investi-
the variable-load tension test and the gated. The amount of strengthening de-
constant-load stress-rupture test. creases slightly with an increase in the
rupture time.
Ferritic Steels:
At 1000 F the notch-strengthening
The rupture strength behavior of the effect is observed at the shorter times
ferritic steels, namely, "17-22 A" (S), to rupture. However, the notch strength
32 SvM~OSItr~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
decreases much more rapidly with time if a large notch effect is observed in the
than the unnotch strength and falls tension tests, it is significant with respect
below the unnotch strength after approx- to the notch effect in short-time stress-
imately 150 hr to rupture. For rupture rupture tests.
times higher than this value a pro- The other ferritic steels shown in Figs.
gressively increasing notch weakness or 4 and 5 exhibit fundamentally the same
sensitivity develops until at 1000 hr notch behavior as "17-22A" (S) except
the notch strength is only 65 per cent of that the temperature range and mag-
the unnotch strength. With further in- nitude of the observed notch sensitivity
creases in testing temperature the onset vary considerably, as will be discussed
of notch sensitivity shifts to shorter later.
~.o
co=
~F
o~
Zo'}
fit:
'0.01 O, I I I0 bOO 000

Rupture Time, hr
FIo. 9.--Notch Rupture Strength Ratio and Rupture Ductilities for SAE 4340 at 900 and
1100 F.
rupture times, and the slope of the notch- Austenitic Alloys:

strength curve decreases with increasing Notch and unnotch rupture-strength
time. This marked decrease in slope curves for the two investigated austenitic
results in a second intersection between alloys Inconel X and Haynes 88 are
the curves for the notched and un- shown in Figs.'6 and 7.
notched bars at high rupture times. The rupture-strength curves for In-
Thus, at the high temperatures and at conel X (Fig. 6) appear to be quite dif-
sufficiently long times to rupture notch ferent from those previously presented
strengthening again occurs. for the ferritic steels. Notch strengthen-
In regard to the tension tests it appears ing is observed at very short times to
that their values do not correspond to rupture at 1350 and 1425 F, and at all
those determined by any particular times to rupture at 1500 F. A notch
short-time stress-rupture test. However, sensitivity develops earlier and is greater
BROWN~ ET AL. ON INFLUENCE OF SHARP NOTCHES 33
at 1350 than at 1425 F. Both this notch DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

sensitivity and the notch strengthening
at 1500 F are primarily the result of a Inguence o] Ductility on the Notch Sen-
continuous loss in unnotch strength with sitivity:
increasing temperature since the notch In order to analyze the data for the
strength between 5 and 200 hr at all influence of ductility ' the ratio between
I
.9
o 1,8 i
~ 1.6
c
Q.)
~ 1.4
Q.
# t.0 oO Unnolch Tests, I000
'~---~ Unnotch Tests, llO0
~0,8 Nolch Tests, I000 F
Notch Tests, llO0 F
0.6
ioo
I
80 I ;4 , I '
4O
I 0 qS-N~
~ 2
3
Q.
I
0.6
0.4
02
0.1
o.ol o.i I0 IO0 I000
Rupture Time~ hr
FIG. 10.--Notch Rupture Strength Ratio and Rupture Ductilities for AMS 5616 at 1000 and
1100 F.
three temperatures remains practically the notch and unnotch strength (notch
constant. rupture-strength ratio) the unnotch, and
Tests on Haynes 88 are complete only notch-rupture ductilities have been
at 1350 F. At this temperature, (Fig. 7) plotted as a function of the time to
a pronounced notch sensitivity develops rupture in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. For
for rupture times in excess of 3 hr. At practical applications an alloy may be
1000 hr it appears that the notch strength considered as notch sensitive when the
would again exceed that of the unnotch-strength ratio is less than unity.
notched bar. From Figs. 8 to 12 it is evident that
34 SYM~0SIU~ O N STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF I~ETALS
whenever the notch rupture-strength with the exception of Inconel X. In order

ratio decreases to unity the notch duc- to discover whether a distinct relation
tility 5 has decreased to a value below ap- exists between the observed ductility
proximately 3 per cent. When the notch values and the notch sensitivity, the
rupture-strength ratio falls to minimum notch rupture-strength ratios for "17-22
values considerably less than unity the A" (S) have been plotted (Figs. 13 and 14)
notch-rupture ductility then decreases against the unnotch and notch ductility.
to values of only a few tenths of 1 per The relation between notch ductility
cent. The unnotch ductility, on the and notch-strength ratio observed by
other hand, was never less than 5 per Sachs, Sangdahl, and Brown (2) for room-
.o
c~
x~
F
Y~
CK I
~o
rr
e~
001 0,1 I Io I00 IuuO

Rupiure Time, hr
FIG. ll.--Notch Rupture Strength Ratio and Unnotch Rupture Ductility for Inconel X at
Several Temperatures.
cent and rarely below 10 per cent. Thus, temperature tension tests on low-alloy
the investigated alloys cannot be con- steels has been added to Fig. 13. A very
sidered as brittle in the conventional poor correlation is obtained with un-
sense. notch ductility, Fig. 14. For a ratio of
Further examination of Figs. 8 to 12 unity the unnotch ductility can have any
shows a striking similarity between the value between 7 and 35 per cent. In
general trends of the curves for the notch contrast, Fig. 13 shows that a better
rupture-strength ratio and both the correlation is obtained with the notch
notch and unnotch ductility for all alloys ductility. At a notch-strength ratio of
unity the notch ductility varied between
6 The notch ductility for Inconel X is not reported.
Measurements of the fractured diameters of notch speci- 1 and 2.5 per cent. However, no universal
mens were impossible because of the extremely irregular
nature of the fracture. relation is obtained, such as that ob-
BROWN~ ET AL., ON INFLUENCE OF SHARP NOTCHES 35
.g
*6
0E
s
c
L
~o
*6
7
g:
0.01 0.1 I 10 100 I000

Rupture Time, hr
FIG. 12.--Notch Rupture Strength Ratio and Rupture Ductilities for Haynes 88 at 1350 F.
o 1.4
/ / ~.~ f
L - - - - -
.J
zx 900 F
o 1000 F
o I100 F
x
- - 1200 F
-- -- Low A l l o y Steels
At Room Temperolure (2)
0 O.I 0.5 I 2 ~t 4 6 8 I0 12 14 16 18
Notch Rupture Duct{lity; p e r c e n t
FIo. 13.--Notch Rupture Strength Ratio as a Function of Notch Rupture Ductility/or "17-22
A"(S) at Various Temperatures.
36 SYm, OSlV~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF ~V~ETALS
served for the heat-treated low-alloy Mecluznism of the Embrittlement:

steels at room temperature. This is to be It is clear from the previously pre-
expected since the stress-strain charac- sented data that notch-rupture sensi-
teristics of the metal vary with both tivity is a time and temperature-de-'
time and temperature. In fact, the rela- pendent phenomenon. In a recent publi-
tion exhibited for the rupture tests dif- cation by Brown and Sachs (7) it is
!
2.0 I
900 F
1000 F - -
I100 F
1200 F
~l,C r
g
=u 0 . 8
o
Zo.6 I- I
% I0 Too
Unnotched Rupture D u c t i l i t y , per cent
Fzo. 14.--Notch Rupture Strength Ratio as a Function of Unnotch Rupture Ductility for
"17-22 A"(S) at Various Temperatures.
1.8
~22-~" "" 12. " ' ' f
Z~ ~ /t /
0.8
0.6
800 900 I 000 1100 I 200 I 300 00
Test T e m p e r a t u r e , deg Fohr
15.--Notch Rupture-Strength Ratio as a Function of Test Temperature with Rupture
FIG.
Time as Parameter for '*'17-22A"(S).
fers distinctly from that observed in suggested that the notch-rupture be-
static room-temperature tension tests, havior at several temperatures obtained
in that the notch rupture-strength ratio b y Thum and Richard (8) for a chro-
decreases with decreasing notch ductility mium-nickel-molybdenum steel might
over the entire range of observed duc- be associated with a precipitation reac-
tilities. This will be further discussed tion.
below. In order to analyze the present data
BROWN, ET At., ON INFLUENCE OF SHARP No,citEs 37
for the presence of precipitation the re- that both the curves for notch rupture-
sults for "17-22A" (S) and Inconel X strength ratio and notch-rupture duc-
have been replotted in Figs. 15 and 17. tility for "17-22A" (S) exhibit essentially
In these representations the notch rup- the same trends. At any given time to
I00
El. 0.1 hr
" \1/ /
#
0.1
800 900 I 000
'~
I I00
i
200 I BOO I 400
Test Temperature, deg Fohr
Fro. 16.--Notch Ductility as a Function of Testing Temperature with Rupture Time as Param-
eter for "17-22 A"(S).
2.0
1.8
,_o_ \\\
m 1.4
"~ r o., ..
-:o.s"'i'"
.~o.6~ o~
0.7- oi
oLJ
, oo , oo ,
i oo , oo
Test Ternperoture , deg Fahr

FzG.17.--Notch Rupture-Strength Ratio as a Function of Testing Temperature with Rupture
Time as a Parameter for Inconel X.
ture-strength ratio is plotted as a func- rupture these quantities first increase

tion of the testing temperature with with increasing temperature to a maxi-
rupture time as a parameter. In addition, mum value and then pass through a
the notch ductility for "17-22A" (S) is minimum. The temperatures at which
plotted in the same manner (Fig. 16). the maxima and minima occur decrease
Referring to Figs. 15 and 16 it is seen with an increase in the rupture time.
38 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF IV[ETALS
Also noticed is a decrease in magnitude temperature range from 1350 to 1500 F.

of maximum values of both notch It is evident that the trend of these
rupture-strength ratio and notch-rupture curves corresponds closely to the previ-
ductility as the testing time increases. ously discussed extrapolated portions of
The data for "17-22A" (S) do not extend the "17-22A" (S) data in Fig. 15.
beyond 1200 F; however, the curves in These representations are considered
Figs. 15 and 16 have been extrapolated to be strong evidence for the occurrence
Low Alloy Steels Ferritic Stainless Steels Austenitic Alloys
'~----'~- i ] Ru~ptureTim~ 'lOHr ]=--~---~l l I ~ ]-- [
120 000 ~ -
r
I
-
!! \&_ ! i I! ! !) t_!
ooo
40 0 0 0 " ~
i ~,.: i" Rupfure T me I00 Hr
0 ~
.... ,
Nolch "17-22 A" (,S) . . . . . . ~
,, I ? I
....
:"1
| o Unnotch"17-22 A'(S) ,c, Notch AMS 5616 A Notch Inconel X
120 000 x Notch 4340 - o UnnofchAMS 5616 ~ - - o UnnotchlnconeL X
4 l [] Unnotch 4340 x Notch 422 ! x Notch Haynes 88
C3.
~ v +4-. 4 0Unnocth.N~ . H - 4 0
H - [] U. nn~ h 422 ~[3 Unnotch Haynes88
=- 80 000~
1
4O 000
_=
o.
or
[ [ Rupture Time IO00Hr (

4- f
80 000
40 000 :~. - ',4 ~ " ' Ix J "
0 900 I000 I100

900 I000 1200
I100 1200 1300 1400 1 5 0 0 1600
Temperature, deg Fohr
F1G. 18.--Notch and Unnotched Rupture Strength as a Function of Temperature for Various
Alloys at 10, 100 and 1000 hr to Rupture.
to higher temperatures in conformance of a time-temperature dependent precip-

with the trends discussed above. It can itation reaction as being responsible for
now be seen that the minimum values of the notch sensitivity in both "17-22A"
notch rupture-strength ratio and notch- (S) and Inconel X.
rupture ductility become progressively While the data are available at only
lower with increasing rupture time. two temperatures for AMS 5616 and
The notch rupture-strength ratio SAE 4340 the trend of the curves for
curves for Inconel X, Fig. 17, cover a notch rupture-strength ratio and notch-
rupture ductility when plotted against low-alloy steels specially developed for
rupture time (see Figs. 9 and 10), also high-temperature use such as "17-22A"
conform to this general conception. (S) may be superior to the ferritic stain-
The nature and location of this precip- less steels at temperatures below 1100 F.
itate cannot be definitely stated on the At temperatures above this limit the
basis of the tests reported. However, it ferritic stainless steels are superior to
seems reasonable to assume that there is the low-alloy steels and this is particu-
some relations'hip between the mech- larly true at the longest times to rupture.
anism responsible for notch-rupture sen- The austenitic alloys while in most cases
sitivity and that responsible for temper intended for use at temperatures above
brittleness and long-time heat embrittle- 1200 F, possess rupture strength superior
ment both of w h i c h are presumably to that of the ferritic stainless steels at
caused by precipitations. 1200 F.
In regard to the temperature of onset
Comparison of Alloys: of notch sensitivity, it appears that for
The alloys tested may be conveniently equal times to rupture the low-alloy
divided into three main classes: (1) low- steels exhibit notch embrittlement at
alloy steels, "17-22A" (S), Jessops H-40, lower temperatures than the ferritic
and SAE 4340; (2) ferritic stainless stainless steels or austenitic alloys. On
steels, AMS 5616 and Crucible 422; and the basis of only a limited amount of
(3) austenitic alloys, Inconel X, and data it appears that the temperatures for
Haynes 88. In order to compare these the onset of notch sensitivity in the
classes of materials regarding their sus- austenitic alloys investigated are no
ceptibility to notch-rupture sensitivity, higher than those observed for the fer-
unnotch and notch-rupture strength ritic stainless steels.
values at three times to rupture, namely Regarding the magnitude of the notch
10, 100, and 1000 hr, have been taken sensitivity, considerable variance is ob-
from the curves in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 served within each group. For example,
and plotted in Fig. 18 as a function of SAE 4340, not strictly a heat-resisting
the test temperature. Data for Crucible alloy, is considerably less notch sensitive
422 and Jessops H-40 at 10 and 100 hr than "17-22A" (S). Also, while notch
to rupture have been added to this sensitivity is observed for AMS 5616, no
representation. In addition a few data for notch weakening was encountered for
Haynes 88 at 1200 and 1500 F are also Crucible 422 under any of the conditions
shown. investigated. Both the austenitic alloys
There is a strong similarity between Inconel X and Haynes 88 develop a
the various alloys in that when a notch pronounced notch sensitivity over a wide
sensitivity is developed for testing times range of temperatures, for rupture times
between 10 and 1000 hr, the onset of this between 10 and 1000 hr. It is interesting
sensitivity occurs at lower temperatures to note, however, that notch strengthen-
as the rupture times are increased. The ing is observed for Inconel X at 1500 F.
three characteristics of these curves The reasons for these differences in
which will be discussed are: (1) the level notch effects observed between materials
of the unnotch strength, (2) the tem- of the same group and their relation to
perature of onset of notch sensitivity and alloy composition and heat treatment are
(3) the magnitude of notch sensitivity. not clearly understood. In a previous
Regarding the level of the unnotch paper (7), it was pointed out that in this
rupture strength it is interesting to note respect the effects of major and minor
FIG. 19.--Photomicrographs of
FIO. 20.--Photomicrographs of Notched
40
Unnotched Specimens of "17-22 A"(S) Etched in Nital (•
Sl~ecimens of "17-22 A"(S). Etched in Nital (X75).
41
42 SYMPOSIUM O N STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF METALS
alloying additions as well as heat treat- given rupture time the more severe is
ment can be quite large. the cracking.
Considering the magnitude of notch The photomicrographs of the notched
sensitivity for the various alloys in their specimens are shown in Fig. 20. No
temperature range of commercial ap- cracking was observed for any specimen
plication, several observations can be at 900 and i000 F and the photomicro-
made: (1) the notch sensitivity of heat- graph for a rupture time of 849 hr at
resisting low-alloy steels may be quite 900 F is typical for all specimens tested
severe, particularly at rupture times a t these temperatures. At 1100 F only
over 100 hr, (2) the two ferritic stainless the longest time specimen (747 hr), Fig.
steels investigated appear to be free 20(b), exhibited evidence of cracks. These
from significant notch brittleness at rup- appareiatly originated at the notch bot-
ture times up to 100 hr, and (3) although tom and extended inward for only a
the austenitiC alloys have not yet been short distance. At 1200 F similar but
sufficiently investigated to make gen- more severe cracking (Fig. 20(c)) at the
eralized statements, Inconel X develops notch bottom was observed for all speci-
notch embrittlement at temperatures mens with rupture times in excess of 8.2
which are below its preferred range of hr which increased only slightly in
application. severity with increases in rupture time.
The results of this metallographic
Examination of Fractures: examination have been represented in
Preliminary metallographic studies of Fig. 21. The dotted portion of the curves
the fractured "17-22A" (S) specimens represent the range of intercrystalline
using conventional techniques did not cracks for both notched and unnotched
reveal structural changes, such as pre- bars. It is noted that all unnotched bars
cipitates, which might account for the having rupture times in excess of that
notch embrittlement. However, definite necessary to yield a notch rupture-
indications of progressive intercrystalline strength ratio of unity exhibited cracking
deterioration were observed in both un- while at shorter times to rupture no
notched and notched specimens of this cracking could be detected. While this
alloy. result may be coincidental for these test
Photomicrographs of unnotclled speci- conditions it suggests that the precipi-
mens of "17-22A" (S) are shown in Fig. tation reaction responsible for notch
19. Typical photomicrographs have been rupture sensitivity also contributes to-
selected to show the extent Of intercrys- ward intercrystalline failure of the metal
talline deterioration at 900, 1000, 1100, and is therefore present in the grain
and 1200 F. At 900 F no evidence of boundaries. Of course, it may also be
intercrystalline cracks was found and present in the matrix.
the structure for a rupture time of 504 A similar observation cannot be made
hr, Fig. 19(a) is typical for all specimens for notch specimens. However, the pres-
tested at this temperature. ence of intercrystalline cracks is difficult
At 1000, 1100, and 1200 F (Figs. 19(b) to detect in notch specimens because the
to 19(h), respectively), cracks appeared volume of metal undergoing deformation
after a certain rupture time which was is extremely small.
less the higher the temperature and then
increased in severity with increasing time General Influence of the Notch:
to rupture. Furthermore, it is evident On the basis of tests made thus far a
that the higher the temperature at a tentative explanation may be advanced
BROWN, ET AL., O N I N F L U E N C E OF S H A R P N O T C H E S 43
for the general influences of notches on sults presented in this report indicate
the stress-rupture characteristics of "17- that the magnitude of the effect on
22A" (S) as illustrated in Figs. 15 and 16. mechanical properties decreases with
As was previously mentioned the rep- decreasing time, for example, the depth
resentations shown in Figs. 15 and 16 of the minima in Fig. 16 is greatest at
strongly suggest that a precipitation the lowest temperatures. Thus, the re-
reaction is responsible for the notch sults of Fig. 16 conform with the known
embrittlement observed in rupture tests. fact that the lowest aging temperatures
The trend of the notch-rupture ductility yield the largest effects on the mechan-
curves (Fig. 16) is essentially similar to ical properties. An increase in the tem-
the well known curves obtained when perature results in greater volume of
the tensile elongation of an age-harden- precipitated material possessing a larger
200000 Notch 19
--Unnolch |
180 000 . . . . . . Intercrystolline J ~
_ _ _ _ _
160000--
140000
~120000.
~lO0000 i
80000
D
60000
40000
20000 J-'--'-.~- ~ "i i I00 I

--':--
i . . . . . . . . "-=--= iL i~oo %_
[
........... i
0
O.OI 0.1" 10 I00 I000 ,0000
Rupture Time, hr
FIG. 21.--Notch and Unnotch Rupture-Strength Curves for "17-22 A"(S) ShowingRegions of
Intercrystalline Cracking.
able aluminum alloy is plotted as a func- particle size; however, the effects on the
tion of aging temperature for various mechanical properties are reduced by
aging times. this increase in particle size.
In both cases it is observed that the The curves in Fig. 15 indicate that the
mechanical properties at any constant notch rupture-strength ratio closely fol-
time pass through a minimum at a cer- lows the trends of the notch-rupture
tain temperature and then recover with ductility. The initial increase in notch
further increases ~n temperature. The rupture-strength ratio with increasing
position of this minimum shifts to lower temperature, for example, the curve for
temperatures with an increase in time 0.1 hr between 900 and 1000 F, is prob'
since the diffusion processes are accel- ably associated with the loss in strain
erated by increases in temperature. hardening capacity of the metal rather
Furthermore, both the results of aging than the slight increases in notch-rupture
studies on aluminum alloys and the re- ductility observed in this temperature
44 SYm, OSitrM ON STRENGTH A N D DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
range. It has been shown (9) for room- of the notch. Such a phenomenon could
temperature notch tension tests that the reduce both the measured ductilities and
notch strengthening effect is largest for the notch strength and such cracking
metals possessing low strain hardening would take place instantaneously for the
capacity. highly brittle conditions.
The extremely rapid drop in notch
rupture-strength ratio to minimum Significance of Results:
values considerably less than unity, for Several tentative conclusions are pos-
example, the curve for 1000 hr between sible on the basis of the limited tests
950 and 1000 F, can be explained by the made thus far:
corresponding decrease in notch-rupture 1. The weakening effect of a severe
ductility to values less than approxi- stress concentration is probably a uni-
mately 2 per cent in the same range of versal phenomenon affecting creep-re-
temperature. Such low values of the sistant alloys. The magnitude and tem-
notch-rupture ductility would indicate perature range of notch weakening de-
insufficient plastic flow had occurred pre- pend on both alloy composition and
ceding fracture to eliminate the initial heat treatment.
stress concentration resulting in failure 2. From tests on unnotched specimens
at low average stress. The increase in it does not appear possible to state defi-
notch-rupture strength ratio from a min- nitely a limiting value of ductility which
imum to values approaching unity, for is necessary to insure freedom from notch
example, the curve for 1000 hr between sensitivity under creep loading. How-
1000 and 1100 F, is explained by the ever, if the unnotched-rupture ductility
corresponding increase in notch-rupture is only a few tenths of a per cent it would
ductility in this same temperature range seem reasonable to assume that the mate-
which results in a progressive decrease in rial would be notch sensitive. Also, a
the retained stress concentration. rapid drop in the unnotched rupture
As yet to be explained is the fact that ductility at a given temperature would
the notch-rupture strength ratio appears lead one to suspect that notch sensitivity
to decrease with decreasing notch-rup- might be encountered.
ture ductility even for values of ductility 3. The onset of notch-rupture sensi-
well above 3 per cent, for example, the tivity for alloys investigated appears to
curve for 0.1 hr between 1000 and 1200 be associated with notch-rupture ductil-
F. This dependence of the notch rup- ities less than 3 per cent. This would
ture-strength ratio on the notch-rupture indicate that the observed large notch-
ductility over the entire range of ob- weakening effects are explained by the
served ductilities has been shown in Fig. fact that insufficient plastic flow has
13 and is in contrast to the behavior of taken place to completely eliminate the
the low-alloy steels tested at room tem- initial stress concentration.
perature which exhibited a notch 4. The notch-rupture sensitivity ob-
strength-ratio independent of the notch served in these alloys appears to be
ductility for values of notch ductility associated with a precipitation phenom-
above approximately 4 per cent. The enon. The presence of this precipitate
similarity in curve trends for both notch- appears to influence the intercrystalline
rupture ductility and notch-rupture deterioration observed in one alloy for
strength ratio (Figs. 15 and 16), at which extended temperature data were
relatively high values of ductility may available.
be associated with progressive cracking 5. The notch-rupture test appears to
of the ductile metal under the influence be a useful tool to study the embrittling
phenomena which occur during creep b y George Sachs, consultant to NACA,

loading. both regarding formulation of the pro-
6. If the notch embrittlement ob- gram and preparation of the manuscript.
served is due to precipitation phenomena I n addition, the authors wish to express
then it m a y be possible to arrive at appreciation to S. S. Manson and Ben-
optimum combinations of unnotch and
jamin Pinkel of the Lewis laboratory of
notch strength by special heat-treating
the N A C A for their constant encourage-
techniques. I t is thought that some com-
ment and helpful discussions.
promise is necessary because it is likely
C. L. Clark of the Timken Roller
that the alloy gains in creep resistance
from the same precipitation causing the Bearing Co. was extremely helpful and
notch weakening. generous in obtaining the "17-22A" (S)
for us. Thanks are also due to the other
Acknowledgment: alloy manufacturers who cooperated to
The authors are deeply appreciative the fullest extent in making available
of the helpful advice and criticism offered the special alloys tested.
REFERENCES
(1) G. Sachs, L. J. Ebert, and W. F. Brown, Jr., (5) R. W. Bailey, "Mechanical Testing of Ma-
"Comparison of Various Structural Low terials," Proceedings, Inst. Mechanical
Alloy Steels by Means of the Static Notch- Engrs., Vol. 114, pp. 417--452 (1928).
Bar Tensile Test," T. P. 2110 Metals Tech- (6) E. Houdremont, "Material Problems in
nology, Vol. 13, No. 8, Dec. 1946. Boilers with Special Reference to the Raw
(2) G. Sachs, G. S. Sangdahl, and W. F. Brown, Material Situation," Mitt. V. G. B., No. 63,
Jr., "New Notes on High Strength Heat pp. 229-242 (1937).
Treated Steels, Parts I and II," The Iron (7) W. F. Brown, Jr. and George Sachs, "A
Age,. Vol. 166, Nos. 21 and 22, p. 59-63 Critical Review of Notch Sensitivity in
and 76-80 (November 23 and November 30, Stress Rupture Tests," Nat. Advisory
1950). Comm. on Aeronautics, Technical Note No.
(3) A. W. Dana, E. L. Aul, and G. Sachs, "Ten- g433 (Aug. 1951).
sile Properties of Aluminum Alloys in (8) A. Thum and K. Richard, "Embrittlement
Presence of Stress Raisers: Part I: The and Damage of Heat Resisting Steels in
Effects of Triaxial Stress States on the
Fracturing Characteristics of 24S-T," Nat. Creep," Archly far gas Eisenhu'ttenwesen,
Advisory Comm. on Aeronautics, Technical Vol. 15, pp. 33--45 (1941-42).
Note No. 1830 (1949). (9) H. Schwartzbart and W. F. Brown, Jr.,
(4) E. J. Ripling and L. J. Ebert, "Strength "Notch-Bar Tensile Properties of Various
Limitations in the Use of SAE 4340 Steel Materials and Their Relation to the Un-
Forgings," The Iron Age, Vol. 162, p. 88 notch Flow Curve and Notch Sharpness."
(August 5, 1948). (To be published.)
DISCUSSION
MR. C. L. CLARK1 (presentedin written be misunderstood as being something

form).--The authors are to be compli- new and something that must be avoided.
mented for their presentation of a large In reality the authors are saying in a
mass of data, in a concise and readily in- somewhat different way what has been
terpreted form, on this relatively new and known for years; namely, the fracture of
important subject. any metal or alloy changes from a trans-
The main practical conclusion to be crystalline to an intercrystalline path
drawn from these results is that, as for above some temperature level and for
room temperature applications, the de- some time period. Perhaps correlations
signer as well as the metallurgical engi- could be obtained between notch sensi-
neer must exercise his talents if relatively tivity and the temperature level at which
high stressed equipment is to perform the path of fracture changes.
satisfactorily. The 17-22A (S) steel dis- It is hoped that this, as well as some of
cussed by the authors affords a good ex- the other papers of this symposium, will
ample of this. In one of its applications not cause undue alarm among the design-
in which it is now used in large tonnages, ers and users of highly stressed, relatively
cracking occurred during service in the short-life, high-temperature equipment.
first few parts that were made. Examina- It always has been, and it is hoped always
tion showed these cracks to start always will be, good engineering practice to
in a sharp notched slot. Proper fillets were avoid sharp notches in design, and it
put in these slots and no further failures should be further recognized that the
have occurred. notches used by the authors are probably
It is noted that the authors intend to more severe than any that would be
submit the fractured specimens to hard- normally encountered commercially.
ness and impact tests, and it is regretta- MR. T. McLEAN JASPER2 (presented
ble that at least a few of these results in written form).--This paper is very
could not have been included to check helpful to the engineer, designer, fabrica-
their assumptions regarding the possible tor, and user of equipment which has to
r61e of precipitation effects. I t is known be built with relatively low factors of
that these effects do occur in 17-22A(S) safety. Such structures are usually built
as manifested by the fact that temper- of high-strength materials or in the case
ing at any temperature up to and in- of engines, gas turbines, and jet equip-
cluding 1100 F increases the hardness of ment, of materials which are subjected to
the as normalized material. high stresses at elevated temperatures
The authors' use of the term "progres- and which need to be capable of doing a
sive intercrystalline deterioration" may successful job.
Metallurgical Engineer, Special Steel Developments, Consulting Engineer, A. O. Smith Corp., Milwau-
The Timken Roller Bearing Co., Canton, Ohio. kee, Wis.
46
DIScussION ON INFLUENCE OF SHARP NOTCHES 47
By such an investigation as has been sharp as could be made. Was there any
performed it becomes apparent that the control between the various specimens?
sensible designer and engineer will avoid Presumably the variation in radius from
designing such notches into his structures 0.0005 to 0.002 in. mentioned in the pa-
wherever possible. They will also, where per was between specimens of two differ-
sensitive steels are used, be careful that, ent materials rather than for specimens
in the production and heat treatment of of the same material.
the parts, the process does not produce MESSRS. W. F. BROWN, JR., M. H.
shatter cracks or their equivalent by care- JONES, AND D. P. NEWMAN (authors'
less cooling in the handling of the produc- closure) .--The authors wish to thank Mr.
tion process. C. L. Clark, Mr. T. McLean Jasper, and
For many years the prevalence of Mr. M. J. Manjoine for their comments.
transverse fissures in steel rails baffled Mr. Clark has pointed out that the
the metallurgist and the engineer. Be- notch radius used in this investigation is
cause of needed wear qualities and of the much sharper than that usually encoun-
vast demand for rails per year, the steel tered in service application' of these al-
that was used was subject to such fissur- loys. This is undoubtedly true; the ex-
ing. Only in recent years was the cause tremely sharp radius was used to reveal
discovered. Credit for this should be the maximum embrittling effects.
given to Mr. H. F. Moore for discovering Fundamentally, there are two reasons
that the shatter cracking, the nucleus for for investigating the notch properties of
fissures, was produced by too rapid cool- alloys. The first is to provide the designer
ing of the rails between the temperatures with information regarding the effects of
of 725 and 300 F in the first cooling of the stress concentrations of varying magni-
steel. This cracking can prevail for cer- tude. This purpose can be accomplished
tain desirable steels if carelessly handled, by conducting notch tests with varying
and no precautions in eliminating design sharpnesses. Stress-rupture tests of this
notches will heal the internal shatter con- nature were described in this symposium
dition of the steel. This has to be accom- by Davis and Manjoine. It is to be noted
plished by avoiding the production of that they have observed large embrittling
such a condition in the proper handling effects for two conditions of Refractalloy
of the steel during the early stages of its using an initial elastic stress concentra-
use. As we go to higher and higher tion between 2 and 3. (The correspond-
strengths of steel, we also need the greater ing notch radius for our specimens would
precautions for its use. Shatter notches, be in the neighborhood of 0.015 in.) The
shall we say, are as dangerous as other second purpose of notch stress-rupture
carelessly produced notches. tests is to gain a better understanding of
In the forging process applied by one how multiaxial stresses and stress con-
of the wisest forge masters in our neigh- centration influence fracture in creep
borhood, each important forging billet is loading and also to use the notch test as
subjected to a careful supersonic scrutiny a sensitive measure of the embrittlement
before being processed and in most cases which accompanies creep of certain high
of special development work after strength alloys. This second purpose is
processing.
best served by tests which cover a wide
MR. M. J. MANJOINEJ--In the paper
range of a few closely controlled experi-
it is stated that the notch radius was as
mental variables and which are designed
Research Engineer, Westinghouse Research Labora-
tories, East Pittsburgh, Pa. to reveal the maximum effects.
48 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY O]? METALS
The term "progressive intercrystaUine In answer to Mr. Manjoine, we wish

deterioration" is used to indicate a pro- to say that the notch radius for all alloys,
gressive weakening of the grain boundary except Inconel X and Haynes 88, was
material during the creep test, a fact less than 0.001 in. For these two alloys,
which has undoubtedly been recognized it was less than 0.002 in. No attempt was
by other investigators. The authors, how- made to control these radii except to have
ever, do not subscribe to a fixed value of them less than these limiting values.
equicohesive temperature at which ab- Variations in this range, while producing
rupt changes in the mode of fracture
variations in the notch sharpness, should
occur.
cause only very slight variations in the
The authors feel that Mr. Jasper called
strength. This can be seen from the work
attention to a very important point,
namely, that certain steps in fabrication of Sachs who has shown that the notch
or heat treating procedure can lead to strength ratio in room temperature ten-
internal flaws which may act as extremely sion tests on various materials reaches a
severe stress concentrations in service nearly constant value at the highest
loading. The possible effects of such flaws notch sharpnesses which can be pro-
should be revealed by a sharp notch test. duced.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
EFFECT OF A NOTCH AND OF HARDNESS ON THE RUPTURE

STRENGTH OF " D I S C A L O Y "
BY F. C. HULL, 1 E. K. HANN,t AND H. Scoxxt
SYNOPSIS
Certain critical components of jet engines and gas turbines, such as the
turbine rotor, require materials of low notch sensitivityat service tempcra-
tures around 1200 F. In an Fe-Ni-Cr-Mo-Ti austenitic alloy of attractivc
basic properties, the effectsof hardness as varied by the hardener, titanium,
have been related to the behavior of the material in the presence of a notch.
Creep-rupture and notched bar rupture tests were conducted at I000 and
1200 F. The plain bar rupture strength reached a maximum at a hardener
content producing 2 per cent rupture strain, and the notched bar strength
exceeded the plain bar strength in material in which the creep specimen had
more than 5 per cent rupture strain.
In recent years much attention has hardening alloys every effort is made to
been given to the development of heat- obtain complete recrystallization on the
resistant alloys for use in the high-tem- solution treatment prior to aging, thus
perature, high-stress applications en- eliminating all work hardening with
countered in gas turbines and jet engines. apparently enhanced reproducibility of
Typical parts finding service in the properties and substantial reduction of
temperature range 1000 to 1350 F in- directional effects. When hardening is
clude rotors, bolts, couplings, fastenings, accomplished by aging, there is less
and sheet metal assemblies. The ma- limitation on the maximum size of rotor
terials suitable for operation in this that can be forged, due to restrictions
intermediate temperature range gen- based on capacity of the available forg-
erally fall into two classes: those de- ing hammers and presses for working
pending on the introduction of hot-cold alloys in the hot-cold work temperature
work for increasing strength and those range.
responsive to precipitation-hardening Turbine rotors a n d bolts are struc-
treatments. The writers have been con- tural members in which particularly
cerned with alloys in the latter category, severe stress concentrations occur. In
of which one type of alloy composition the former case the rotor periphery is
is considered here. An important dis- slotted to provide interlocking projec-
tinction is that in the precipitation- tions to hold the replaceable rotating
blades against the high centrifugal
l Manager, Metallurgical Section; Research Engi-
neer; Manager, Metallurgical and Ceramic Depart- forces encountered. Bolt holes and other
ment, respectively, Westinghouse Electric Corp., Re-
search Laboratories, East Pittsburgh, Pa. abrupt changes in section also introduce
49
Copyright
Copyright 9
by ASTM Int'lby
rights reserved); www.astm.org
Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
50 S Y M P O S I U M ON S T R E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF ]~/[ETALS
stress concentrations. In the case of present symposium sponsored by the

bolts, the discontinuities at the heads American Society for Testing Materials.
and the sharp threads are stress raisers. Active consideration is also being given
The design of engines and the selec- to notch bar testing of rotor and bolting
tion of materials for use in certain ele- stock in the Aeronautical Materials
vated temperature applications are thus Specification Committee on Corrosion-
intimately related to the subject of and Heat-Resistant Alloys. At this
notch sensitivity. It is one purpose of early stage of development of notch bar
this paper to call attention to some of rupture testing procedures, it is de-
the factors that should be considered sirable that careful consideration be
in the selection of a standard specimen given to selection of a test specimen and,
if possible, that a standard design be
I
adopted. In order to promote discussion
r/0-0.005 of this important question, the factors
to be considered in the design of a
/ notched specimen are outlined below.
For lack of a better criterion, we have
g6 relied on the elastic stress concentration
factor for adjusting the geometry of test
specimens of different sizes.
The derivation of the elastic stress
concentration factor 2, Kt, produced by a
circumferential notch in a cylindrical
tensile bar has been given by Neuber3
8 The two separate equations for deep
and shallow notches are blended to-
gether by a third arbitrary equation to
give a continuous variation of stress
concentration as a function of relative
notch depth for selected notch radii.
Mr. R. E. Peterson at the Westinghouse
0 0.2 0,4 0.6 0,8 1.0
Research Laboratories has calculated
d/D the curves in Fig. 1 which provide a
FIO. 1.--Effect of Notch Geometry on the logical basis for selecting an optimum
Elastic Stress Concentration Factor, Kt, for a
N o t c h e d B a r in T e n s i o n . ratio of reduced to full bar diameter for
a standard notched bar rupture test
design for notched rupture tests. The specimen. A given notch curvature will
other objective is to report on the notch be most effective, that is, produce the
sensitivity of an austenitic precipitation highest stress concentration, when the
hardenable alloy in which the aged reduced section has 0.7 the diameter or
hardness Was varied by means of the about one half the area of the full bar.
hardener content in order to find the Furthermore, in a specimen with this
optimum content for service with a proportion, normal shop variations in
sharp notch. Attention here is directed
only to the case of static tensile loading. The elastic stress concentration factor is defined as
the ratio of the maximum axial stress produced by the
notch to the average axial stress at the reduced section.
NOTCHED TEST SPECIMEN DESIGN s H. Neuber, Kerbspannungslehre, Berlin, 1937.
American Translation published by J. Edwards, Ann
The current interest in the subject of Arbor, Michigan, 1946. See also articles on Design Factors
for Stress Concentration by R. E. Peterson, Machine
notch effects is well attested by the Design, Vol. 23, (1951).
HULL, HANN, AND SCOTT ON RUPTURE STRENGTH OF "DIscALou 51
the depth to which the notch is cut will and the stress concentration factor is
not influence appreciably the stress 3.9, the same as used in the present
concentration factor. study. In order to permit as close com-
The variation of Kt as a function of parison as possible with test results on
riD is shown in Fig. 2 for the preferred various diameter bars in the range of
ratio of d/D of 0.707. Factors that enter conventional specimen sizes, the same
into the selection of actual values of the ratios of riD and did and hence the
radius of curvature of the notch and the same value of K t should be maintained.
specimen diameter are: ease with which The specimens whose dimensions are
a notch can be machined or ground, the given below should satisfy most re-
uniformity and reproducibility of the quirements for notched bar rupture tests.
notch, accuracy with which the notch RECOMMENDED SPECIMEN DIMENSIONS FOR
N O T C H E D BAR R U P T U R E TESTS (60 D E G V
NOTCH, d/D = 0.707, r/D = 0.020, Kt = 3.9).
Full Bar Diam- Di ~tmeter at" R o o t I Radius of Curva-

eter, D, in. ...... I ture at Root of
oi l~otcn a, m_.. Notch, r, in.
o
0. 250 0.177 0.005
o 0.350 0. 248 ] 0.007
RaOt S OF
0.500 0.354 J 0.010
z
_o
TEST MATERIALS
w Of the age hardening heat resistant
alloys, Discalo3# was selected for inves-
8
tigation of its behavior in the notched
condition at elevated temperatures be-
cause of its other excellent physical
properties, 5 obtained with the use of a
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 minimum of strategic alloying elements,
r/D
and its ease of fabrication by open and
FIG. 2.--Effect of Specimen Diameter and closed die forging, hot and cold rolling,
Notch Radius on the Elastic Stress Concentra-
tion Factor of Specimens with a Notch Root drawing, heading, and thread rolling.
Area Equal to One Half the Full SpecimenArea. This alloy has an austenitic or face-
centered cubic matrix of iron, nickel,
radius can be measured, and size of ma- chromium, and molybdenum that can
terial available for testing. The desire be hardened by precipitating titanium
to accentuate the notch effect by having compounds .from solid solution with
a high value of K t would cause one to suitable heat treatments. For this in-
favor specimen designs with r/D values vestigation the matrix composition was
of less than 0.010, whereas more repro- held as constant as possible.
ducible results would be expected if r/D
were greater than 0.030. For routine Melting Procedure:
machine shop specimen preparation, a The nominal composition desired in
radius of curvature of 0.005 in. has weight per cent was 25 nickel, 13 chro-
proved to be the sharpest notch repro- mium, 3 molybdenum, 1.4 to 2.4 ti-
ducibly attainable. This notch is being tanium, 0.8 manganese, 0.8 silicon, less
used for tests of i-in. diameter bolting than 0.4 aluminum, less than 0.1 car-
stock by at least one manufacturer of
*Trade Mark Reg. U. S. Patent Office. Composition c o v -
jet engines. For this specimen the ratio ered by U. S. Patent No. 2 519, 406.
E. F. Losco, Iron-base Ai oy Has Good High Tem-
of riD is 0.020, a reasonable compromise, perature Strength," Materials and Methods, October, 1950.
bon and the balance iron. Titanium temperature to 89 diameter stock, a

was added as a commercial grade ferro- final cold reduction of area of 36 per cent.
titanium which contained small amounts The second group of heats had titanium
of aluminum, silicon, and vanadium. contents ranging from 1.4 to 1.94 per
Melting was carried out in a 1200-1b cent. Material from these heats was ob-
induction furnace. From each heat two tained from 3-in. thick slices of 9-in.
600-1b ingots or one l l00-1b ingot was square billets which had been upset
cast from a holding ladle. Although in- during forgeability tests into pancakes
got mold and hot topping practices were 1~ in. thick and 12 to 14 in. in diameter
undergoing modification during this pe- at 1900 F and finished at 1600 F with a
riod of production in an effort to improve spreader bar. Square bars cut from these
recovery and to eliminate inclusions and disks were rolled at 2100 F to 89
TABLE L--COMPOSITION OF DISCALOY HEATS.
Composition in W e i g h t , p e r c e n t
nea~
Nickel Chro- Molyb- Titanium
Alumi-
_ n _u m
Man-
Silicon Iron
mium denum ganese
No. M570 . . . . . . 24.4 13.4 3.06 2.34 0.38 0.77 0.37 Balance c
No. M611 . . . . . . . . 25.0 a 13.1 3.01 2.16 0.36 0.62 0.53 Balance r
No. M628 . . . . . . . . 25.8 13.1 2.77 2.06 0.16 0.66 0.53 Balance c
No. DI00 ........... 25.0 a 13.0 a 3.00 1.95 0.17 0.70 a 1.08 Balance c
No. nl01 ..... 25.1 13.0 3.01 2.09 0.15 0.69 0.65 Balance r
No. DII9 ..... 25.4 12.5 2.88 1.94 0.16 0.50 0.83 Balance r
No. D126 ...... 25.0 a 13.0 a 3.10 2.01 0.17 0.70 a 0.93 Balance c
No. ])136 ...... 25.4 13.9 0.66 b 1.54 0.19 0.79 0.79 Balance r
No. D138 ............ 25.5 13.6 2.88 1.85 0.15 0.75 0.76 Balance r
No. D139 ........... 26.3 13.7 2.90 1.74 0.18 0.74 0.69 Balance r
No. DI41... 27.6 14. I 3.18 1.51 0.15 0.90 0.97 Balance ~
No. D157 . . . . . . . . . . 25.9 12.6 2.96 1.80 O.15a O.72 0.81 Balance r
No. D164 .......... 25.8 15.7 3.05 1.64 0.21 0.80 0.79 Balance c
No. D167 . . . . . . . 26.5 13.2 3.00 1.40 0.15 0.78 0.72 Balance c
No. D169 ............ 25.6 13.8 3.03 1.43 0.13 0.88 0.87 Balance r
No. 13170 . . . . . . . . . . 25.3 14.0 3.03 I.47 0.14 0.78 0.82 Balance r
a Nominal composition.
b P l u s 2.4 p e r c e n t tungsten.
c T h e s e h e a t s a l s o c o n t a i n a b o u t 0.08 per cent vanadium introduced as a n i m p u r i t y in the ferroalloys and about 0.05
per cent c a r b o n .
shrinkage porosity, it is not felt that diameter in a series of working and re-
these variations would seriously affect heating steps with a final reduction of
the present results, since stock for test area of at least 30 per cent. Although the
purposes was taken from sound, clean entire prior history of the materials has
portions of the ingots. The chemical been related above for the record, it is
analyses of the 16 heats tested, which believed that only the last one or two
are recorded in Table I, were taken on steps of the fabrication are significant
wrought bar stock adjacent to that from in the present work. In spite of the
which the creep test specimens were cut. difference in roiling temperatures, both
groups of bars received sufficient plastic
Fabrication:
deformation without recrystallization on
The bar stock of ingots containing the last reduction to permit positive
more than 1.95 per cent titanium was control of grain size in the heat treat-
produced by forging billets to ~-in. ment which follows.
square bars at 2100 F. These were
rolled at 1950 F to {-in. diameter. After Heat Treatment:
pickling and removing the seams by In order to eliminate completely the
grinding, the bars were rolled at room effects of residual work hardening, the
HULL, HANN~ AND SCOTT ON RUPTURE STRENGTH OF "DISCALOY" 53
results in this paper are based on ma- duced with a finer grain size than large
terial solution treated 1 hr at 1950 F and forgings and with correspondingly higher
oil quenched. This solution temperature creep rupture ductility and lower notch
applied to both of the above groups of sensitivity.
rolled bars completely dissolves the After solution treatment, the test
hardener and produces a fully recrys- specimens were aged at 1350 F for 20
TABLE II.--RUPTURE S T R E N G T H R E L A T I O N S F O R 100 H R L I F E O F D I S C A L O Y .

S o l u t i o n t r e a t m e n t : 1 h r a t 1950 F a n d oil q u e n c h e d .
A g i n g t r e a t m e n t : 20 h r a t 1350 F , cooled to 1200 F in 6 hr, h e l d 20 h r a t 1200 F , cooled in a i r .
D i a m o n d Pyramid ASTM S t r e n g t h , psi

Hardness Elonga- Reductiol
Heat Titanium, Grain Strength tion, of A r e a ,
per cent Size Ratio p e r cent b per cent
Number e
Plain Notched Plain Notched
T E S T TE~ERAZXrI~.g--1200 F
No, M 5 7 0 ......... 2.34 359~ 349a 4.2 56 600 41 500 0.73 0.7
No. M 6 1 1 ......... 2.16 $42 = 344= 4.3 45 500 30 000 0.66 0.2 o.5
No. DI01 ......... 2.09 260= 3.1 54 500 6.2 16
No. M 6 2 8 ......... 2.06 330a 314 a 3.8 63900 53700 0.84 1.1 2.3
No. I)126 ......... 2.01 313 323 5.8 55 500 52 700 0.95 7.6 11.2
No. D 1 2 6 ......... 2.01 320 a 49 800
No. D100 ......... 1.95 315= 3.7 56 4OO
No. DlI9 ....... 1.94 311 318 4.5 58 200 6O 200 1.03 7.1 1~}"
No. DII9... ~ ..... 1.94 324a 56 400
No. D138 . . . . ~. . . . 1.85 289 288 5.5 54 200 70 00O 1.29 1 25""
No. D138 . . . . . . . . . 1.85 289a 67 500
No. D157 . . . . . . . 1.80 288 299 3.9 55 700 69 000 1.24 7.3 l~.S
No. D139 . . . . . . . 1.74 286 310 4.3 58 100 63 800 I.I0 9.8 14.7
No. D139 . . . . . . . 1.74 314= 58 800
No. D154 ......... 1.64 252 269 4.5 52 100 56 600 1.09 8.7 12.6
No. D136 ......... 1.54 290 296 3.7 58 5OO 72 000 1.23 0.4 15
No. D136 . . . . . . . . . 1.54 293= 69 500
No. DI41 ......... 1.51 259 263 4.7 52 000 68 I00 1.31 2 18
No. DI41 ........... 1.51 269a 68 I00
No. D170 . . . . . . . . . . . 1.47 243 249 4.4 51 800 6O 200 1.16 0.6 lg.6
No. D169 . . . . . . . . . . . 1.43 227 231 5.7 490OO 61 500 1.25 3 20.5
No. D167 . . . . . . . . . . . 1.40 235 259 4.7 50 O0O 56 4O0 1 1.13 9 15
T E S T TEI~PERAI'UItE--1000 F
I
No. M570 . . . . . . . . . . . I 2.34 349~ 3536 4.2 67 500 0.i 1.0 1.6
No.
No.
No.
M611 . . . . . . . . . . .
DI01 ...........
M 6 2 8 ...........I
[
I
2.16
2.09
2.06
346a
26Oa
324a
3446
522~
4.3
3.1
3.s
8•000
500
100
98 500
75 900
101' "000
0.1
1.i
0.9
8.4
37 4.4
No. DI00 ...........l 1.95 316 a 3.7 98 700
No. D119 ...........l 1.94 3306 4.5 90 000
No. D138 . . . . . . . . . . . I t.ss 291 a 5. $ 105 000
No. D139 . . . . . . . . . . . 1.74 303a 4.3 101 200
No. D136 ........... 1.54 298a 3.7 112 000
S p e c i m e n s cooled in air from 1350 to 1200 F .

b Recorded by the machine.
tallized structure with a grain size of hr, a time that produces approximately
ASTM No. 4 to 5. e A relatively high maximum hardness for this temperature.
solution temperature was selected de- The bars were then either air cooled or
liberately in order to produce about the furnace cooled in 6 hr to 1200 F and
same grain size that is obtained in large stabilized 20 hr at the test temperature
pancake and contour disk forgings with of 1200 F. Because of the decreasing
a somewhat lower solution temperature. solubility of titanium in the matrix at
For the same alloy composition, closer lower temperatures, further precipita-
control can be exercised over the fabrication hardening of 20 to 40 points DPI-I
tion of bar stock so that it can be pro- (diamond pyramid hardness) occurs dur-
6 S t a n d a r d ' C l a s s i f i c a t i o n of A u s t e n i t e G r a i n Size in ing stabilization. Similar behavior has
Steels ( E 19 - 46), 1949 B o o k of A S T M S t a n d a r d s , P a r t 1,
p. 1271. been observed in the titanium hardened
alloys "K-42-B" and "Refractaloy 2 6 . ''7 before creep testing are listed in Table I I
This effect is generally found in age- and plotted v e r s u s titanium content in
hardening systems and should be recog- Fig. 3. I t is felt that the scatter ob-
nized, particularly if the hardener con- served in these results is due partly to
tent is high and notch sensitivity is a the difficulties in making accurate ti-
factor to be considered in the application tanium analyses and partly to the loss
Of the material. I t is expected that a in effectiveness of an unknown portion
material with a fairly low hardness re- of the titanium through combination
560
COOLIl<lGoAIR
FRoM 1550F TO 12OO F / , / ~ /
9 FURNACE(6 HR)
o
_J
0
340
o
( 8,/
520 /
o
o/
I
0 500 j
-E 9 IP
280
.o//.
o
-I
260
/ 9
24O
9 I
220
1.2
1.4 16 1.8 2.O 2.2 2.4
TITANIUM CONTENT,PER CENT
FzG. 3.--Aged Hardness of Discaloy Solution Treated 1 hr at 1950 F Aged 20 hr at 1350 F and 20
hr at 1200 F.
sulting from a single age in the tempera- with carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.
ture range of 1325 to 1375 F would have Somewhat more confidence is placed in
adequate notched strength in a short the hardness values than the titanium
time test at 1200 F. In a longer test or content, for the former have been found
in engine service, the additional pre- to correlate better with the results of
cipitation hardening under stress could tension and creep tests.
lower ductility and make the material In the present instance the purpose
notch sensitive. Double aging also yields has been to study the effect on the prop-
a better combination of strength and erties of varying hardener content over
ductility than a single age. a wide range with the solution tempera-
The aged hardnesses taken on ground ture and aging treatment held constant.
flats on the shoulders of the specimens In commercial practice, however, ti-
H. Scott and R. B. Gordon "Precipitation Hardened tanium content is held within narrower
Alloys for Gas Turbine Service, Transactions, Am. Soc.
M,echanical Engrs., Vo]. 69, p. 583 (1947). limits, and the aging cycle may be
~IuLL, HANN, AND SCOTT ON RUPTURE STRENGTH OF "DISCALOY" 55
varied to bring the physical properties reduction of area at rupture for the
of low and high hardener heats into plain creep tests. Figure 4 shows the
closer agreement. dimensions of the two test specimens
used in this research.
TEST PROCEDURE
Constant load type creep-rupture tests D i s c u s s i o n oF I~ESULTS
were run at 1000 and 1200 F on 44 plain The 100-hr rupture strengths of plain
and 64 notched bar test specimens. Each and notched test specimens at 1000 and
l_
FT: g ~ ~~_~R2'250+"~176
IR
L o,, Lo ,:ooo,o,,-~-20THDS.
I
BOTH.ENDS'
CREEP RUPTURE SPECIMEN
I- 53 d
E
-O.010R.
IIItltillli II[llllllll
IIIIII1=111 I1111111111
/
-~-20THDS.
BOTHENOS
FIG. 4.--Plain and Notched Creep-Rupture Specimens.
strength entry in Table I I is based on the 1200 F are plotted in Fig. 5 v e r s u s

results of two or three specimens which diamond pyramid hardness. The approxi-
were tested at selected stresses until a mate titanium contents corresponding
rupture time of 100 hr had been brack- to these hardnesses are marked on the
eted. On a log-log plot of stress v e r s u s abscissa and were obtained by reference
rupture time, the best straight line was to the curve in Fig. 3. The per cent
drawn through the points to determine elongation measured by the machine at
the 100-hr rupture stress. Table II also rupture is marked beside each point.
lists titanium content, diamond pyramid Note that the rupture strength of
hardness (DPH), ASTM Grain Size Discaloy plain bars passes through a
number, the ratio of the notched to maximum at a hardness of about 325
plain bar 100-hr rupture strength, and D P H corresponding to an elongation at
the per cent elongation and per cent rupture of about 2 per cent, as was found
56 SYMposru~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
by Scott and Gordon~ for "K-42-B." rupture test, notched bar strength under
No attempt was made to distinguish static loading should be at least as high
between the two aging treatments in as plain bar rupture strength. Notches,
Fig. 5, but in Table II it can be seen that however, are always detrimental to
the slow cool from 1350 to 1200 F raises fatigue properties.
the notched rupture strength at 1200 F The foregoing discussion emphasizes
by an average of 2800 psi. the fallacy of specifying only the mini-
o
I10000
TEST'TEMPERATUiREI000 F
I00 000
90 000
z 80 000
TEST TEMPERATURE 1200 g ~
70000 \
I.I
m 60 000
o
9 50 ooo 2% ROPTO.E STRA,N
13 9 X o0.2
9 CREEPTEST 1 I ~" o
40 000 o NOTCH TEST K
/
,,,%!, ,? ,6 ,8
IN
50 000
220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360
HARDNESS O.PH.
Fio. 5.--100-hrRupture Strength of DhcMoy Solution Treated 1 hr at 1950 F Aged 20 hr at
1350 F and 20 hrat1200F.
In order to evaluate more definitely mum rupture life of a material in an

the relationship between notch sensi- acceptance test. According to Fig. 5, it
tivity and ductility, the ratios of the is possible for heats of widely different
notched to plain bar strength have been titanium contents to have equivalent
plotted in Fig. 6 as functions of plain creep rupture strengths, although their
bar elongation and reduction of area at rupture elongations and notched rup-
rupture. The scatter of points is at- ture strengths are tremendously dif-
tributed to unknown or unevaluated ferent. The most informative single
factors incident to melting, casting, and test would appear to be a creep test run
fabrication which seem to have a pro- to rupture.
nounced effect on the inherent ductility
CONCLUSIONS
of creep-resistant alloys. If the composi-
tion and heat treatment are controlled The data reported herein on Discaloy
to provide at least 5 per cent elongation and the foregoing discussion may be
or 7 per cent reduction of area in a 100-hr summarized as follows:
HULL, HANN, AND SCOTT ON RUPTURE STRENGTH OF "DISCALOY" 57
1. A standard test specimen should be with content of the hardening agent,

adopted for notched bar rupture testing titanium, but correlates better with
of heat-resistant alloys. I t is recom- mechanical properties than does ti-
mended that this specimen have a 60 tanium content, presumably because
deg V notch with a reduced section standard analytical procedures do not
equal to one half the full bar area and appear to evaluate effective titanium
that the ratio of the radius of curvature content.
14
I I
REDUCTION o
IN A R E A PER CENT o...-- . ' ' ' ~ "
m.2 I I ~ /
/ o
~
1.0 . . . .
z 0.8
g
o
w
"r 0.6
/
E L O N G A T I O N , PER
o
z
S- 1.2
TEST TEMPERATURE
o 12OO F
9 JO00 F
I
z 1.0 . . . .
w
n,.
o
o/
0.6
0 4 8 {2 16 20 24
P L A I N B A R D U C T I L I T Y , PER C E N T
FIG. 6.--Notch Sensitivity of Discaloy as a Function of Creep Ductility Based on the Ratio of
Notched to Plain Bar 100-hr Rupture Strengths at 1000 and 1200 F.
at the base of the notch to the full bar 4. The creep-rupture strengths at
diameter be 0.020. The elastic stress 1000 and 1200 F increase to a maximum
concentration factor for these propor- with increasing hardener content.
tions is 3.9. 5. Creep ductility diminishes fairly
2. When fully recrystallized to the consistently with increasing hardness to
same grain size and aged to a stable a value of about 3 per cent elongation
hardness, the effects of hardener con- and 4 per cent reduction of area at the
tent on the creep-rupture strength and strength maximum.
ductility of a precipitation hardened 6. Rupture tests at 1200 F of notched
austenitic heat resistant alloy can be specimens having an elastic stress con-
clearly shown. centration factor of 3.9 show a maximum
3. Aged hardness increases regularly in strength at a much lower hardness
than for the plain bar specimens, duc- with a creep-rupture ductility greater
tility by plain bar test then being about than 5 per cent elongation or 7 per cent
10 per cent elongation and 15 per cent reduction of area.
reduction of area. 9. Maximum notched bar strength is
7. Notched bar strength falls at an in- obtained with only a minor sacrifice in
creasing rate as hardness is increased plain bar creep or rupture strength.
above that at the maximum. 10. Exacting control of titanium con-
8. Notched bar strength is greater tent is necessary to obtain the optimum
than plain bar strength at hardness combination of plain and notched bar
values of less than 315 D P H associated rupture strength.
DISCUSSION
MR. W. F. BROWN, JR.:--First I wish that exhibit more than 5 per cent elonga-
to compliment the authors on a very good tion in a stress-rupture test are generally
paper. I would like to suggest that when strengthened by the presence of a notch.
the effects of notch sharpness and notch For this case the analyses by Sachs and
depth on stress-rupture characteristics of by McAdam of the notched tension test
metals are considered, attention should are probably applicable, as suggested b y
be given not only to calculations made by Mr. Brown. On the other hand, materials
Neuber but also to the work done by of low creep ductility are seriously weak-
Sachs and his collaborators and McAdam ened by the presence of a notch and they
and his collaborators. These two investi- present problems in their application to
,gators have established the effects of such designers of jet engines. Neuber's calcu-
geometrical variables on the room tem- lations of the elastic stress concentration
perature notch tensile properties of many factor are a reasonable approach to se-
materials and have shown that in a num- lecting a specimen design to study this
ber of cases the effects of notch depth and practically important case. It seems to
notch sharpness are considerably differ- the authors that an ASTM Committee
ent than elastic theory would predict. should consider the problem of design of
specimens for routine notched creep-rup-
MR. F. C. HULL (author).--Materials
ture tests and make a recommendation
I Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, National Ad-
so that data accumulated by different
visory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio. investigators may be compared.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
N O T C H R U P T U R E T E S T S OF I N C O N E L X A N D N I M O N I C 80A
BY D. E. FURMAN1 AND A. M. TALBOTt
SYNOPSIS
To obtain some information on the effect of notches on the rupture strength

of Inconel X and Nimonic 80A, tests were made at 1100, 1350, and 1500 F on
Inconel X and at the two latter temperatures on Nimonic 80A. Using a
notch 0.042 in. deep with a root radius of 0.005 in., neither alloy is indicated to
be notch sensitive except for extended service at 1350 F. The presence of
notch sensitivity while associated with the range of minimum ductility does
not appear to accompany any particular ductility value. Both materials
were found to be insensitive to shallow, sharp notches at 1350 F, suggesting
that accidental surface imperfections would have small effect o n the service
life of these alloys. It was observed that a definite decrease in the number of
cracks present in a plain rupture specimen after fracture may have some
correlation with notch sensitivity.
The search is continuous for test unnotched ductility value of less than 5
methods that will explain differences in per cent as measured b y the reduction of
behavior of high-temperature alloys in area it is usually notch sensitive. There
service. Recently, considerable interest is not sufficient information available to
has centered around the rupture testing know if this same relation holds true for
of circumferentially notched specimens austenitic high-temperature alloys.
with the purpose of getting an insight I t was of particular interest to subject
into the ability of a material to with- Inconel* X and Nimonic* 80A to notch
stand notch effects at elevated tempera- rupture tests as these two materials have
tures. This type of test consists in
high rupture strengths and, conse-
making a comparison between the rup-
quently, ductility values on the relatively
ture strength of notched and unnotched
low side. I t was with the purpose of
specimens. Depending on the alloy and
making some evaluation of the notch
conditions of test, the notched specimens
m a y show rupture properties that are sensitivity of these two alloys that this
either superior or inferior to the un- work was carried out. Some tests were
notched specimens. When the latter made using a deep notch similar to that
condition exists, the material is sensitive used b y m a n y investigators. Such tests
to notch effects. I n a comprehensive might be expected to correlate with the
review of notched rupture testing b y service behavior of threaded parts or,
Brown and Sachs, (1)2 it was concluded possibly, with that of the pine tree base
that when a ferritic material has an of turbine blades. Other tests were made
using a sharp but quite shallow notch
Research Laboratory, International Nickel Co., Inc.,
Bayonne, N. J. with the purpose of obtaining some
2 The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the list
of references appended to this paper, see p. 66. * Reg. U. S. Pat. Off.
59
Copyright
Copyrightby 9ASTM Int'l
by(all rights Intemational
ASTM reserved); Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
www.astm.org
Ir
h.aving the chemical analyses listed
below were used. The first alloy listed in
l: r' L I each case was used for the deeper notch
tests and the second alloy listed was
4iOta.,, used for the shallow notch tests.
]'Rod Inconel X Nimonic 80A
Alloy No. A l l o y N o . A l l o y N o . ] A l l o y N o .
02894 Y3010 02893 02970
Ni ...... 72.88 73.72 74.58 75.06

. 6 0 ~ . Cr . . . . . . 14.98 14.15 20.26 20.24
0.04 0.05 0.04 0.06
'io,,
' d
l'i . . . . . . 2.38 2.43 2.35 2.25
0.89 0.78 1.28 1.08
D m- 1 - - [ ~ A1 . . . . 1.03 1.04
IIIIIIIIIII I_ l_/' I,,1111, Mn...cb
. . . . . . .
si... . . . . .
0.59
0.42
0.54
0.40
o:64
0.24
o146
0.25
Fe . . . . 6.77 6.80 0.53 0.50
~od
Fro. 1--Plain and Notched Rupture Specimens.
D d r
Deep n o t ~ , in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.283 0.200 0.005
Shallow notch, in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.204 0.200 0.002
TABLE L--INFLUENCE OF N O T C H I N G ON R U P T U R ~ LIFE INCONEL X.

Notch 0.042 in. deep, 0.005 in. radius.
Elongation R e d u d [on Cracks in

Temper- T e s t Sec-
Alloy Specimen ature, Lress, psi Afe, hr in 1 in., of An
deg Fahr per cent per ce a, tion after
at Fracture
No. 02894. . . . . . . . . . Plain 1100 .00 O00 28,5 24 28 >50
No. 02894. . . . . . . . . . Plain 1350 52 00O 29.5 6 2 >50

1350 48 00O 102 3 5 10-50
1350 48 000 123 5 9 >5 0
1350 45 000 224 3 8 10-50
1350 42 000 3OO 2.5 5 10-50
1350 40 00O 642 1 3 <1 0
1350 34 00O 992 1 5 <1 0
1350 30 000 2146 1 5 <1 0
No. 02894 . . . . . . . . . . Plain 1500 28 00O 115 6 4 >50

1500 25 000 185 4 2 >5 0
1500 21 000 418 6 6 >5 0
1500 19 000 68O 4 6 (10
1500 18 000 1150 3 .3 >5O
1500 17 000 1301 4 .0 (10
1500 15 O00 1425 5 8. 10-50
No. 02894 . . . . . . . . . 0.042-in. Notch 1100 [00 000 612
No. 02894 . . . . . . . . . . 0.042-in. Notch 1350 70 O00 53 4 0

1350 60 000 120 2 0
1350 48 O00 233 1 0
1350 42 00O 417 1 0
1350 34 000 748 2 0
1550 30 000 1235 0 0
No. 02894 . . . . . . . . . 0.042-in. Notch 1500 35 000 103 3 0

1500 28 000 384 1 0
1500 25 O00 696 2 0
1500 21 O00 881 2 0
1500 18 00O 2666 2 0
insight into the expected damage from The materials were all heat treated in
accidental nicks and scratches. the manner recommended for optimum
high temperature properties. The Inconel
MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE X was solution treated at 2100 F for 4 hr,
Hot-rolled, commercially produced, air cooled, and aged at 1550 and 1300 F
bars of Inconel X and Nimonic 80A for 24 and 20 hr, respectively. The Nim-
FURMAN AND TALBOT ON NOTCH RUPTURE TESTS 61
onic 80A was solution treated at 1975 F notch with a 0.005-in. root radius and a
for 8 hr, air cooled and aged at 1300 F depth such that the minimum area is
for 16 hr. 50 per cent of the shank area. With the
TABLE II.--INFLUENCE OF N O T C H I N G ON RUPTURE LIFE NIMONIC 80A.

Notch 0.042 in. deep, 0.005 in. radius.
Temper- Elongation Reduction Cracks in

Alloy Specimen ature Stress, psi L e, hr in 1 in., of Area, Test Sec-
deg F ~ r per cent per cent tion after
Fracture
No. 02893. . . . . . . . . . Plain 1350 50 0O0 120 10-50

Plain 1350 45 0O0 165 10-50
Plain 1350 40 00O 424 >50
Plain
Plain
1350
1350
36
30
000
000
85O
281
13 >50
10-50
No. 02893. . . . . . . . . . Plain 1500 2l 000 292 3 10-50
No. 02893. . . . . . . . . . 0.042-in. Notch 1350 50 000 328 0
0.042-1n. Notch 1350 36 0O0 861 0
0.042-in. Notch 1350 30 000 63O 0
No. 02893. . . . . . . . . . 0.042-in. Notch 1500 30000 168 0
0.042-in. Notch 1500 21 000 739 0
L
80000 l I II ;;II;I I I I III I ] II;II
60 000 [
1=1~_ Notched I, ,[, ,I ] I
I
40000 P~
L
30000
20 000 I
v~
!
o.
=-
g i
i |
I I
I
I I
i i I !
I
I
u~ 80 0 0 0 1 ,' oo ;
60000
40000 Notched II
50000
I II
20000
Plain I ~
6 16 I0 --
I1
I0000
I0 I00 I000
Rupture Life, Hr
Fzo. 2 . - - R u p t u r e Results, of I n c o n e l X , 0.042-in. N o t c h .
The dimensions of the rupture speci- particular dimensions used, this resulted
mens used are shown in Fig. 1. The in a notch depth of about 0.042 in. and
geometry of the deeply notched speci- an elastic stress concentration factor of
mens was recommended by an investi- 4 (3). The shallow notch specimens were
gator (2) who had found that such made with a root radius of 0.002 in. and
dimensions gave reproducible results. a depth of only 0.002 to 0.003 in. In all
The specimen consisted of a 60-deg cases the notch was cut with a Carboloy
62 SYMPOSIUI~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
tool bit honed to give the desired radius. mens. Along with the more usual stress
The desired depth of the notch was then rupture data given in Tables I and I I
obtained by machining the shank to the may be seen an approximation of the
appropriate size. Variations from the number of cracks or self-induced notches
desired root radius were found to be that are present along the shank of the
within :t:0.001 in. As is customary, specimen after test. I t is a possibility
applied stresses were calculated for the that such cracks resulting from stress-
notched specimens by using the mini- rupture testing m a y also be indicative of
mum area at the root of the notch. The the notch sensitivity of a material.
80000 l I IIIIii II II IIIIII

I I I I Illl I I IIII
60000 /I I Ilill
edl
l"r
'/am III
40000
30000
20000
• 80000;
I
I
I
60000
4ooooJ
30000J Notched
20000[ ,i~ - I
[0000 !
XO I00
Rupture Life, Hr
IO00
I1
Fro. 3.--Rupture Results of Nimonic 80A, 0.042-in. Notch.
majority of the tests were made at 1350 F Only two tests, one notch and one
as this is in the temperature range of plain, were made at 1100 F. The results
minimum ductility for both alloys. A few of these tests listed in Table I show
tests were made at 1100 and 1500 F. Inconel X to fail in 28.5 hr when stressed
at 100,000 psi while a similarly stressed
TEST RESULTS WITH THE DEEP NOTCH notched specimen had a life of 612 hr.
The data obtained on Inconel X are The large advantage shown by the
listed in Table I with results on both notched specimen coupled with the high
notched and unnotched specimens being ductility of the alloy at this temperature
given and similar data for Nimonic 80A made further testing at 1100 F seem
are contained in Table II. The notched unnecessary. Any evidence of notch
and unnotched results at 1350 and 1500 F sensitivity that might be found would be
are plotted for Inconel X in Fig. 2 and beyond any reasonable rupture times.
for Nimonic 80A in Fig. 3. Included on In Fig. 2 the results of Inconel X a t
the stress-rupture plots are the reduction 1350 F show that for rupture times up to
of area values for the unnotched speci- 400 hr a lack of notch sensitivity can be
expected. For rupture lives of greater to show that Nimonic 80A would behave
than 400 hr, the notched specimens in a manner similar to Inconel X at the
show rupture strengths inferior to the same temperature. The notched speci-
plain specimens. The ductility values are mens have rupture lives considerably
low at 1350 F and these tests may be longer than the plain specimens, and
considered to have been made under the there is little reason to believe that any
most adverse conditions for the alloy. notch sensitivity would be revealed b y
The degree of ductility as measured by extended testing.
elongation values is at a minimum of 1 From these tests one would infer that
per cent with fracture times of greater except for extended periods of time at
than 400 hr. On the other hand, there the temperatures of minimum ductility
is no sharp change in reduction of area both Inconel X and Nimonic 80A are
values at the 400-hr mark as there are insensitive to the effects of a relatively
values of about 5 per cent both before deep notch that under elastic conditions
and after the onset of notch sensitivity. would result in a stress concentration of
I t is of interest that in all the notched about four times the calculated stress.
specimens but one a measurable amount Since there is a considerable amount of
of ductility was found as reflected by creep at the temperatures of test and a
reduction of area values of about 1 per measurable amount of ductility at the
cent. bottom of the notch, the actual stress
The 1500 F results for Inconel X in concentration is soon reduced at loads
Fig. 2 show a complete lack of notch that cause any plastic deformation.
sensitivity for times of over 2000 hr. From a practical point of view the
All the notched specimens had lives well results might be expected to correlate
in excess of the equally stressed un- with applications that involve deep
notched specimens. The ductility of circumferential notches such as threads,
Inconel X at 1500 F is appreciably more but there is little evidence that further
than at 1350 F. The lowest reduction of service correlations may be inferred.
area values was 6 per cent and the From these tests a ductility value of less
elongation values remained near 4 per than 5 per cent does appear to be
cent regardless of the time to fracture. damaging to the notch sensitivity. How-
Nimonic 80A was found to show no ever, the evidence is not conclusive
notch sensitivity at 1350 F until rupture that notch sensitivity can be expected
times in excess of 1000 hr were involved. with any particular ductility value, but
The ductility pattern at 1350 F was as would be expected the lowest ductility
somewhat different from that observed values accompany notch sensitivity.
for Inconel X. The elongation values are In examining rupture specimens of
fairly uniform, about 3 per cent, for any kind, it is usually obvious that
Nimonic 80A over the range of times numerous cracks may form other than
studied. In this case, a reduction of area the one resulting in fracture. Such
value of less than 5 per cent was ob- cracks are the sharpest notches that can
tained for a fracture beyond the point of be obtained, and it is somewhat
notch sensitivity while prior to it the surprising that once a crack starts it
values were 5 per cent or greater. The does not continue to failure before other
notched specimens exhibit considerable cracks form. Actually, this would be the
ductility as reflected b y reduction of area case except for a certain insensitivity the
values of 3 per cent. material exhibits towards cracks. A
A few tests at 1500 F were sufficient somewhat closer examination of these
64 S Y M P O S I U M ON S T R E N G T H A N D D U C T I L I T Y OF M E T A L S
self-induced notches present in plain desirable to make a few tests with very
rupture specimens may give an insight shallow notches. It was of interest to
into the notch sensitivity of a material. see what magnitude of damage to rupture
In the case of Inconel X at 1350 F, properties might be expected from a
Table I, a rough correlation may be seen small notch similar to an accidental
in the number of cracks formed and the scratch or nick that' might be made
time to fracture. With increasing rupture during the installation of a turbine
life there is a decreasing number of blade. It was with the plirpose of testing
cracks, and those specimens with lives the smallest and sharpest notch that
beyond t h e point of notch sensitivity could be conveniently made that notches
contained a minimum of cracks. It may with 0.002-in. radius and 0.002 deep
be that an abundance of superficial were used. Tests were made only at
TABLE I l L - - I N F L U E N C E OF SHALLOW NOTCHING ON RUPTURE L I F E INCONEL X AND NIMONIC 80A

AT 1350 F.
Notch 0.002 in. deep, 0.002 in.-radins.
Ri Reduc- Cracks
Elonga- tiq tion of in Test
Alloy Stress, Sh mk tion in Area at Section
Material Number Specimen psi Stl ~SS~ 1 in., Root of after
~er cent Notch, Frac-
per cent ture
Inconel X Y3010 Plain 45 0o0 3 <10

Plain 40 0o0 3 10-50
Plain 35 0o0 3 <10
0.002-in. Notch 45 000 43 300 3 <10
0.002-in. Notch 40 000 38 400 3 10-50
0.002-in. Notch 35 e00 33 3OO 4 7 <10
Nimonic 80A 02970 Plain 45 000 4 >50

Plain 4O 000 3 >50
Plain 35 0eO 2 10-50
Plain 3O 000 2 10-50
0.002-in. Notch 45 000 42 800 4 3 >50
0.002-in. Notch 40 000 39 200 4 >50
0.002-in. Notch 35 000 33 400 3 "i" 10-50
o Only notched specimen to fail in notch; all others failed in shank
cracks in a plain rupture specimen is a 1350 F, in the range of minimum

good indication of inherent insensitivity ductility.
to notches. In the case of Nimonic 80A As the actual heats used for the deep
the maximum number of cracks was notch tests were out of stock, it was
found with the intermediate rupture necessary to use different materials for
times, but the fewest cracks were again the shallow notch tests and establish the
associated with the range where notch stress-rupture relation for both the plain
sensitivity was observed. At 1500 F, and notched specimen. The results are
where no notch sensitivity was found, contained in Table III, and the plotted
the numbers of cracks formed were data are shown in Fig. 4.
variable but, in general, were appreciable The results on the unnotched speci-
regardless of the rupture life. mens showed these particular alloys to
be slightly weaker and to possess a small
TEST RESULTS WITH SHALLOWNOTCHES amount of additional ductility which
Although the deep notch tests would might make them somewhat less notch
infer that a shallow notch giving a sensitive than the first alloys tested. Of
smaller stress concentration would not interest, however, is the fact that all
be of particular significance, it appeared but one of the notched specimens tested
broke in the shank rather than at the that any particular cross-section m a y
notch. Even the one fracture that was in have a rupture strength of at least about
the notch was only partly so. I t was, 2000 psi greater than the weakest zone
therefore, appropriate to plot the notched in the test section. A rupture test with
specimen fracture times against the its extended life hunts out the small
lower shank stress rather than the higher structural imperfections in a material
stress at the reduced area. As might be and they influence the test values,
expected, the notched and plain results whereas in short-time tension tests,
coincide within the normal experimental particularly those at low temperatures,
spread. these same imperfections would have no
80000~
60000[ ~ ~
40000~
300 0 0 ~ - - ~
20 ooo
m~
6oooo
40O 0 0 i - ~ ' ~ ~
30000~--~-- 1
200 0 0 ~ ~ - - ~
I 0 0 0I00 ~ I00 I000

RuptureLife,Hr
Fro. 4.--Rupture Results of Inconel X and Nimonic 80A, 0.002 in. Notch.
These results would indicate both effect. These shallow notch tests demon-
alloys to have a complete lack of sensi- strate that there are small structural
tivity to a shallow type of surface defects normally present that are more
imperfection. I t is interesting that damaging than a 0.002 in. deep notch.
although fracture did not take place at These results imply that in the testing
the notch, sufficient deformation oc- of a notched specimen that fails at the
curred at the notch to cause considerable notch a particular cross-section has been
reduction of area in most cases. The chosen for failure while in an ordinary
reductions found at the notch as well as rupture test the weakest cross-section is
those at the fracture are given in Table automatically selected for failure. In
III. comparing a notched specimen with a
The shallow notch results can also be plain specimen it is a case of comparing
taken as a measure of the magnitude of an average cross-section with the weakest
structural variation that affects high- available cross-section.
temperature results. These tests show The specimens used in the shallow
notch tests were also examined for sensitivity at this temperature. At 1350 F
cracks formed in the shank. The patterns the lack of notch sensitivity extends to
were similar to those observed in con- rupture times of 400 hr for Inconel X
nection with the 0.042-in. notch tests. and 1000 hr for Nimonic 80A. At 1500 F
With these tests Inconel X had a neither material shows any tendency
maximum number of cracks in the towards notch sensitivity. There is no
specimens of intermediate rupture times. conclusive evidence that notch sensi-
The Nimonic 80A was found to have a tivity in these alloys is associated with a
decreasing number of cracks with in- particular ductility value. An interesting
creasing rupture time. From the visual observation was the possibility of some
examination of the crack pattern it was correlation between the presence of
inferred that this second heat of Inconel numerous cracks in a fractured rupture
X would show a notch sensitivity with specimen and the lack of notch sensi-
the 0.042-in. notch after about 700 hr tivity. Both Inconel X and Nimonic
while the Second heat of Nimonic 80A 80A were found to be insensitive at
would display notch sensitivity with 1350 F to a shallow notch 0.002 in. deep
rupture times of more than about 1000 with a 0.002-in. radius which was used
hr. to simulate accidental surface imper-
fections.
SUMMARY
As found with rupture specimens Acknowledgments:
having a circumferential notch 0.042 in. The authors are indebted to t h e
deep and a root radius of 0.005 in., International Nickel Co., Inc., for per-
Inconel X and Nimonic 80A are not mission to publish the results of this
notch sensitive except for extended investigation. The helpful consultation of
periods of time at the temperatures of C. A. Crawford and N. B. Pilling and the
minimum ductility. Limited tests at assistance of K. J. Walrod are gratefully
II00 F indicate little possibility of notch acknowledged.
REFERENCES
(1) W.F. Brown and George Sachs, "A Criti- (2) R.H. Thielmann, Pratt and Whitney Air-
cal Review of Notch Sensitivity in Stress craft Corp., Private Communication.
Rupture Tests, Technical Note 2433, {3) R.E. Peterson, "Design Factors for Stress
National Advisory Committee for Aero- Concentration," Machine Design, March,
nautics, August, 1951. 1951, pp. 161-165,
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
E F F E C T OF N O T C H G E O M E T R Y ON R U P T U R E S T R E N G T H AT
ELEVATED TEMPERATURES
BY E. A. ])AVIS1 AND M. J. MANJOINE1
SYNOPSIS
Three series of creep-rupture tests of notch bars with varying geometry of
the notch were performed at elevated temperatures on several heat-resistant
alloys. The effect on notch sensitivity of the following were also investi-
gated: stress level, grain size, hardness, ductility, and heat treatment. In-
creasing the sharpness of the notch with constant-depth notches may raise or
lower the notch sensitivity depending on the ductility and microstructure of
the alloy. The size effect or effect of shank diameter can be practically elim-
inated by using a "standard" notch geometry. The notch sensitivity is ac-
centuated by increasing the depth of the notch to about one-fourth of the
shank diameter. It is postulated that the fracture originates just below the
surface at the root of the notch.
There is a large amount of informa- of tests and with suitable materials it is

tion on the relative strength of notched possible to investigate such topics as
and unnotched bars in the literature on the effect of stress level, grain size,
physical testing, but most of it is based hardness, ductility, and heat treatment
on the results of short time tension tests on notch sensitivity.
at normal temperatures. In many of the
comparisons between notched and un- REVIEW OF LITERATURE
notched specimens only one sharpness Since this paper is concerned with
of notch has been used. There is a scar- the rupture properties of notched bars
city of information on the long-time at elevated temperature, no attempt will
effects of temperature and notch geom- be made to review the vast amount of
etry on the n o t c h sensitivity of high work on other properties of notched
temperature alloys. The purpose of this bars.
paper is to report the results of several Siebel and Wellinger (1)2 described the
series of creep-rupture tests o n notched results of notched-bar tests of a chro-
and plain bars. These results include the mium-nickel-molybdenum steel with
effect on the rupture time of varying three heat treatments. They concluded
the sharpness of the notch with constant that notched-bar rupture tests should
depth of notch and shank diameter, of be made in addition to creep tests to
varying the shank diameter with con- show the tendency of a s t e e l toward
stant depth of notch, and of varying the embrittlement when heated under load.
depth of notch with constant notch Richard (2) reported the results of
sharpness and stress. With these types rupture tests on notched and threaded
t Westinghouse Research Laboratories, East P i t t s - T h e boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the list
burgh, Pa. of references appended to this paper, see p. 87.
67
Copyright
Copyright by9ASTM Int'l
by (all
ASTMrightsIntemational
reserved); Fri Dec www.astm.org
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bars of nickel-bearing chromium-molyb- MATERIALS AND SPECIMENS

denum steel. In these tests at 932 F
embrittlement occurred in a short time. The alloys used in this investigation
He also investigated the effects of tem- are typical high-temperature alloys.
perature and of size and geometry of Some were chosen because of their duc-
the test specimen. He divided steels into tility, some because of their strength
three groups: a first group in which the and hardness, and some because they
steels become brittle in a short time and were design materials on which specific
therefore become strongly notch sensi- data were requested. The authors realize
tive, a second group in which embrittle- that the alloys used here are not repre-
ment begins only after a longer period sentative of the complete range of high
TABLE I.--COMPOSITION AND HEAT TREATMENT OF TEST MATERIALS.
Composition, per c e n t
Alloy Solution Aging Treatment

T=tmeot
A--Refracta- 0.03 39.0 18.5 3.01 19.~ ... 2.50 15.5 0.20 1800 F 20 r a i n 1500 F 20 hrA.C. 330
l o y 26 O.Q. 1200 F 20 hr A.C.
1500 F 20 nrA.C.
1200 F 20 hrA.C.
B--Refracta- 0.03 39.0 18.5 3.01 19.8 . . . 2.50 15.5 0.20 ... 1800 F 20 min 1350 F 44 h r A . C . 375
l o y 26 I O.Q. 1200 F 20 n r A . C .
C--Refracta- 0.03 39.0 18.5 3.01 19.8 . . . 2.50 15.5 0.20 .. 2100 F 1 hr 1500 F 20 h r A . C . 325
l o y 26 O.Q. 1350 F 20 h r A . C .
1 2 0 0 F 20 h r A . C .
D--12Cr, 3W ... 12 a ... 3a ... bal ...... 1650 F 3 h r 1150 F 12 h r F . C . 215

Steel A.C. b
E--K-42-B 0.05 a 42 a 18a .. 22 a . . . 2.2 a 14 a 0.2 a ... 1750F 1 hr 1200 F 24 h r A . C . 330

W.Q.
F--K-42-B 0.05 a 42 a 18 a . . . 22 a .IL2 a 14 a D.2 a ] . . . 1950 F 1 h r 1350 F 20 h r A . C . 280

W.Q.
G--19-9-DL 0.26 8.66 19.2511.t0 ... 1.200.27 bal. I ). 37 1200 F 50 h r A . C . e 215

I
Nominal.
b Annealing treatment.
c Stress relieving treatment.
of time, and a third group in which there temperature alloys and that more tests
is no embrittlement even after long-time on these and other alloys are necessary.
exposure to load and temperature. All the specimens were machined
Siegfried (3) discussed the influence of from wrought bar stock which had pre-
state of stress in creep-rupture failure viously been heat treated. The only heat
and reviewed the notched-bar tests treatment given the specimens after the
above. notches were ground was a temperature
Schaub (4) concluded from his rupture stabilizing period of about 20 hr before
tests of notched bars that rupture tests the start of the test.
should be made to complement ordinary The shapes of the notches used in this
limiting creep stress tests and to deter- investigation are indicated on the figures
mine the tendency toward brittle frac- described later. The specimens were
ture. about 2~ in. long with -~-10 threads at
A more recent review of the literature the ends. The notch was ground at the
on notch rupture testing was made by center of the shank which had a length
Brown and Sachs (5). of approximately 1 in.
DAVIS AND MANJOINE ON EFFECT OF NOTCH ON RUPTURE 69
The composition, heat treatment, A, B, and C were machined from ~--~--m.

x' "
grain size, and hardness of the seven diameter bars while the notched speci-
alloys used are listed in Table I. The mens were machined from ~-in. diameter
alloys are briefly described below. bars. A few check tests on unnotched
specimens cut from the ~-in. diameter
Refractaloy 26 (6):
bars showed that there was no appre-
This is a austenitic precipitation-hard- ciable difference between the two sizes
ening alloy that can be heat treated to of stock.
produce various degrees of hardness or
ductility. Three heat treatments which 12 Cr, 3 W Steel:
This steel was selected because of its
q~P Conditi(n~ ~' Series I ductility and its stability at test tem-
of / " ~ Series 2 perature. The heat treatment as given
Test L f Series 3 in Table I was an annealing treatment
which was chosen to produce stability
and probably is quite different from that
o
used in practice. This steel is referred to
in this paper as alloy D. It had a hard-
g
2
'I\ ness of 215 DPH and a grain size of
4 ASTM 12.
9 \l K-42-B (6):
Alloys E and F represent twodifferent
heat treatments of this precipitation-
hardening alloy. This alloy differs from
Refractaloy in that it does not contain
molybdenum. Alloy E with its lower solu-
tion and aging temperatures had a hard-
t ~
ness of 330 D P H a n d a grain size of
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 I.C
ASTM 6-7. Alloy F had a hardness of
d/D 280 D P H and a grain size of ASTM
FIO. 1.--Effect of Notch Geometry on the 3-4.
Stress Concentration Factor for a Notched Bar
in Tension--Variable Depth Notch. The notched bars of alloys E and F
were not made from the same lot of
produced alloys A, B, and C were used. material as the unnotched bars. The
Alloy A was solution treated at a fairly materials, however, were as nearly alike
low temperature to produce small grain as could be produced and the heat treat-
size (ASTM 7-8) and double aged at a ment was identical.
relatively high starting temperature to
produce a hardness of 330 DPH. Alloy 19-9-DL:
B was given the same solution treatment Alloy G, an iron base stainless steel,
as alloy A and therefore was also fine is one of the more ductile of the "super
grained. It was aged at a lower tempera- alloys" except when severely hot-cold
ture to produce a relatively high hard- worked. The material used in this inves-
ness of 375 DPH. Alloy C was heat tigation received very little of this hot-
treated to produce a larger grain size cold working and the bar stock was
(ASTM 2-3) with a hardness corre- stress relieved as indicated in Table I.
sponding to that of alloy A. The hardness was 215 DPH and the
The unnotched specimens of alloys grain size ASTM 7-8.
TEST PROGRAM AND PROCEDURE tion included creep-rupture tests on

both notched and unnotched bars. The
The effect of notch geometry on the
tests on the notched bars are grouped
elastic stress concentration factor Kt
in three series. In series 1 the notch
has been reduced to a series of graphs depth (D-d)~2 and the shank diameter
by Peterson (7) who utilized the the- D were held constant while the notch
oretical works of Neuber (8). From this radius r and the stress were varied. The
work the curves in Figs. 1 and 2 have ratio of diameters at the notch did was
been constructed. In Fig. 1 the ordinate 0.75 which put the test location points
is the elastic stress concentration factor near the peaks of the curves in Fig. 1.
Kt and the abscissa is the ratio of diam- In series 2 the notch depth (D-d)~2 was
6
Condition ~ Series I
of Test Series 2
/f Series 3
P
it.
4
o~
O
\
d/D=075
I
0 0.04 0.08 O.IP 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28
r/d
FIG. 2.--Effect of Notch Geometry on the Stress Concentration Factor ks for a Notched Bar
in Tension--Constant Diameter Ratio.
eters of the notch diD. For very deep held constant at 0.060 in. and the notch
notches the ratio diD approaches zero radius r at 0.005 in. This is the sharpest
and for a v e r y shallow notch it ap- notch that could be ground accurately
proaches unity. In Fig. 2 the ordinate and economically. The shank diameter
is again the elastic stress concentration D of these specimens was varied but the
factor Kt and the abscissa is the relative stress concentration factor Kt was kept
sharpness of the notch r/d. substantially constant. This series of
In Fig. 1 curves have been drawn for tests could be thought of as an investi-
seven different values of the ratio of gation into the size effect in notched
notch radius to shank diameter riD. bars. In series 3 the shank diameter D
In Fig. 2 a curve has been drawn for one was approximately 0.505 in. and the
ratio of diameters diD. In both Figs. 1 notch radius r was 0.005 in. but the depth
and 2 the arrows indicate the location of the notch (D-d)~2 was varied. These
of tests in this investigation. However, tests are located along the crest of the
they do not indicate the number of tests curve rid = 0.01 in Fig. 1. All of the
run at each location. tests in this series were made at a stress
The program of tests in this investiga- of 40,000 psi.
DAVIS AND M A N J O I N E ON EFFECT OF N O T C H ON R U P T U R E 71
In running the tests, both screw rupture is listed adjacent to each test
driven and lever type constant-load point on the unnotched rupture curve.
machines were used (9). The test tern- The fixed dimensions of the notch are
I00 000
/0.2 r
8 9
._ 8 0 0 0 0
d/D* 0.75
d <'o Series I
70000 " / 0 - -
60000
50000
40000
I0 100 1000 I0 000
Time, hr
FIG. 3.--Rupture Curves for Notched and Unnotched Bars of Refractaloy 26 (Alloy A) at 1200 F.
I00 0 0 0
_ 4.2r
000
9~ 8 0 0 0 0 " ' ' ' d 15
0
70000
60 000
50 000
40000
I0 I00 1000 I00~
Time,hr
FIG. 4.--Rupture Curves for Notched and Unnotched Bars of Refractaloy 26 (Alloy B) at 1200 F.
peratures were those normally encoun- shown on an insert in each curve sheet,
tered in service for these alloys. and the rupture curves for the notched
bars are identified by the ratio of the
TEST RESULTS
notch radius to the root diameter rid.
The results of the creep-rupture tests This ratio is a measure of the relative
on both the notched and unnotched sharpness of notch. The sharpest notch
specimens of series 1 and 2 are shown is indicated by the smallest value of the
in Figs. 3 to 8, inclusive. The strain at ratio r/d.
72 SYNIPOSIU~[ O N S T R E N G T H A N D DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
Where tests are still running the test Series 1--Notch Depth and Shank Diam-
point is shown for the latest reading and eter Constant:
with an arrow attached. When the terms I n this series of tests, rupture curves
strengthening or weakening are used in were determined for several given notch
iO0000
90000
9- 80000
12.5 ~
70 000 ,'o
"" ..
60000-
"-2:.2,~ . . " ~-'o-~'~.
50000 ~:~ Y2
r/d=O.026 ". "
d/D':O.75
40000 Seriesl,
I I0 I00 I000 I0 000
Time, hr
FzG. f--Rupture Curves for Notched and Unnotched Bars of Refractaloy 26 (Alloy C) at 1200 F
52000
48000
"~,,
44000 •,,•nnotched
'~ 4 0 0 0 0
36 0 0 0 -%o
8 -r
, 15
28 ooo - d = ~-a - -
d/D'= 0.75
24000 Serips I
0.1 I I0 I00 1000 I0 000
Time, hr
FIG. 6.JRupture Curves for Notched and Unnotched Bars of 12 Cr, 3 W Steel (Alloy D) at
t000 F .
discussing these test results, it should radii, and at one stress level rupture
be remembered that the average stress tests were made for each notch radius
in the cross-section at the root of the r. The results of the tests on both the
notch is being compared with average notched and unnotched bars of alloy A
stress in the unnotched bar. are shown in Fig. 3.
DAVIS AND MANJOINE ON EFFECT OF N O T C H ON RUPTURE 73
Alloy A is a fine grained material temperature for periods five times as

(ASTM 7-8) of relatively low hardness great as the unnotched bars.
(330 DPH). The elongation at rupture As the sharpness of the notch is in-
of the unnotched bars at the higher stress creased, the rupture life is shortened as
tests was approximately 10 per cent. indicated by the curves for rid =
This elongation dropped off at the lower 0.043, 0.025, 0.02 and 0.012. For the
stresses, but in the test at 55,000 psi sharpest notch (rid = 0.012) the rup-
that lasted about 3000 hr it was still ture life is less than that of the un-
greater than 7 per cent. notched bar, but again the rupture
The rupture curve for the notch of curve follows along parallel to that of
0.050-in. radius (r/cl = 0.10) is located the unnotched bar.
80 000
.......
70 0 0 0
E
60 000
50 000
1~9, ~,"W,A"~ e
40 000
\.o,,
3 a ="~ ....,." :45.~ 8 ,
3o ooo
20 0 0 0
I0 OO0
0.1 I I0 I00 1000 I0 0 0 0
Time, hr
Fzo. 7.--Rupture Curves for Notched and Unnotched Bars of K-42-B (Alloys E and F) at 1200 F
--Series 2.
farthest to the right. The rupture life For the notches of intermediate sharp-
of these specimens was about 5 times ness the rupture curves appear to be
that of the unnotched bars and there is somewhat steeper than the others. This
no evidence that this strengthening due would indicate that the notched bars
t o the restraint of the shoulders was were becoming more notch sensitive
becoming less at the lower stresses. The as the time increased. More test points
decrease in ductility with stress level are needed before this tendency can be
in the unnotched bars indicates that the definitely established, but at the present
combination of time and temperature time it can be concluded that the stress
had a deteriorating effect on the mate- at which the tests are run will not
rial, but the rupture curve at the extreme appreciably affect the relative behavior
right (rid = 0.10) shows that the de- of this material. If the curve for rid
terioration is no worse in the notched = 0.012 is compared w i t h the curve
bar than in the unnotched bar. This for the unnotched bars, this material
appears to be true even though the is just as notch sensitive at 80,000 psi
notched bars were subjected to the as it is at 55,000 psi.
The test results for alloy B are shown and a hardness of 325 D P H . The duc-
in Fig. 4. Since this material had the tility as measured by the strain at frac-
same solution treatment as alloy A, the ture for an unnotched bar was similar
grain size was similar (ASTM 7-8), but to that of alloy A. For this material the
the aging temperature was lower as notch with the radius of 0.050 in. (r/d
given in Table I. This material had = 0.10) had a strengthening effect. The
higher hardness (375 D P H ) and lower sharper notches had a weakening effect.
ductility than alloy A. The strength of The presence of the sharpest notch
the unnotched bars was greater than (rid = 0.01) reduced the rupture life
that of alloy A, but it will be noted that to about ] that of the unnotched bars.
the strength of the notched bars was Since several of the tests of this alloy
60 000 \ ed
50 000
i Unnotched Notch Depth = ~-~ = Gonst.
r 40 000
30 000
20 000
tO 000
I0 I00 1000 I0 000

Time., hr
Fro. &--Rupture Curves for Notched and Unnotched Bars of 19-9-DL (Alloy G) at 1200 F - -
Series 2.
less than that of the corresponding bars are in progress at the writing of this
of alloy A. In only one sharpness of paper the rupture curves are dashed.
notch (rid = 0.27) were the notched Alloy D was a very ductile material
bars stronger than the unnotched. For that was chosen primarily because of its
the very sharp notch (rid = 0.011) the structural stability at 1000 F. The strain
rupture life was reduced to one-sixtieth at rupture as indicated on the rupture
that for the unnotched bars. curve in Fig. 6 was 35 per cent or greater
As in Fig. 3 the rupture curves for except for the very rapid test. In this
the notched bars seem to run parallel material all of the notched bars were
to the curve for the unnotched bars. considerably stronger than the un-
There is some scatter in the test points notched bars. The strength increased
but the curves have been drawn with with the sharpness of the notch up to
the idea in mind that they are all mem- the ratio r/d = 0.021 and then de-
bers of a given family. creased slightly for the sharpest notch
The rupture curves for alloy C are (r/d= 0.011).
shown in Fig. 5. This material had a This material was so ductile and its
relatively large grain size (ASTM 2-3) strain hardening properties were such
that in some of the notched bars the the unnotched bars. Within the range of
strain spread to the shank of the speci- stresses at which tests were made, the
men. This changed the geometry of the ductility of the unnotched bars did not
notch somewhat, but this change was decrease with stress, and the rupture-
not taken into account in plotting the time ratio (rupture time of notched bars
points in Fig. 6. The values of r/d used divided by rupture time of unnotched
in Fig. 6 are based on the original di- bars) did not decrease at the lower
mensions of the notch. stresses and longer rupture times.
The rupture curves for the notched The rupture curves for alloy G in
bars of this alloy also appear to be Fig. 8 show that, for this material, the
80000
~ ~ A Refractoloy26
70 000
~ ~ c~ "=
60000
| 50000
/ 60 o ~ r --
40000
~12~Cr 3~ WSfeel
eg Fohr
30000
20 000
0.01 0.1 IO
r/d
FIG. 9.--Influence of Radius of C u r v a t u r e on 1000-hr R u p t u r e Strength of Notched B a r s - -
Series 1.
parallel to the curve for the unnotched notched bars were stronger than the
bars. unnotched bars. The ductility o f the
unnotched bars decreased at the lower
Series 2--Notch Depth and Notch Ra- 9 stresses, but the relative strength of the
dius Constant: notched bars did not show a tendency
Alloys E, F, and G were used in this to decrease at the lower stresses.
series of tests. The rupture curves for
Series 3--Shank Diameter and Notch
alloys E and F are shown in Fig. 7.
Radius Constant:
Alloy F was stronger and less ductile
than alloy E. The ductility values of Since all the tests in this series were
alloy F should be tempered by the fact run at 40,000 psi stress it was not con-
that most of the unnotched Specimens venient to plot rupture curves similar
broke at the fillet where there is a stress to those used in series 1 and 2. The test
concentration. In both alloys the notched results will be discussed in the next sec-
bars (r = 0.005 in.) were weaker than tion.
DISCUSSION OF T E S T RESULTS judged notch sensitive or otherwise

without considering several factors. For
Series 1:
notches of sharpness rid > 0.1 all four
The relative strength of the notched alloys were not notch sensitive. For
to the unnotched specimens either for a notches of sharpness r/d = 0.05 alloys
given stress or for a given rupture time B and C were slightly notch sensitive
can be compared in Figs. 3 to 6, in- while alloys A and D were not. For very
clusive. In order to compare or contrast sh.arp notches r/d = 0.01 only alloy
the behavior of the four materials used D was not notch sensitive. This survey,
in this series the test results of each are it must be remembered, is for notches
combined in Figs. 9 and 10. In Fig. 9 where the depth of the notch was one-
the influence of the notch radius r on eighth of the shank diameter (d/D =
[
~ g
~ 1.6
1.4 ~
60= ~, ,~--r
~n~| 1.2,.~..~~ ~~~____~(~
1.0
~ 0.75
g
0
0.8
.2
0.6
O.01 0.1 Io
r/d
Fzo. 10.--Influenceof Radiusof Curvatureon Ratio of R u p t u r e Strength of Notched to Un-
notched Bars--Series 1.
the 1000-hr rupture strength is shown. 0.75). The effect of the depth of the
The horizontal dashed lines are the notch will be discussed under series 3.
1000-hr rupture strengths of the un- The ductility of a material in the un-
notched bars. The sharpness of the notch notched condition is sometimes taken
decreases as the ratio rid increases so as a measure of notch sensitivity. This
that the curves for the notched bars is substantiated in part by the present
must approach the dashed lines asymp- results. Alloy B is the same as alloy A
totically at large values of rid. For all except that it was aged at a lower tem-
four alloys used in this series the rupture perature and this treatment produced
strength increased as the notch radius a higher hardness. The harder alloy B
or ratio rid was decreased. This increase was less ductile and more notch sensi-
in strength reached a maximum and then tive. Alloy C, however, had a hardness
started to decrease. The maximum similar to that of alloy A and was almost
strength of alloy B occurred at a notch as notch sensitive as alloy B. This differ-
of large radius r, while the maximum for ence can probably be attributed to the
alloy D occurred at a quite sharp notch. large grain size of alloy C.
From a study of the curves in Fig. 9 it In order to make a comparison with
is obvious that a material cannot be the curve in Fig. 2, the ratio of the
DAVIS AND MANJOINE ON EFFECT O]~ N O T C H ON RUPTURE 77
1000-hr rupture strength of the notched can be seen that for the unnotched
to the unnotched bars is plotted against specimens and for values of rid > 1.5,
the ratio r/d in Fig. 10. In Fig. 2 the alloy B is superior to alloy A, while for
stress concentration factor K, increases notched bars where rid < 1.5, alloy A
as the notch becomes sharp and the is superior. This effect of heat treatment
curve is always above the ordinate Kt = is also apparent in Fig. 10 in the height
1. In the pure elastic case, notches can of the peaks and the values of rid
always be considered as having a weak- where the curves cross the unity or-
ening effect. In Fig. 10 it can be seen dinate.
that very sharp notches have a weaken- Another comparison with the elastic
ing effect but less sharp notches may case utilizes the ratio of the rupture
times of the notched to the unnotched
I0 specimens at a given stress. This rupture-
time ratio is plotted as a function of
o ~ ~
rid in Fig. 11. The points are coded to
indicate the stress for which the rupture-
time ratios are taken. If the notch sensi-
tivity of the material would depend
11
,,, ,*,
upon the stress level or the time required
for rupture there should be a separate
.lo ..o curve for each stress.
..c~:
~o
In Fig. 11 the curves have been drawn
through the points for tests at 63,000
psi. It can be noted, in general, that the
o
I1:
points for higher stresses lie above the
curve and those for lower stresses lie
below. The spread of the points is so
small, however, that it can be concluded
g: that the test results on these materials
d/D.O.75 could be extrapolated to lower stress
0.01 values without making any further
0.01 0.1
r/D allowance for notch sensitivity. If a
material embrittles appreciably with
FIO. l l . - - I n f l u e n c e of Radius of C u r v a t u r e
a n d H e a t T r e a t m e n t on the R u p t u r e T i m e time, then as suggested by Richard (z),
Ratio for Refractaloy 26 at 1200 F. the stress level may be an important
variable in determining notch sensi-
have a strengthening effect. The curve tivity. In the materials used in this in-
for alloy A crosses the unity ordinate vestigation embrittlement occurred only
at the value rid = 0.015 which is equiva- to a minor degree. More test data are
lent to a very high elastic stress concen- necessary before a general relation be-
tration factor Kt = 5.1. The corre- tween embrittlement and notch sensi-
sponding factor for curve B is Kt = 2.2 tivity can be established.
and for curve C is K~ = 2.8. From the
trend of the curves in Fig. 10 it appears Series 2:
that if a sufficiently sharp notch could For the constant-depth notched speci-
be produced in alloy D it too might mens in this series the stress concentra-
become notch sensitive. tion factor Kt was practically constant.
The effect of heat treatment can also The chief ~ariables were the shank diam-
be noted in Figs. 9 and 10. In Fig. 9 it eter and the stress. The shank diameter
was varied from 0.620 to 0.520 in. which alloy F was stronger and less ductile
resulted in a 36 per cent change in root than alloy E it had a lower hardness.
area. The various points at a given stress The presence of large soft grains and
level in Figs. 7 and 8 were obtained on hard brittle grain boundaries would
specimens of different shank diameters. explain the low ductility and low hard-
Because all the points fall close to the ness but would not explain the low
one curve it is apparent that over the average creep rate of the soft material,
unless most of the creep in both alloys
occurred in the grain boundaries.
Io
4
8
6 )
1/
~ lloy G
Series 3--Variable-Depth Notches:
Since all the tests of this series were
made at a constant average stress of
/I
2 / 40,000 psi, the rupture-time ratio will
be used for the comparison of notch
F o sensitivities of alloys E, F, and G. This
rupture-time ratio is plotted against the
ratio of diameters d i d in Fig. 12. The
o2
,E
z ~ \\\ \ '\\\ E
ratio of rupture-times must be unity
at values of d/D = 0 and d/D = 1 for
the same reasons that the values of Kt
are unity at these limits in Fig. 1. The
test locations were chosen so that they
would lie on both sides of the crest of
\ \A//o e / / curve, rid = 0.01, in Fig. 1. The curves
of Fig. 12 are drawn nearly symmetri-
~-Z" \ ,..__~7o/ cally about the mid-point, diD = 0.5.
o.o,-, . oye_/ I There are not sufficient data to deter-
mine exactly the shape of the curves
\ ~" 0
, l Nso:lo but it can be stated that for the given
\\ /66o'>.j.~~.' shank diameter and sharpness of notch
the maximum effect occurs when the
notch depth is about one-fourth of the
O.OOt shank diameter. In the elastic case the
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
stress concentration factor is a maxi-
did
mum at about one-eighth of the shank
Fio. 12.--Eitect of Notch Depth on Rupture
Time Ratio at 40,000 psi and 1200 F (r/D = diameter, Fig. 1. For other values of
0.01, Kt ~ 5, D ~ ~)--Senes 3. r/D the shape of the curve and the value
of diD at the maximum m a y or may not
range tested the shank diameter did not be the same as those in Fig. 12.
affect the notch sensitivity. This is This series of tests suggests a method
equivalent to stating that with this type of readily separating alloys as to their
of notch there was no apparent size notch sensitivity. By making a few tests
effect for a change of 36 per cent in the of different notch depth, an indication
root area. This lack of size effect applies would be evident if the data were plotted
to the comparatively brittle alloys E as in Fig. 12.
and F as well as the ductile alloy G. I t should also be pointed out that the
I t should be noted that although elastic stress concentration factor can-
not be used to compare the results of coarse-grained structure, alloy C, re-

different notched specimens unless the sulted in a greater notch sensitivity than
notch geometry is identical as for those that for the fine-grained alloy A of the
of series 2. The stress concentration same hardness and ductility. For alloys
factors for these variable depth notches E and F, which are both K-42-B mate-
of series 3 are practically the same but rial, the fine-grained alloy E has the
the rupture time or rupture-time ratio greater notch sensitivity as shown in
may vary by ten to one as for the two Fig. 12, but the coarse-grained alloy F
extreme test points of alloy G. Similar was softer.
variations are evident for alloys E and F.
PHOTOMICROGRAPHS
Two additional tests are included in
the data of series 3 in Fig. 12 to show Typical photomicrographs of the frac-
that notch depth must be combined ture section were selected to show both
with a sufficiently sharp notch to show the fracture and the microstructure.
FIG. 13.--Section of Fracture Area of Alloy A Showing Side Where Fracture Started (X 100).
up the notch sensitivity of alloys E Alloys A and B:

and F. For a notch depth, r/d = 0.6,
which is nearly at the minimum of the Since these two groups of Refractaloy
26 specimens were given the same solu-
curve the rupture-time ratio was in-
creased 10,000 per cent for alloy E when tion treatment, their microstructures
the radius of curvature was changed should probably be the same. From an
examination of the photomicrographs
from 0.005 to 0.030 in. (see point marked
with solid rectangle). For alloy F this it was found that the type of fracture
change in radius of curvature nearly and the grain size (ASTM 7-8) were
eliminated the notch effect (the rupture- the same. For most of the fractures it
time ratio for the test marked with a was found that the failure starts as a
solid triangle is nearly unity). crack at some point near the surface at
From the tests in series 1 (Fig. 9) it the base of the notch and this crack
was shown that for Refractaloy 26 the propagates over the cross-section. Since
the load becomes eccentric with respect 2-3) of this Refractaloy 26 alloy. The
to the unfractured area, a bending stress crack starts near the root of the notch
develops and the final area fractures which is at the extreme right and pene-
rapidly. Thus the final rupture area is trates inward through the grain bound-
diametrically opposite to the initial aries. Several large openings at the grain
crack. Sections of these two areas are boundaries appear along the fracture
given in Figs. 13 and 14 for a specimen surface. The final area of fracture was
of alloy A with rid -- 0.012 and tested also intergranular but the surface was
FIG. 14.--Section of Fracture Area of Alloy A Showing Side Where Fracture Terminated (X 100).
at 63,000 psi. The notch contour is shown more irregular and similar to that shown
at the extreme left in Fig. 13. The root in Fig. 14.
of the notch is indicated by an arrow.
The crack apparently starts near the Alloys E and F:
base of the notch and propagates per- Only the photomicrograph of Alloy F
pendicularly to the axis of the specimen. is shown for the K-42-B alloys since the
The fracture is intergranular and many one for alloy E is similar to that of
fine cracks can be seen at the grain alloy A. This picture of a coarse-grained
boundaries. The final area of fracture, specimen of alloy F (rid = 0.01, tested
Fig. 14, has a much different appear- at 32,400 psi) (Fig. 16) illustrates the
ance. The fracture is irregular and is manner in which the cracks penetrate
partially transgranular. The fracture into the grain boundaries along the
at the base of the notch, however, is fracture. The notch contour is at the
similar to the initial fracture. left edge. The second grain from the
root of the notch has nearly been de-
Alloy C: tached from the fracture surface. A
dark oxide layer is visible along the
In Fig. 15 the fracture of a specimen fracture surface for about eight grain
of alloy C (rid = 0.011, tested at 63,000 diameters and appears to be thickest
psi) shows the coarser grain size (ASTM near the mid-point of this part.
DAVIS AND MAN]OINE ON EFFECT OF NOTCH ON RUPTURE 81
.-4
x
v
o~
82 SYNIPOSIUNI ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
Alloy G: lar for this more ductile alloy, and several

The fracture surface and microstruc- cracks appear to start downward at an
ture of a specimen of alloy G (diD = angle toward the center and usually
0.46, series 3) (Fig. 17) illustrates the terminate at an inclusion streamer.
FIG. 16.--Fracture of Alloy F (X100).
FIG. 17.--Fracture of Alloy G (X100).
fine grain structure of this forged alloy. Alloy D:

The fracture surface was visually ex- The above photomicrographs were
amined at a greater magnification and, made at a magnification of 100N but
in general, the crack was intergranular. that for a specimen of the very ductile
The initial fracture surface is very irregu- alloy D (r/d = 0.011, tested at 40,000
DAVIS AND M A N T O I N E ON EFFECT OF N O T C H ON R U P T U R E 83
@
~<
~9
J
r
~6
o=
e~
o0
e~
DAVIS AND MAN~OINE ON EFFECT OF N O T C H ON RtreTVRE 85
psi) (Fig. 18) was made at a magnifica- specimen for which the rupture time
tion of 10X. The fracture starts at the was only 15 hr. Thus in an extremely
root of the notch and the crack propa- long rupture test, if the color pattern is
gates inward at an angle of about 45 deg observed, it can be concluded that the
around the entire circumference. This crack propagated over a major part of
crack forks and stops as the section the cross-section i n the last 15 hr of
through the notch continues to elongate. the test.
Another circumferential crack starts as Since a color picture cannot be shown
the section necks down and this too here, a description of a black and white
propagates inward at an angle of about photograph will be given. The fracture
45 deg. The forking of this second crack surface of a specimen of alloy B ( r / d =
can be seen on the left. The section con- 0.02, tested at 50,000 psi) is shown in
tinues to deform and finally breaks at Fig. 19. The fracture starts at some
the middle with an irregular fracture. point in the dark area shown by the
The curved band above the fracture is arrow. This area is dark gray in actual
a stainless steel guard to facilitate color, the lighter "half moon" area is
polishing. light gray going to light blue near the
The fact that these cracks were not center. The dark band which follows
sharp enough to cause a brittle type of runs the gamut of colors given above
fracture would indicate that alloy D from dark blue to brown. The final area
may not become notch sensitive even is straw-colored. Thus the area of initial
for the sharpest possible notch. In that fracture can be identified. The actual
case curve D in Fig. 10 would not cross "point" of fracture is, however, elusive.
the unity ordinate no matter how far it From the photomicrographs shown in
was extended to the left. Figs. 13 to 18, inclusive, which were
To study the effect of notches it is selected at random, it can be noted
imperative to know the point of initia- that in all cases the fracture surface at
tion of the fracture. The following ob- the root of the notch makes an acute
servations are presented to aid in the angle with respect to the edge of the root
identification of the initial fracture. of the notch or the axis of the specimen
When a crack has been started, virgin and is directed toward the body of the
metal is exposed and at test tempera- specimen. The notches shown have a
ture if sufficient oxygen is available an radius of curvature of 0.005 in. This
oxide will form. As the crack propagates amounts to a 89 radius at the 100 to 1
additional new material is exposed. The magnification used for the photomicro-
oxide film thickness will increase with graphs. A close inspection of the contour
time and a color pattern will be estab- of the notch shows that there is consider-
lished on the fracture surface. The color able plastic flow at the base of the notch
pattern goes through the following colors and in some of the photomicrographs it
as time of exposure is increased: straw, appears that some necking occurred at
brown, purple, dark blue, light blue, the very edge. These micrograph sec-
light gray, and dark gray. In an examina- tions were taken as nearly as possible
tion of a fracture surface which has been through the points where fracture started
air-quenched at rupture the color pat- and terminated. Pictures such as Figs.
tern will show where the fracture starts 13, 15, 16, and 17 then must be repre-
and terminates. This color pattern was sentative of the initial stage of fracture.
present on the fracture surface of a If the crack had started at the surface
there should be a matching half in which alloy increases with increasing grain
the angle of the crack with respect to size.
the surface should be obtuse, and there Stress level did not appreciably affect
would be an equal probability that this the relative notch sensitivities of the
half would appear in the photographs. alloys used in this investigation; there
Such a picture was not found among the is only a slight indication that the notch
limited number of photomicrographs sensitivity increases with decreasing
that the authors were able to examine. stress.
Also if the crack had started at the sur- A size effect was not observed with a
face at the root of the notch then no constant depth notch when the root
necking or severe deformation could area was varied by 36 per cent.
occur there. If, however, the crack were For rupture tests of notched specimens
to originate at a point which is several (riD = 0.01), the notch effect may be
grain diameters from the surface, then strengthening or weakening depending
as the crack propagates toward the on the ductility but is a maximum when
surface, the material there would become the notch depth is about one-fourth of
less restrained, and it is quite likely the shank diameter. For the elastic case,
that the grains at the surface would be however, the stress concentration factor
more severely deformed. Then an acute is a maximum at about one-eighth of
angle between the surface of the notch the shank diameter.
and the fracture surface could be formed The elastic stress concentration factor
on each half of the broken specimen. cannot be used to compare different
Such a crack formation could still pro- notched specimens unless the notch
duce a heavy oxide film over the surface geometry and depth are identical.
where the fracture started. In a notched specimen under constant
load, the time to initiate a crack which
CONCLUSIONS will propagate is much longer than the
time for this crack to travel across the
Metals with high unnotched ductility minimum section. The initial failure
exhibit a "strengthening effect" for probably starts near the surface at the
specimens with notches as sharp as can root of the notch and generally propa-
be ground accurately. gates along the grain boundaries.
The strengthening effect diminishes
and notch sensitivity increases a's the Acknowledgment:
ductility decreases. This investigation was carried out
For metals with 10 per cent or less with the cooperation of the General
unnotched elongation the notch effect Research Panel of ASTM-ASME Joint
may be strengthening or weakening Committee on Effect of Temperature
depending on the notch sharpness. The on the Properties of Metals. The authors
notch sensitivity increases with sharp- wish to thank the members of the com-
ness of the notch above a certain sharp- mittee for their counsel and their con-
ness and this particula r sharpness in- structive discussion of the progress
creases with ductility. Metals with the reports submitted. Acknowledgment is
same ductility do not necessarily have also made to the members of the Me-
the same notch sensitivity. chanics and Metallurgical Departments
For the same unnotched ductility or of the Westinghouse Research Labora-
hardness, the notch sensitivity of an tories who assisted in this investigation.
DAVIS AND MANJOINE ON EFFECT OF NOTCH ON RUPTURE 87
REFERENCES
(1) E. Siebel and K. Wellinger, "Testing Steels Tests," NACA TN2433, August, 1951.,
for Embrittlement at Higher Temperatures," also W. F. Brown and G Sachs, "A Sur-
Archly fur das Eisenhuttenwesen, Vol. 13, vey of Embrittlement and Notch Sensitiv-
No. 9, p. 387, March, 1940. ity of Heat Resisting Steels," p. 6.
(2) Discussion in Siebel and Wellinger, p. 392.; (6) H. Scott and R. B. Gordon, "Precipitation
also A. Thum and K. Richard, "Versprodung Hardening Alloys for Gas Turbine in Serv-
und Schadingung warmfester Stahle bei ice," Transactions ASME, Vol. 69, pp. 589-
Dauerstandbeanspruchung," Archly fur das 599, (1947).
Eisenhuttenwesen, Vol. 15, p. 33, (1941). (7) R. E. Peterson, "Design Factors for Stress
(3) W. Siegfried, "Failure from Creep as Influ- Concentration," Machine Design, March,
enced by the State of Stress," Journal Ap- 1951, pp. 161-165.
plied Mechanics, Am. Soc. Mechanical (8) H. Neuber, Kerbspannungslehre, Berlin 1937.
Engrs., 1943, A 202-212. American Translation, "Theory of Notch
(4) E. Schaub, "Brittle Fracture of Steel Under Stresses," J. Edwards, Ann Arbor, Mich.,
Sustained Load at Elevated Temperature,"
Jernkonmrets Annaler, Vol. 130, No. 1, (1946).
1946, pp. 1-26. Reprinted in Engineering (9) M. J. Manj6ine, "New Machines for Creep
Digest, Vol. 3, July, 1946. and Creep Rupture Tests," Transact4ons,
(5) W. F. Brown and G. Sachs, "A Critical Re- Am. Soc. Mechanical Engrs., Vol. 67, pp.
view of Notch Sensitivity in Stress Rupture 111-116 (1945).
DISCUSSION
MESSRS. W. F. BROWN., JR., 1 D. P. is only a slight indication that the notch

NEWMAN, 1ANDGEORGE SACttS9"(presented sensitivity increases with decreasing
in written form).--We feel that the au- stress. We take this to mean that the
thors are to be complimented on this notch strength remains proportional to
most interesting investigation, particu- the unnotch-rupture strength at all times
larly for recognizing the important geo- to rupture. Conclusions regarding the
metrical factors which control the re- trend of the notch strength, based on
sponse of a metal to a notch. However, tests which include only a limited num-
r/d
o r/d 1,4 o 0.27
a 0.025
,~ ,.6 - o 0,I0
n 0.020
A 0.043 x 0.011
.9
= 0.02 "6 t . 2 -
{.4 x 0.012 t~
+ Unnotched ".
Elongation -. "'o,~
| i,0
~. 1.2 c/)
n,-
B 1,0 ~0.8-
Z g. -. --a._c_ o
',= u= iO + ~, o . 6 -
o
"' 5 ] I I I
to IOO toga IO000 0.4 I ] I I
tO
tOO t000 10000
Rupture Time, hr Rupture Time,hr
FIG. 20.--Notch-Rupture-Strength Ratio and FIG. 2l.--Notch-Rupture-Strength Ratio for
Rupture Elongation for Alloy A at 1200 F. Alloy B at 1200 F.
we should like to examine some of their ber of stresses, may be subject to a con-
results in light of those which Mr. Sieg- siderable error if extrapolations or inter-
fried has obtained in the past and also polations are attempted. Thus, Brown,
with reference to our investigation of Jones, and Newman 3 have shown that
notch-rupture properties at various tem- the notch-rupture strength can decrease
peratures using a constant notch geome- very rapidly in a restricted range of long
try, as well as the relation between these rupture times and that at high times to
effects at high and low temperatures. rupture a previously observed notch
I t is our impression that the authors weakening effect may disappear.
consider that the stress level exerts only We have made, therefore, an attempt
a minor influence on the response of a to analyze further the authors' data for
metal to a notch in a stress-rupture test. the two most completely investigated
Thus, the conclusion is drawn that there
alloys, A and B. From the strength
' Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, National Ad-
visory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio. W. F. Brown, M. H. Jones, and D. P. Newman, " I n -
s Director of Metallffrgical Research, Institute of In- fluence of Sharp Notches on the Stress-Rupture Character-
dustrial Research, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y. istics of Several Heat-Reslsting Alloys," see p. 25.
88
DISCUSSTON ON EFFECT OF N O T C H ON RUPTURE 89
curves presented by the authors in their the more brittle alloy B, notch strength-
Figs. 3 and 4, the ratio between the ening occurs at an rid value of 0.27.
notch- and unnotch-rupture strength This strengthening decreases with in-
strength (notch-rupture-strength ratio) creasing rupture time. The sharper
at several selected times to rupture has notches result in considerable weakening
been plotted in the accompanying Figs. over the entire time range of the authors'
20 and 21. In these representations, notch tests and also exhibit a pronounced min-
strengthening corresponds to a notch- ima.
rupture-strength ratio greater than This interpretation differs from that
unity, while notch weakening corre- of the authors' but agrees well with the
sponds to a notch-strength ratio less than results reported by Brown, Jones, and
1.8-- ~ AlloyD
(Davis ~ MonjoineY
~ ~ . . . - . -~- 94 Sn - 6 Cd (Siegfried)
o
.\
o
n-
1.4
/" .9OXlO3p.. s.,..
r
St~f x./ "~'~.\ (Sachs,eta/)
r
(Sachs, et a l ) / "~
m 1.0
P
o
Z 1t/// /Alloy B (Davis8 Manjoine)
/
o0.6 /
0 /
0
0.2 I I I I I
o.oo; o.o; o., ~ L.o ~oo
rid
FIo. 22.--Influence of Notch Sharpness for Various Materials in Tension Tests and Stress-
Rupture Tests.
unity. It can be seen dearly that in most Newman 3 and previously by Thum and
cases the notch-rupture-strength ratio Richard. ~
varies with increasing rupture time (or The existence of either a minimum in
decreasing stress). Thus, referring to Fig. the notch-strength ratio or even of values
20, the notch-rupture-strength ratio de- that decrease rapidly with decreasing
creases continuously with increasing rup- strength level, is taken to be a definite
ture time for all r/d values except 0.012. indication of instability in an alloy such
For this latter value a minimum is ob- as could be caused by a precipitation;
served. This is found to correspond to a see Figs. 20 and 21. The question of the
minimum in the unnotch elongation. Fur- notch-rupture behavior of a presumably
thermore, it is expected that notch stable material is fundamentally impor-
strengthening for r/d = 0.012 would tant but apparently not y e t clarified.
Therefore, we should like to ask the
occur at shorter times to rupture as has
* A. Thum and K. Richard, "Strength of Steels in Creep
been indicated by the dotted line. For Loading," Mill. V.G.B. No. 85, Dec. 31, 1941, A 171 - 197.
90 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTII AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
authors what definite evidence they have cadmium alloy, and the 190,000-psi steel.
for the stability of their alloys and par- For these materials the notch-rupture-
ticularly for the alloy D at 1000 F. Inci- strength ratio increases with decreasing
dentally, we should like to know the r/d to a maximum value and then falls
carbon content of this steel. only slightly, however sharp the notch.
Recently Brown and Sachs 5 analyzed In contrast, the notch brittle alloys, alloy
notch-rupture data obtained by Sieg- B and the 240,000-psi steel, both exhibit
fried ~ for a zinc cadmium alloy to reveal a rapid drop in notch-strength ratio at
the effects of notch sharpness and com- high notch sharpness.
pared the results with those obtained for Regarding the influence of ductility on
room temperature tension tests on a low the notch sensitivity, we have shown that
alloy steel. 7 These data are shown in Fig.
22 and the data for the authors' most tO000
9ooo ] ~"'" l I I11',',
notch ductile alloy (alloy D) and most
notch brittle alloy (alloy B) have been ~. 4000
~3000 ~--
--t-tlltti
Unno~ched Tesl Bars
V~ 2000 . . . .
~. Notched Test Bars-
o.o6~"o,,p--7_Xd
-"'0.005" Rad
tO00
I0 IOO
IIII IOOO
Notch 5 x Actuol Size Time, hr
FIG. 24.--Notched and Unnotched Rupture
O.SOS"l 0.002" , u5 -. l.u. . / hds Tests on 19-9 DL Disk Forging at 1100 F.
D+O.O03 '' to 0.005' /
Stress R u p t u r e at I I 0 0 F on Radial T e s t Bars
~" Oiom Removed from 19-9DL Forging
27 in. diameter by 19 in. thick
R==O UNNOTCHED TEST BARS
Stress, psi Hours to R u p t u r e Elongation,
per cent
52 000 53 ll. 5
50 000 72 8,0
48 000 132 8.5*
FIG. 23.--Notched Stress-Rupture Specimen. 46 000 311 13.0"
43 000 1859 20.0
added. The curves belong to one family * Broke through gage mark.
and are basically similar in that with NOTCHED TEST BA~S
increasing notch sharpness (decreasing Stress, psi Hours to Rupture
r/d) the notch strength ratio first in- 60 000
65 000
7
I0.5
creases to a maximum value and then de- 60 000 36
54 500 484
creases. The rate of initial increase and 51 000 1165
46 280 3736
the location of the maximum seem to
depend primarily on the material inde- there is no definite relation between un-
pendent of whether tensile strength or notch reduction of area and the notch-
stress-rupture strength is considered. strengthening or weakening effect. We
Thus, the materials apparently fail into note that the same lack of correlation is
two general classes, notch ductile or also true for unnotch elongation. Thus,
notch brittle alloys. The notch ductile the authors most ductile condition of
alloys are the authors' alloy D, the zinc- refractaloy, namely, alloy C, was con-
s W . F. Brown, Jr. and G. Sachs, " A Critical Review of siderably more notch sensitive than alloy
Notch Sensitivity in Stress Rupture Tests," NACA T N
2435, Aug., 1951. A which possessed a somewhat lower
6 W. Siegfried, "Brittleness and Toughness of Metals
at High Temperatures," Schweizer Archly, Vol. 11, No. l, elongation.
Jan., 1945, pp. 1-16 and Vok 11, No. 2, February, 1945, pp. I t is most interesting to note that a
43-61; see also paper by W. Siegfried in tiffs Symposium,
p. 93. notch weakening effect is observed for
r G. Sachs, J. D. Lubahn, and L. J. Ebert, " T h e Effects
of Notches of Varying Depths on the Strength of Heat certain heat treatments of the super alloy
Treated Low Alloy Steels," Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals,
Vol. 34, pp. 517-544 (1945). Refractaloy 26 at notch sharpnesses
DISCUSSION ON EFFECT OF N O T C H ON R U P T U R E 91
which might well be encountered in the notched tests at the same temperature
design of gas turbine engines for aircraft in Fig. 24. It will be observed that the
use. It would seem very profitable to notched results stay well above the un-
extend the authors' present tests to in- notched curve. There is some tendency
vestigate more thoroughly one alloy for for convergence of the two curves, but
various conditions of notch sharpness and extrapolation would suggest that the
testing temperature. curves would not cross for many hundred
We would like to conclude by present- thousands of hours.
ing two statements for further discussion: The ductilities to rupture of the un-
1. Basically, the notch effect in stress- notched tests are tabulated in Fig. 24.
rupture tests parallels closely that in It will be noted that the elongation and
room-temperature tension tests and, reduction of area values tend to increase
therefore, is attributed to the presence of with time to rupture. This is contrary to
stress concentration and its fade out is the usual behavior of materials at ele-
due to plastic flow. vated temperatures, although the experi-
2. All evidence thus far obtained indi- ence is not entirely unique with this class
cates that super alloys and other heat- of material under certain conditions of
resisting alloys are unstable in the creep processing. Obviously, the high level of
test and may exhibit unpredictable notch ductility which is shown in the unnotched
weakening at certain combinations of specimens provides the ability to relieve
notch geometry, temperature, and stress the stress concentrations in the notched
level. specimens.
MI~. C. T. EVANS, JR. 8 (presented in MR. M. J. MANJOINE (author's cIo-
written form).--The Elliott Co. believes sure).--In the paper it is stated that the
that the problem of notch sensitivity in "stress level did not appreciably affect
heat-resisting alloys is especially perti- the relative notch sensitivities of the al-
nent to pine tree root fastenings in tur- loys used in this investigation; there is
bine blades and disks. Photoelastic stud-
only a slight indication that the notch
ies have shown stress concentrations in
sensitivity increases with decreasing
these fastenings of the order of 7.5 times
stress." We intentionally picked alloys
the nominal stress.
We have done some work with 19-9 and heat treatments which resulted in a
DL alloy, at 1100 F, using specimens cut stable condition so that another variable
radially near the rim from a large hot- would not be introduced in the program.
worked disk forging 27 in. in diameter The curves in Figs. 20 and 21 show that
by 19 in. thick, weighing approximately the precipitation effect present in alloys
3000 lb. Stress to rupture tests through A and B is quite small over the range of
3736 hr have been made on notched test stress used in our tests whereas the effect
specimens. The design of the test speci- of notch geometry at constant average
men is shown in the accompanying Fig. stress is very large, Fig. 11.
23. This specimen has a theoretical stress The precipitation-hardening alloys A,
concentration factor of 6.3, according to B, and C were given higher temperature
Neuber's formula2 aging treatments and were stabilized at
The log-log plot of the notched results test temperature. With the application
is compared with conventional un- of stress in the test, however, the slight
8 Director of Development and Metallurgy, Elliott Co., precipitation effect noted above does oc-
Jeannette, Pa. Present address: Manager, High Tempera-
ture Meta]s, Universal-Cyclops Steel Corp., Bridgeville, cur.
Pa.
9 S. Timoshenko, Strength of Materials. Advanced Alloy D is very stable. The annealing
Theory and Problems Vol. II, p. 321. D. Van Nostrand
Company Inc., New York, N. Y. (1941). at 1650 F for 3 hr and stabilizing at
1150 F for 12 hr produces a very soft and occur at low values of r/d, Fig. 22, even
ductile condition. if they are stable. In the paper it is stated
The hardness on the end of every speci- that for very low values of rid alloy D
men is taken before and after test. This might become notch sensitive. It is more
end section is not stressed. It is probable likely that for this depth of notch the
that the hardness of a stressed section curve will be similar to that shown for
would be different. For alloys A, B, C the 190 X 103 psi steel in Fig. 22 since
and D no significant change in hardness Fig. 18 shows that even when a crack is
was noted for the unstressed sections in formed it does not propagate across the
any of the tests. The ladle analysis of section.
the heat alloy D gave 0.11 per cent car- We thank Mr. Evans for his comments
bon. and the substantiating data for the 19-9
We agree that it seems profitable to DL alloy. The notch geometry of his
extend the investigation of a single alloy specimen is almost identical to that used
for various notch geometries and testing in our tests of 19-9 DL (alloy G). We
temperatures, and hope to do this in the neglected to mention in the paper that
future. We believe, however, that notch the notch depth for the Series 2 tests was
weakening of alloys of low ductility will 0.060 in,
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
I N V E S T I G A T I O N S I N T O T H E I N F L U E N C E OF N O T C H E S ON C R E E P
S T R E N G T H AT H I G H T E M P E R A T U R E S
BY W. SIEGYRIED I
I t has been observed in the long-time TESTS WITH ALLOY NO. 1

testing of steels for high-temperature ser-- The following tests were carried out:
vice that many of these steels are so 1. Long-time creep tests to rupture on
sensitive to notching that notched speci- smooth and notched specimens at 650,
mens rupture sooner than smooth bars 700 and 730 C.
under the same load. The gas-turbine 2. Annealing tests at various loads,
builder is therefore compelled to investi- followed by testing of the mechanical
gate this phenomenon to gain a clear strength properties.
idea of how it affects important com- 3. Long-time creep tests to rupture on
ponents of design and as to what steels models of blade-root fixtures.
are likely to be susceptible to it. He must 4. Metallographic investigations into
also be able to judge the degree by which the development of the rupture process
a given component may be weakened by in specimens with double notches.
the influence of notches. Particulars of the results of these tests
For these reasons the problem was have appeared in an earlier publication
thoroughly examined in the laboratories (1)2 so that it will be sufficienthere to give
of Sulzer Brothers Ltd. to obtain reliable a brief summary of the facts.
data for the design of the company's In Figs. 1 and 3 the notch factors have
gas-turbine plants. The investigations been plotted as a function of the time to
were carried out principally on austenitic rupture for this steel, at temperatures of
steels as used in the construction of sta- 650 and 730 C. Figures 2 and 4 show the
tionary gas turbines. In order to throw long-time rupture curves for the smooth
light on certain basic aspects of the ques- and notched specimens. Figure 5 shows
tion, a number of tests were also carried the physical elongation calculated from
out on tin-cadmium alloys at room tem- the reduction of area as a function of the
perature. In all, eighteen alloy steels and time to rupture. The evaluation of these
various tin-cadmium alloys were sub- tests reveals that at a temperature of
mitted to fairly comprehensive tests. In 650 C only the specimen with a sharp
the case of some of the steels, tests were notch of 0.5-mm radius at the root shows
conducted not only with notched bars some embrittlement, while the round
but also with models of blade-root fix- notch with a radius of 5 mm is unaffected
tures. by embrittlement phenomena. Only one
The steels tested in the course of the test result is available for the sharp notch
investigations are listed in Table I with with a radius of 0.1 mm. At a tempera-
particulars of their analysis.
2 T h e boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the'list
t Sulzer Brothers, Ltd., Winterthur, Switzerland. of references appended to this paper, see p. 130.
93
Copyright by ASTM
Copyright 9 Int'l
by(all rights reserved);
ASTM Fri Dec 30
Intemational 20:48:29 EST 2011
www.astm.org
94 SYM~OSIU~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
ture of 730 C, embrittlement phenomena 2000 hr, and an increase in the elonga-
are observed only in the sharp notch of tion figures between about 100 and 2000
1-mm depth and 0.1-mm radius, hr.
TABLE I . - - 'AxNALYSIS OF S T E E L S T E S T E D ,
Chemical Composition, per cent

Steel
C Mn Si Ni Cr W V Mo Ti Cb + T a Co
No. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4 0.8 1.0 13.0 13.0 2.5 2.0 ... 3.0 10
No.
No.
2 . . . . . . . . . . .
3 ...........
0.09
0.16
1.67
0.54
0.42
0.57
25.68
9.74
15.81
17.75
..
1.39
6.o 6.~s
No. 4 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.12 0.89 0.32 13,0 18.21 0.30 1.59
No. 5 ........... 0.4 1.32 9.36 17.54 1.63
No. 6 ........... 0.35 0.69 1.36 9.53 19.58 1.31 1.i8 0".'s) 0.55
No. 7 . . . . . . . . . . 0.06 0.38 0.26 8.32 17.74 ... 3.10 ...
No. 8 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.28 0.53 1.29 13.4 13.49 2.29 l.b 0.84
No. 9 . . . . . . . . . . 0.i0 0.70 0.66 9,96 17.34 0.61 o.39 6.bb
No. 10 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.47 0.93 1.46 14.28 13,73 1.17 0.49
No. 11 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.28 0.92 0.78 7.23 19.48 3.81
No. 12 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 0.36 1.03 9.84 17.76 ... 1.07
No. 13 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 0.40 0.98 9.18 18.13 .. 0.98
No. 14 . . . . . . . . . . 0.06 0.42 0.39 10,97 16.75 .., 24~ iii
No. 15 . . . . . . . . . 0.09 1.72 0.48 9.22 19.25 ... 0.76
No. 16 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.08 1.76 0.47 11,28 16.37 . .. 2.h i i~ 0.73
No. 17 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.21 2.02 54.9 0.25 21.0 0".'94
No. 18 ........... 0.13 0.90 1.12 7i] 1~i ... 9 .. 2.02
-e- 60"
,~ L~o.sr
-.e- 3 -0
13
\ + ~ 1.5r
"\
9
I.E
Notch
Sensitive
I.!
1.0
0,9
x~
Notch .8k : Strength of Smooth Specimen ~,
Insensitive Strength of Notched Specimen
0.8 o
I 2 5 I0 90 50 I00 200
I
500 I000 2000 5000 I0000
Time~o Fracture, hr
Fro. 1.--Notch Effect of the Various Notch Forms in the Sustained-Load Test at 650 C. Solution
Treated Steel.
The following relationships can be es- 2. At 730 C the drop in the notch
tablished between the elongation figures sensitivity occurs between 10 and 200
hr and the rise in the elongation figures
and the notch sensitivity:
between 20 and 200 hr.
1. At 650 C a drop in the notch sen- It can be established from these ob-
sitivity occurs between about 50 and servations that the first loop in the stress-
SIEGFRIED ON INFLUENCE OF NOTCHES ON CREEP 95
elongation diagram shown in Fig. 6 is at sensitivity was not revealed b y these

the same time connected with an increase tests, as too few results are available in
in notch sensitivity and t h a t the notch this region. The fact t h a t the notch sen-
300 -e. -e. -e.

o "~ o -e. o
200
1.5r
----- 0.Sr
I00
E x - - Smooth
E Speclmens
50
9 ~ o O-
.--7"--r-, -
20
IO
5
I 2 5 I0 20 50 I00 200 500 I000 2000 5000 I0 0 0 0
Time to Frocture, hr
Fro. 2.--Sustained-Load Tests on Smooth and Notched Specimens at 650 C. Solution-Treated
Steel.
1.3
Strength of Smooth S p e c i m e n
ilK=Strength of Notched SPecimen
t.2
-e-
9.e, .o
co
I.I f
~ O . I r
1.0 -~
"~ o
0.9
~ @ O.5r
0.8
-o. o
0.7 I.Sr
I 2 3 I0 20 50 I00 200 500 I000 2000 I0 0 0 0

Time to Frocture, h,
FIG. 3.--Notch Effect of the Various Notch Forms in the Sustained-Load Test at 730 C. Solution-
Treated Steel.
sensitivity is to some extent related to sitivity is dependent on time was con-

the elongation at rupture. To w h a t extent firmed in other tests with blade roots. I n
the reduction in the elongation figures addition, the evaluation of further tests
observed at long testing times is con- provided some clues to the more exact
nected with an increase in the notch relationships prevailing between notch
300
200
O.Ir + ' I.Sr

I00
"6-
"1~ O
50
E o - - - - - ~ 0.St x - - Smooth
E
~ ~ ~ ~'~--~ ..a__ :'-~-~:,._2__
~Z.'.--.....i., :~.~.L~_
_ =-, Specimens.
'
l 2o . T-~.~_~ ~ , . ~ ,
ffl
I
I 2 5 IO 20 50 I00 200 500 I000 2000 5000 I0 0 0 0
Time to Frocture, hr
Fie,. 4 . - - S u s t a i n e d - L o a d on S m o o t h a n d N o t c h e d Specimens a t 730 C. S o l u t i o n - T r e a t e d Steel.
0.5
~fI '\/
0.4
g
!
w
0.3
.l I
"% ~
~)r 1"
J ,r
/ I
l" II
0.2 "~.'.~ i'/" /4 --,,.--.--- 650(;
i --§ 700G
j --. * - 730 G
0.1 ~---
I' 2 5 IO 20 50 IOO 200 500 I000 2000 5000 I0000

Time to Fracture, hr
FIo. 5.--Elongation of the Specimens Fractured. Solution-Treated Steel.
8 0 84
m xm 6 5 0 G
70 ,~,~ -----o- 7 0 0 C
/ C0.5
E60
E .,-
o"
u)
,_50 j'J"
~D
169h IVzh J 2,~3h
E, ~ f x167Jh
=.40
160h ~56V4h
u) 3 0
==
I.-
20
4~ I
90~ --" ~'~ 1271/4h
"-- - - "'"" "-"
I0
/
0 L
15 0 20 255 30 35I0 40 45
Reduction in Area, per cent
FIG. 6.--Relationship Between Stress and Reduction in Area in the Long-time Creep Test on
Specimens of Steel No. 1.
The figures entered in the diagram indicate the time to rupture.
90 " 70
J
80 60
ETO 50
~ Tensile Strengt ~"

b~ -,2. %
~50 30 r Yield Point \ ~-- ~_ ..... ,.._.~
b
~/ = Reduction in area ~'="'~'~ ,#
40 20 ~ .t.j
30 IO
I 2 5 I0 20 50 IOO 200 500 IO00 2000 5000 IOuO0

Time to Fracture, hr
FIG. 7.--Strength Properties at Room Temperature of Specimens Annealed Under a Load of 10

kg per sq mm at 700 C as a Function of the Annealing Time--Solution-Treated Steel.
sensitivity and elongation figures at rup- time is plotted in this diagram along the
ture. abscissas, the stress along the ordinates.
It was assumed that these phenomena The curves indicate the points of maxi-
are due to precipitation processes which mum precipitation effect. The appear-
are accelerated by creep. To throw more ance of domains with low reduction-of-
light on the matter, annealing tests of area values in the long-time creep test
various durations were carried out under can be explained as follows: In Fig. 9
a number of different loads. both the curve for the maximum effect
Figure 7 shows the results of a series of of precipitation and that of the long-
tests of this kind in which specimens were time rupture tests for the steel in ques-
I
Brittle Frocture
N / ~% O/1650deg
35--
30--
~
/\
Sustolned
o-- Lood Tests
~25
\
"~ ,%,,
\ \
6500
~5
?OOC"'. \
IO--
\
IO 20 50 I00 200 500 tO00 2000 5000 tO0 uO0

Annealing Time, hr
FIG. 8.--Relationship of Prestressing Load to Annealing Time at 650 and 700 C for the Attain-
ment of Minimum Reduction of Area in Subsequent Tension Test at Room Temperature.
annealed for various periods at 700 C

under a load of 10 kg per sq mm. I t
proves that, at an annealing time of \ Curve of Mox/murnEmbr/ttlernent
about 1000 hr, the degree of necking
diminishes and the ultimate stress rises,
~/ / due to Precipitakbn
...... __~. ~/Creep StrengthCurve
changes which are reversed at longer
annealing times. We thus have to do with
the modification of strength and exten-
sibility which are typical of precipita-
tions. As the load rises, the maximum
effect of the precipitation process is Time
pushed towards the shorter times, and a
FIG. 9.--Diagrammatic Explanation of the
diagram can be made of this maximum Elongation Occurring in the Long-time Creep
effect as shown in Fig. 8. The annealing Test as a Function of the Time to Rupture.
SIEGFRIED ON INFLUENCE OF NOTCHES ON C R E E P 99
FIO. 10.--Brittle Fracture of a Specimen at 650 C.

Load is 35 kg per sq rnm, time to fracture 21~ hr--Solution-Treated Steel.
I00 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
tion have been diagrammatically com- turned bead was sufficient to cause
bined.. If we attempt to evaluate these premature rupture. This specimen was
considerations in detail, we come up the only one in the whole series which
against the difficulty that the stress is broke in this way.
not constant in the long-time rupture Where the two curves of Fig. 9 inter-
test, but rises till rupture occurs (4). As sect, rupture at the end of the creep
we can assume, however, that the stress process coincides with the maximum em-
brittlement due to precipitation and it is
therefore easy to understand that the
elongation figures fall off. With long test
durations, rupture only occurs at a mo-
ment when the embrittlement effect has
been reversed; the elongation figures can
once more rise.
Comparison of the results of elonga-
tion measurements on specimens broken
in the creep test with the annealing tests
shows good agreement with creep tests on
models of blade-root fixture~ In order to
determine to what extent the embrittle-
ment phenomena observed in this steel
occur in service, long-time creep tests
were carried out on models of blade-root
fixtures. Figure 11 illustrates a model of
the type used. The holder block with the
milled serrations was dimensioned to cor-
respond roughly to the turbine disk in
rigidity. The form of the teeth is not
actually the same as employed in turbine
construction but is derived from a long
series of experiments in which the influ-
ence of the various forms of indentation
was systematically investigated. I t was
chosen to give extreme conditions.
FIG. l l . - - M o d e l of a Blade Root Fixture as The creep-rupture tests with these
Used for Carrying out Long-time Creep Tests.
blade-root models yielded the following
results: At a test duration which was
is almost equal to the nominal stress for approximately the same as that required
the greater part of the test, the rupture for the occurrence of brittle fractures in
points have also been entered in Fig. 8. the creep tests on test specimens, a rup-
At both 650 and 7 0 0 C the first two ture as shown in Fig. 12 was observed.
embrittlement regions correspond fairly At times which were longer or shorter
exactly with theregions of great notch than this critical period, the development
sensitivity. I t is very interesting to record of a rupture as shown in Fig. 13 was
that extreme embrittlement was observed observed. The embrittlement was, how-
at 650 C precisely in one of the speci- ever, not so great that any distinct drop
mens broken in this range. As appears in the creep-test curve was to be de-
from Fig. 10, the notch effect of the tected.
FIo. 12.--Model of a Blade Root with Brittle Transverse Fracture.
FxG. 13.--Model of a Blade Root with Fracture Through the Single Indentations.
I000
/
IO0 173.5/ ~
~3113/4
E
E
g
21580,
e~
J 420
IOB5.5
10
0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8

Natural Elongation
FIG. 14.--Curves for the Points of Rupture for an Alloy with 94 per cent Tin and 6 per cent
Cadmium.
The figuresare times to ruptures in hours.
TESTS WITH TIN-CADMIUM ALLOYS AT ducted on tin-cadmium alloys. The re-

ROOM TEMPERATURE sults of these tests were also reported in
In order to determine more accurately detail elsewhere (I). The following alloys
the influence of notches on the creep were used:
strength of a metal with high deforma- 1. Sn 94 per cent, Cd 6 per cent
tion figures, a number of tests were con- 2. Sn 98.6 per cent, Cd 1.4 per cent
The creep tests on smooth specimens notch forms in the vertical rows in Fig.
of these alloys revealed phenomena simi- 16 have the same depth but different
lar to those observed in the tests on the shapes, while those in the horizontal rows
high-temperature steel already men- have the same shapes but different
tioned. Thus Fig. 14 shows the curve depths.
obtained by plotting on the axis of or- The results of the tests with notch
dinates the true stress at rupture and on form No. 14 are plotted in Fig. 18, and
that of abscissas the physical elongation those for notch forms Nos. 3, 6, 9 and 12
calculated from the reduction of area. A in Fig. 17. The results of the long-time
comparison of Fig. 14 with Fig. 6 shows tests on the smooth specimens have also
that the phenomena here encountered are been entered in these two figures. Owing
FIG. 15.--Comparison of Smooth Fractured Specimens of the Alloy Containing 94 per cent Sn and
6 per cent Cd.
Heat treatment: 24 hr at 168 C, water quenched; 24 hr at I20 C, water quenched.
evidently similar to those met in the to the great ductility of this alloy it is
high-temperature steel. I t is a special generally not justifiable to speak of em-
advantage of these tests that the elonga- brittlement, as no ruptures occur without
tions are great enough to be observed deformation and the strength of the
with the naked eye. Figure 15, for in- notched specimens is only in very few
stance, shows the broken specimens with cases lower than that of the smooth ones.
various test durations. I t is clear enough I t has been observed, however, that the
that at medium values of load and test- difference in the strength of the smooth
ing time, the reduction of area at fracture and notched specimens varies greatly
is at a minimum. Creep tests lasting up with test duration. If we consider, for
to nearly 60,000 hr were now carried out instance, the results of the tests with the
with specimens of these tin-cadmium al- heat-treated alloy in Fig. 18 (upper
loys which were provided with notches of curves), we see that at test durations
systematically varied forms. Thus the below 20 hr the specimens with notch
104 SYm, OSlVM ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITYOF METALS
I 2 3
4 5 6
60" 60~ 60~
7 8 9
120~ 120o 6~l

,2o.~t
I0 I 12
3 0 ~ 2.5R5 ~
13 14
FIG.16.--Tableof NotchFormsusedin the Tests.
form No. 14 have a strength about 10 hr, to diverge from it again at even
per cent higher than that of the smooth longer times.
bars. With increasing test duration the The lower curves in Fig. 18, which
strength of the notched specimens ap- were obtained with the alloy in the cold-
proaches that of the smooth ones, be- drawn state, take a somewhat different
coming equal at a time-to-rupture of course. The curve for the notched speci-
~ 1 ~ III I-~.--- i i I IIliLi [ I )lllll I [I

4 I [[l[ ~ , . . ~ f ] JJ
~176 I I IIItll IIII , ,,
2ool t I I I III1[ I I I ITJ111----~2s I I I I IIIII I
6
,ool
co. .i
i ii ii iiiiiiiilll ii i ii ii ":
i
' i[1ii i i
?N~c--.2~_ l'lb,-I i I!ililll
I lilll
OOl , , ,,T~,~_, , ,,[1111 I I I1,,,, , , I I[lltl -.~-,,~, ,,,,
4001 91 Io-I--_LIIll.r'u~l~l~JJ.i[ I / J lillll I I II Illll I"-q."V'~.llll
i i llllrrrr---~-.~l~n~!,lllJ[I I I[llllll [ I"~'Tllll
,oo I I llllllll i I llllll,
~,ool
~, ] i i i hi IIII I I ] I I I lll][ ~. I I I I]11]
eoe__, , ,,,,,,, , , ,,11111 - I I IIIIlll I I ~,,,, -..--~, ,,,,,,,
~4r~[~6] I,,,-L-Lllrfl''"-,,-J,,,mJ-I i]llli I I 1 ]lllll ] I I I11111 l'..~.L I il]][I
,.,w/I I IIl~~r'~,,,,,--I I lilllll J I Illllll ]"]"k.llllll
=2ool I ]1111111 I I IITN1t-";~-----~III ]]lllJlll 1 I llillll
~i i i!!!iiii i iiil lllllll I ::~,".~ iiiiiii

sool I I IIIlIIL | ', IlJ.l[i.[-J I.l[HIII I I I',',',I'I,~~.L I IIIIIII
,io,~L~31 I'-L-LCrI-IT--"t""~"L-I~O.,=.qea~P~'me;S, IIII I I I IIIIII r'~kl i i~]
-/I I IIIVlTr"-'~-~l~tr.~l. IllllLI I I I llllll I I-~k.llllll
oo s,,,,,,,,,,s,~,,,,,,,,.FFl"t1%--J~I, I II IIIIII II IIII111
,oo. : ::...,..,,:: . . . . . . . . . . .~:: ....:...,.,..,:
e~ ', ",,
II
i 'iilllll
I IIIIII
'""
IIIII
[1111
i IR't-~-.,..l
I II11 ~i~l
', ',',I',',I',
I I IIlll
I
,oo II I 111[1tl I llll I lllll
~oo I II I I lll]ll I Illl I IIIII
I IO I00 I000 IOOOO IOOOO0
Time to Rupture, hr
Fzc. 17.--Creep-test Curves for Notched Specimens Compared with Those for Smooth Specimens
for the Alloy with 94 per cent Tin and 6 per cent Cadmium.
Heat Treatment: 24 hr at 168 C, water quenched; 24 hr at 120 C, water quenched.
about 200 hr. If the test duration is mens intersects that for the smooth ones
further increased, the strength of the at a test duration of about 500 hr, and
notched specimens again rises relative to approaches it once more, this time from
that of the smooth ones and at 1000 hr below, at about 6000 hr.
is in about the same ratio to the strength I t is most interesting to investigate the
influence of a notch on the elongation at
of the latter as at very short test dura-
fracture. In Fig. 19 the true stress at the
tion. If the testing time is still further moment of fracture forms the ordinate
increased, the curve for the notched spe- and the physical elongation the abscissa.
cimens again approaches that for the If we now follow the influence of a notch
smooth ones and meets it at about 5000 which is progressively deepened while
retaining the same geometric form (notch ing. The course of the creep-rupture
forms Nos. 1, 2 and 3), we see that with curve for the notched specimens (lower
increasing depth of the notch the range curve in Fig. 18) can be considered in the
of low elongation at fracture is gradually same way. The hypothetical curve for the
broadened and that two elongation min- notched specimens without embrittle-
ima are formed, these becoming more and ment has been entered as a thin line. If
20 0 0 0
I I j" Notched Specimens
Cold Drown
I0 0 0 0 9 kSmoolh Specimens . . . . . . .
24 hr, 168 C, Water /Notched Specimens

5 000 2'4 hr, 120 C, Water ~l~Smooth Specimens - -
2 000 r
I000
E
t:r
W---. .~_
IO0
~' ~o
20
10--
I
I 2 .5 I0 20 50 tO0 200 .500 2000 IO 0 0 0 50 000
Time to Rupture, hr
FIG. 18.--Long-time Test Curves for Smooth and Notched Specimens (Notch No. 14) of the
Alloy Containing 94 per cent Tin and 6 per cent Cadmium for Various Heat Treatments.
more pronounced as the notch becomes we further take into account the results
deeper. of the elongation measurements in Fig.
We can consider the curves for the ! 9, we can state that there is in the
creep strengths of the notched specimens smooth bars a region with low capacity
for deformation which, however, does not
in Fig. 18 as having been produced by
as yet lead to a reduction in the ultimate
the subtraction in some time ranges of a
strength, but that in the notched speci-
certain amount from a hypothetical curve mens this region of low strain capacity is
running roughly parallel to the creep- broadened and split into two embrittle-
rupture curve for the smooth bars. These ment regions. This fact can be explained
time ranges have been indicated in the by the following considerations.
upper curve of Fig. 18 by vertical shad- By means of annealing tests under
load on high-temperature steels it was the notched bar is irregularly distributed,

established that the striking course of the the process can be explained as shown in
stress-elongation curves is to be attrib- Fig. 20. The situation has there been
~000
500 /~20'
200
3!
,00 Jl
/
,'~,qL
~0 3 9 / ~. 146.7
BS.SJ'~' . / /
3/6-~ ~'.~96.5.
4206/
840,,,
20 ~ ,62 /
o4767
"-'"
.~"
40664
.2
I
0 O.q 0,8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.2
Physicol Elongotion
Fzo. 1 9 . - - R u p t u r e Curves P l o t t e d on a log cr versus
physical elongation diagram for the alloy
containing 94 per cent Sn and 6 per cent Cd.
Heat Treatment: 24 hr at 168 C, water quenched; 24 hr at 120 C, water quenched.
Smooth specimen
X ~ X Notch No. 1
A ........ A Notch No. 2
o . . . . o Notch No. 3
uted to precipitations which may be simplified by the assumption that there

speeded up by the prevailing stress. Thus are only two zones, which are subjected
if the test specimen is subjected to a high to two different stresses. On this assump-
tensile stress, the precipitation processes tion, embrittlement will occur more
take place more rapidly due to the creep quickly in zone a, while in zone b the
which goes on, while they take place more embrittlement process, as well as the
slowly at lower stresses. As the stress in recovery due to the triaxial stressing and
108 SYMPOSIUM
ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
the accompanying obstruction of elonga- 12, though without going into further
tion, will be slowed down. The creep-test detail.
curve obtained with the various notch The course of the curves for the
[orms can now be explained in detail notched specimens in Fig. 17 is more
with the aid of these considerations; the complicated and less easy to follow than
views expressed in the preceding para- in Fig. 18. It is nevertheless possible to
explain these curves in a similar way.if
the following points are taken into ac-
count: Owing to the high capacity for
deformation of these alloys, fracture is
preceded by intense creep which may
lead to extremely pronounced modifica-
tion of the geometric form of the notch.
A comparison of photograph a with pho-
tograph h in Fig. 21, for instance, shows
that during the testing period an entirely
Smooth Specimen new notch form has been produced in
which the radius at the root is several
o LS'-<b
o Smooth Specimen, Stressr
hundred times greater than it was at the
beginning of the test. It must also be
considered that the increase of the peak
stress at the root of the notch is not
b Smooth Specimen, Stress~-b
proportional to the load applied, as in an
elastic material, but that at high loads
the constant for the stress increase at the
root of the notch is smaller than at low
Notched Specimen
loads.
t Time In Fig. 17 the course of the creep-
Fzc. 20.--Effect of Nonhomogeneity of Creep rupture curve for the notched bars was
on the Formation of the Embrittlement Region explained as follows: as in Fig. 18, a
in Notched Specimens.
hypothetical curve for the notched speci-
graph are confirmed. Figure 21 shows a mens without embrittlement phenomena
number of fractured specimens with vari- and without alteration of the geometric
ous test durations and illustrates very form was plotted. As in Fig. 18, subtrac-
clearly the difference in the mechanism tions must be made from this hypotheti-
of fracture according to test duration. cal curve at two points (vertical shading),
The form of the regions of reduced while an increase in the actual strength
strength then varies according to the values as compared with the hypothetical
type of notch. In the publication already curve occurs on account of the change in
mentioned (1) a full account was given of the geometrical form of the notch during
the way in which this happens, and ac- the test (horizontal shading), this apply-
cordingly it proved possible to discuss ing particularly at long test duration
in some detail the results of the long- and with notch forms having a very
time tests with the various notch forms small radius of curvature.
shown in Fig. 16. We give here by way In general it proved that an increase
of example the results of the long-time of the peak stress at the root of the
tests with notch forms Nos. 3, 6, 9, and notch widens the first strength reduction
SIEGFRIED ON INFLUENCE OF NoTcm~s oN CREEP 109
FIO. 2 1 . - - B r o k e n S p e c i m e n s A c c o r d i n g to t h e T i m e to R u p t u r e f o r A l l o y w i t h 94 p e r c e n t T i n
and 6 per cent Cadmium.
Heat Treatment: 24 hr at 168 C, water quenched; 24 hr at 120 C, water quenched. Notch form No. 7.
Elapsed Time, hr Load, kg per

sq c m
a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . As supplied
b. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6~ 558
t:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 437
d ................. 50 359
r ................. 257 288
f ................ 8s9 199
g ................. 7 2s8 99.8
k ................. 45 ,532 49.8
region of the notched specimens and ture of the specimen will occur after much
move's it over to the left. Increasing longer times by the tearing of the inner
notch depth, and thus increasing radial zone. On the other hand, fracture will
transverse stress, widens the second re- occur in the first embrittlement region if
gion to the right. These considerations the stress is great enough to allow a crack
also permit explanation of the abrupt to form from the shell zone before the
transitions as observed in notch form peak stress is reduced by an alteration in
No. 9 (Fig. 17), These abrupt transitions the form of the notch. The possibility of
were observed not individually but sys- this is all the more evident if we take
tematically. Their explanation is as fol- into account the nonlinear relationship
lows. between the stress and the rate of creep.
During the process of creep a pro- I t is patent that with a mechanism of
nounced modification of the notch form this kind small differences in the mate-
occurs, especially in sharp notches, and rial may bring about the transition from
as a result of this the stress conditions one mechanism of rupture to the other,
in the most heavily stressed zone at the which explains the abrupt transition in
root of the notch are altered, the stress the long-time rupture curves.
being reduced. Two tendencies with dif-
TESTS WITH OTHER ALLOYS
0.1r
Long-time creep tests at 600 C were
~i o-oa ..... m conducted with steels Nos. 2 to 16, both
- ~T
smooth and notched bars being used.
Figure 22 shows the form of the notched
specimens. Two notches were made so
IS~ ~12-'-J"qS-+a2~'~--12 ~ ~ 15--
F
. 39
that when the bar had broken at one
notch a crack had already formed at the
69 other, and this crack permitted the proc-
FIG. 22.--Form of the Double-notched Speci- esses leading to rupture to be examined
mens Used in the Tests. more closely by metallographic means.
The principal results yielded by these
ferent effects are therefore at work simul- investigations are contained in Figs. 23 to
taneously in the creep of a notched 32. The creep-test curves for the smooth
specimen of a material of this kind. On bars were arrived at with a considerable
the one hand, embrittlement of the shell number of specimens, while for the
zone takes place with the danger of crack notched bars only two to three specimens
formation, and on the other hand the were used per steel. In Figs. 23 to 32 the
peak stress is broken down by the Mtera- creep-test curves are plotted on a log-log
tion of the geometrical form of the notch. scale for the smooth bars. The points for
In a mechanism of this kind abrupt tran- the notched bars are also given, and the
sitions are possible, and an explanation is results of the metallographic investiga-
therefore forthcoming for the fact that tions are added. To permit the creep-test
fracture takes place earlier at low load values for the smooth specimens to be
than at higher loads. For if the breaking- compared with each other, a thin dotted
down of the peak stress is so ralSid that line has been shown in Figs. 24 to 32.
the maximum stress has already been This is the creep-test curve for the
considerably reduced before maximum smooth bars of steel No. 2 (Fig. 23).
embrittlement occurs, no crack will be The evaluation of these tests gives the
formed from the shell zone and the rup- following results:
SIEGFRIED ON INFLUENCE OF N O T C H E S ON CREEP 111
t,o
03
9
o~
03
~q
9
,q
t-*
L~
FIG. 24.--Long-time Rupture Tests with Steel No. 3 at 600 C. (reduced to ~ size in reproduction.)
t~
O
0
z
Z
0
0
~Z
FiG. 25.--Long-time Rupture Tests with Steel No. 4 at 600 C. (reduced to ~ size in reproduction.)
Go
9
Z
6q
9
s~
~q
F:o. 26.--Long-time R u p t u r e T e s t s with Steel No. 5 at 600 C. (reduced to 2~ size in reproductionl)

t~
o
:Z
o
N
o:Z
(.rl
FXG. 27.--Long-time R u p t u r e Tests with Steel No. 6 at 600 C. (reduced to 2/~ size in reproduction.)
Dr~
t~
D~
FIG. 28.--Long-time
Copyright by ASTM Int'l (all rights reserved); Rupture
Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 Tests
EST 2011with Steel No. 7 at 600 C. (reduced to ~ size in reproduction.)
t~
FIG. 29.--Long-time Rupture Tests with Steel No. 8 at 600 C. (reduced to .g~ size in reproduction.)
118 Sv~PosiT:~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
t~
O
9
:z
FIc. 31.--Long-time Rupture Tests with Steel No. 10 at 600 C. (reduced to 2/~ size in reproduction.)
120 SYMPOSIUM
General Observations: The following criterion was set up for

the formation of cracks in the tin-cad-
The tests on the tin-cadmium alloys mium alloys. During the creep process in
described above showed that in notched a ductile metal the form of the notch is
specimens the region with a relative drop so changed that this deformation may
in the creep strength lies approximately lead to a stress reduction. If this is pos-
at the times for which low reduction-of- sible without a crack commencing at the
area values are observed in the creep root of the notch during the intense
tests with smooth bars. At the same time creep, the notched specimen will stand
an enlargement of the region of embrittle- much higher stressing than the smooth
meat is to be observed. This enlargement type. Cracks beginning at the root of the
is due on the one hand to the effect of notch are therefore to be attributed pri-
stress concentration and on the other to marily to the exhaustion of the capacity
the transverse stresses in the interior of for deformation at this point. The photo-
the specimen.
When the tests with tin-cadmium al-
loys were evaluated, irregular transitions
were noted in the creep-test curves. These
could only be explained by the assump-
tion that two different processes were
here exerting separate effects, namely,
Xx axial stress
the formation of cracks first from the Yy radial stress
Zz tangential stress
interior of the bar and second from the Us deformation energy
root of the notch. The fact that cracks
can begin simultaneously from the root
of the notch and at some distance from
it is very well illustrated in Figs. 24, 25,
SFro. 33.--Stress Conditions in a Notched
27, 28, 29, and 32. Nevertheless, there Specimen Under Test (After Gensamer).
was a considerable difference between
the tin alloys and the alloy steels to graph in Fig. 28 shows that fairly large
which Figs. 23 to 32 refer, as the former local deformations may take place before
are metals with an extremely high capa- the crack begins from the root of the
city for elongation. As a rule the strength notch.
of the notched specimens is higher than The fact that a second crack may
that of the smooth specimens, which can originate at some distance from the root
be explained simply enough as the result of the notch is obviously to be ascribed
of obstruction to elongation in the inte- to the stress conditions. Figure 33 shows
rior of the bar. So-called embrittlement the variations of the three main stresses
generally makes itself manifest only by in a notched specimen as a function of
the strength of the notched bars becom- the distance from the axis of the bar. It
ing equal to that of the smooth bars. appears from this that in the root of the
The plasticity of the refractory alloys at notch itself there is no radial stress what-
high temperature, however, is far smaller ever; therefore the state of stress is there
than that of the tin alloys, so that under two-dimensional. At some distance from
certain conditions other processes not the notch root, however, a fairly large
affecting the tin-cadmium alloys may radial component of stress is operative,
here play a decisive part. apart from the axial and tangential
Downloaded/printed by FIG, 34.--Crack Formation in Steel No. 18 at 600 C.
stresses. This has the effect of making Fig. 34 the crack advances deep into the
the deviation energy very low so that interior of the steel along the grain
creep is hampered and the grain bound- boundaries. In the steel shown in Fig.
aries are more heavily loaded. As far as 36, on the other hand, the crack, though
our observations have extended, the existent, progresses less rapidly into the
cracks beginning in the interior of the interior and is rounded by local creep in
specimen have always been of an inter- 'the root of the notch, so that one might
crystalline nature. almost say that the metal is healed by
The cracks starting from the root of its own action. It is apparent from this
the notch are in part intercrystalline and that the steel of Fig. 36 is much less
in part a combination of the intercrystal- sensitive to notches than that of Fig. 34.
line and transcrystalline types. Exam- A further example of a steel in which an
FIG. 35.--Crack Formation in Steel No. 1 at 650 C. (X 100).
pies of typically intercrystalline cracks existing crack is rounded again by local

starting from the root of the notch are creep is illustrated in Fig. 23. In this case
shown in Figs. 32 and 34, while mixed highly magnified photographs were pre-
intercrystalline and transcrystalline pared of some regions of the side surfaces
cracks can be found in Figs. 23 and 35. of the crack, and the twin formations
At a later stage the two cracks, which there visible reveal that marked crystal-
have originated separately, combine, as line creep has taken place throughout
shown in Figs. 29, 32, and 28. on these surfaces.
In assessing the brittleness of a metal, We can also indicate the notch sensi-
it is important above all to know how a tivity of a material more or less accu-
crack, once formed, progresses. There are rately by the form of the crack which
great differences in this respect among develops, for instance by specifying the
the various steels. The two extremes of relationship of the depth to the width of
behavior are illustrated by the steels of the crack. If this ratio is high, we are
Figs. 34 and 36. In the alloy shown in dealing with a brittle metal that is sensi-
124 SYMPOSIUM
Fic. 36.--Crack Formation in Steel No. 17 at 650 C.
tive to notching; if it is low, the metal is slow. The formation of a crack at the
not sensitive to notching. root of the notch is, moreover, less fre-
The rate of advance of a crack in the quent, as the peak stresses can be re-
steels tested depends primarily on the duced by plastic deformation. In metals
relationship of the capacity for deforma- with these properties a first crack will
tion of the crystallites to that of the usually form in the zone with low shear
grain boundaries. strain energy. In the interior of the metal
We can classify metals in this respect there are few or no intercrystalline
as follows: cracks. Any crack which forms is rela-
Great Capacity for Deformation of the tively wide and rounded at the bottom.
Crystallites Compared with That of the At its edge it shows traces of plastic
Grain Boundaries.--In this case the rate deformation. Examples of steels of this
of advance of an existing crack will be kind are shown in Figs. 23, 25, 27, (it is
clearly visible here that the first crack metal with weak grain boundaries can
was formed not at the root of the notch only be observed at long testing times.
but in the interior) see Fig. 25. This is typically illustrated in the steels
Medium Ratio of the Capacity for Defor7 of Figs. 30 and 31, where the photographs
marion of the Crystallites to That of the at shorter tests duration reveal the type
Grain Boundaries.--As the reduction of of rupture described in the preceding
the stress concentration at the root of the paragraph. The weakening of the grain
notch is due primarily to the deformation boundaries as a function of the testing
of the crystallites, there is in this case less time also expresses itself in the steel of
chance of the peak stress being reduced Fig. 30 by a marked drop in the creep-
by creep. For this reason intercrystalline test curve of the smooth specimens, as is
cracks are to be expected at the root of evident if the creep-test curve for this
the notch and will then advance into the steel is compared with that for the steel
interior. As the strength of the grain of Fig. 23, which is also included for
boundaries as compared with the capac- purposes of comparison.
ity for deformation of the crystallites is
by definition still fairly high, no large Significance of Elongation Values at Rup-
cracks are to be expected in the interior ture Measured on Smooth Specimens in
of the steel. From the metallographic the Long-time Creep Test:
viewpoint we shall in this case have a The metallographic investigations
long and very narrow intercrystalline have shown that notch sensitivity de-
crack, but only very slight intercrystal- pends primarily on the ratio of the capac-
line crack formation in the interior of the ity for deformation of the crystallites
b a r . A typical example of this type of to that of the grain boundaries. If this
steel is shown in Fig. 34. ratio is high, we have to do with metals
Low Ratio of the Capacity for Deforma- in which the notched bars have higher
tion of the Crystallites to That of the Grain creep strength figures than the unnotched
Boundaries.--In this case the slipping ones. When the ratio takes on medium
apart of the grain boundaries in the in- values, the metals are sensitive to notch-
side of the specimen and thus the forma- ing, while with extremely weak grain
tion of numerous internal cracks are boundaries the strength of the notched
added to the phenomena just described. specimen is approximately equal to that
The notch brittleness of the metal will of the smooth specimen. The question
be less marked, as the formation of the now arises as to whether it is not possible
intercrystalline cracks means that a large in creep tests on smooth specimens to
number of internal notches is already in establish values roughly corresponding
existence. The strength of the specimen to the ratio of the capacity for defor-
can no longer be greatly modified by a mation of the crystallites to that of
further external notch. A similar example the grain boundaries. In this .case we
is cast iron, which under alternating should be able to judge from creep
stress is not sensitive to notches by reason tests on smooth specimens alone
of the large number of internal notches whether we are dealing with a material
which it already possesses. Pronounced sensitive or not to notching, or whether
examples of this type of metal are shown the material will become brittle after a
in Figs. 30 and 31. It will usually be the certain time. It is known from the work
case that the grain boundaries are weak- of Kuntze (2) that in the tension test at
ened in the course of time by precipita- room temperature the total extension of
tion processes; the typical behavior of the the bar consists of two components, the
126 SYMPOSIUM
first of which is the so-called proportional the proportional elongation, it was pos-
elongation due to the cross-sectional area sible to obtain certain information of the
of the whole bar being reduced it1 a uni- capacity of the metal to get rid of peak
form manner. This type of elongation is stresses. Up to the point of maximum
observed in the normal tension test be- load the strain occurring is uniform over
fore the maximum load is reached. If the the length of the specimen, the neck
test specimen is further deformed after forming only after this point has been
reaching this maximum load, a local neck passed. Kuntze now observed that by
is created and elongation is then limited plotting the ratio of proportional elonga-
to this part of the bar. This component is tion to the reduction of area converted
therefore known as necking elongation. by calculation into linear elongation, it
Kuntze has proved that the necking elon- was possible to obtain a measure of the
gation is chiefly due to the formation of tendency of a metal to brittle fracture at
planes of slip running through the whole room temperature. If the ratio of propor-
specimen; proportional elongation is due tional elongation to linear necking elon-
rather to local extensions. A metal with gation is less than 10, the metal is brittle,
high proportional elongation has a non- even if it fractures with high elongation
homogeneous structure, having either in- figures. If this ratio is above 30, the metal
ternal pores or crystallites with widely is again brittle. To determine the propor-
differing orientation. Kuntze has further tional elongation, graphs were prepared
shown that the static sensitivity to notch- (3) with which the proportional elonga-
ing at room temperature is lower in pro- tion can be read off for a given test-bar
portion as the pure necking elongation length from the reduction of area and
of the metal is higher. the elongation at fracture. An attempt
Let us see whether we can give our was now made to evaluate the test results
previous observations a more precise sig- on the same basis, the procedure being
nificance in the light of Kuntze's work as follows:
and whether it will then be possible to The physical elongation calculated
draw conclusions as to notch sensitivity from the reduction of area of the smooth
from orthodox creep tests on smooth bars at rupture was worked out by inter-
specimens. With this in mind, the notch polation for the corresponding test dura-
sensitivity was calculated for the notched tion of the notched specimen. The pro-
bars of each alloy, the ratio of the portional elongation was also determined
strength of the smooth bar to that of the for the smooth bars broken in creep tests
notched bar at the same test duration according to the curves of Kuntze, Uebel
being worked out in each case. If this and Gentner (3). In addition, the reduc-
r a t i o is less than unity, the metal is tion of area was converted into elonga-
ductile; if it is greater than unity, the tion from the formula:
metal i~ sensitive to notching.
In his investigations, Kuntze (5) suc- 100 r
ceeded in establishing certain connections 6e 100 - ~ per cent
between the brittleness of a metal and its
elongation in the conventional tension where @ is the reduction of area. The
test which throw light on the occurrence ratio 6o:~g, that is of local elongation at
of brittle fractures at room tepmerature. rupture to proportional elongation, could
It proved that by determining the elon- then be determined. In Fig. 37 the ratio
gation up to the application of maximum ~e: ~ was then plotted along the ordinates
load in the ordinary tensile test, that is for all specimens and the physical elonga-
IO0
90
80 ,o.a
70
60
50
40 .... .-...~. \
30
f t~
o
/ 1.0
6',,-o. 9
20
t~
o
~o ' . I
// .--""
,o c
en
8 /'"
7 0
/
6
/'" ' ,,9,.=1.1 /I.o '\ = 0
5 x 0.80
o.=, / .""-.X, ,
4
I 93 2 , , "".,gK=I . 2 0 . 9 "~, " 0.79
9
3
J.o5 . ~ ' , J , / , ~ ~.L.2...........~,ll
or I o=~
/" .,'2~> i l . o " . /'o.'T2 . ._.~ 1.o= ..
/ v
p " o o l
0.82
:25..+ ~ /
12,1 /
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0,9 t.O I. I 1.2
Fxo. 37.--Relationshlp of Necking Elongation to Proportional Elongation for the Smooth Bars as a Function of Physical Elongation.
T h e figures
Copyright by ASTM Int'l (all rights reserved); Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011beside the points indicate the notch sensitivity of the notched b~rs.
tion at rupture along the abscissas. The these have the same effect as internal
notch sensitivity was plotted for the vari- notches, the notch sensitivity is again
ous points in Fig. 37, and by connecting reduced. The form of the graph in Fig.
points of equal notch sensitivity it was 37 is thus completely plausible. The ob-
possible to mark off areas in which the servations made with steel No. 1 and the
notch sensitivity rises to a greater or lesser tin-cadmium alloys can also be fitted into
extent. It must be pointed out, however, this general scheme, as there the elonga-
that the accuracy of these measurements tion values at rupture are large, so that
leaves something to be desired, as the the embrittlement is relatively slight.
determination of the proportional elonga-
tion on the basis of the curves of Kuntze, Detailed Discussion of the Individual Alloy
Uebel and Gentner may under some cir- Steels:
cumstances involve inexactitudes. In the The test results obtained with the in-
same way the determination of the notch dividual alloy steels are presented in Figs.
sensitivity is not possible with any great 23 to32, where the metals are arranged
accuracy in view of the few test results in order of increasing brittleness.
available for some of the steels. Steel No. 2 is the alloy which may be
The diagram can be interpreted as regarded as completely unaffected by
follows. The proportional elongation ~g is notching in the time under test (up to
greater when the creep process is due to about 15,000 hr). The cracks are very
a greater extent to deformation at the broad; they show traces of plastic defor-
grain boundaries, while the necking elon- mation at their edges and marked round-
gation 50 is principally caused by the ing in the bottom of the crack.
deformation of the crystals. The ratio Steel No. 3 is also little embrittled by
~0:~, corresponds approximately to the notches at test durations up to 1000 hr.
ratio of the deformation by the develop- It appears, however, that at longer times
ment of planes of slip to that by local precipitation takes place at the grain
slip processes. The pure elongation boundaries and leads to intercrystalline
plotted along the abscissas is a measure cracks, as can be gathered from the me-
of the capacity of the metal for deforma- tallographic sections. If we compare the
tion up to the time of rupture. The lower creep-test curve for smooth specimens of
the ratio ~e:~,, the more the n/etal will steel No. 2 with that of steel No. 3, we
be deformed by local nonhomogeneous see that after long testing times there is
processes of slip. If the total extensibility a drop in No. 3 as compared with No. 2,
also decreases, the rupture will be due to which must no doubt be ascribed to a
a greater extent to the slipping apart of weakness of the grain boundaries.
the grain boundaries. If we consider the
Steel No. 4 shows very little sensitivity
influence of the ratio ~e: ~g on notch sensi-
to notching at test durations of about
tivity at constant ~, w e can make the
1000 hr. The cracks are very broad in
following statement: At high values of
~o:~ the metal is not sensitive to notch- relation to their length. At test durations
ing; as the ratio becomes lower, the part of about 4000 hr the strength of the
played by local and grain-boundary elon- notched bars is no longer much superior
gation increases. We shall therefore ob- to that of the smooth specimens. The
serve an increase in brittleness. If the crack is also narrow in relation to its
ratio is further lowered, the metal will be length. It can be clearly observed, how-
more and more affected by grain-bound- ever, that the crack begins at the point
ary extensions in the interior, and as with the lowest sheer strain energy.
In steel No. 5 the strength of the so that in this case pronounced notch
notched specimens is approximately sensitivity is observed in the test with a
equal to that of the smooth ones. In the duration of 4200 hr. The fact that the
microscopic section the alloy shows very grain boundaries are not so gravely weak-
good behavior. The specimen with a test ened in the course of time as with the
duration of 2000 hr is interesting. It is preceding alloy is evident from the ab-
distinctly apparent here how cracks have sence of any drop in the creep-test curve
formed at the root of the notch and at after long testing times.
the point with the lowest sheer strain Steel No. 11 shows very marked notch
energy. sensitivity in the creep test. This is an
Steel No. 6 behaves similarly to steel alloy in which the planes of slip in the
No. 5 in the creep test, but the creep-test crystals are obviously blocked by pre-
figures lie about 30 per cent higher. Once cipitation, which results in high creep-
more the commencement of the crack test figures at short testing times, but in
can be distinctly observed in the vicinity which the grain boundaries are also weak-
of the root of the notch. ened by the precipitation, so that the
Steel No. 7 is also comparable to Nos. 5 ratio & :~, becomes unfavorable and the
and 6 in respect to notch sensitivity. The total capacity for deformation is at the
strength figures, however, lie about 30 to same time greatly reduced.
40 per cent below the values for steel No. Steel No. 17 is a typical example of a
6. It is clear that pronounced plastic steel in which cracks can be rounded out
deformation has occurred at the root of by creep.
the notch before the crack has been Steel No. 18, on the other hand, is a
formed. In the specimen with a test dura- type in which the ratio of grain-boundary
tion of about 2000 hr the crack also seems strength to crystallite deformation capac-
to have proceeded by stages, while the ity is very low, so that hair cracks form
microscopic sections show a certain tend- and may advance deep into the interior.
ency to the formation of cracks in the
interior. CONCLUSIONS
In steel No. 8 the grain boundaries
again seem to weaken with time, as can The tests described show that embrit-
be assumed from the rapid advance of tlement phenomena may occur in aus-
the very thin crack into the interior of tenitic steels at elevated temperatures.
the specimen. These phenomena depend on the dura-
Steel No. 9 is a typi.cal example of a tion of the test to rupture and are to a
metal having such weak grain boundaries large extent due to precipitation proc-
that the internal crystalline cracks esses. The strength of the grain bound-
greatly reduce the sensitivity to notch- aries also plays an important part in
ing. The weakening of the grain bound- the development of embrittlement. The
aries takes place only in the course of mechanisms involved are, however, not
testing, as appears from the big drop in as simple as has often been assumed,
the creep-test curve of the smooth speci- above all because precipitation may also
mens as compared with that of steel be influenced by the creep processes as
No. 2. appears from the investigations carried
At long testing times, steel No. 10 out with the tin-cadmium alloys.
behaves in a similar way. The weakening A certain connection was also revealed
of the grain boundaries is, however, not between the elongation values at rupture
as marked as with the preceding alloy, measured on smooth specimens in creep
130 SYMPOSIUM
tests and the embrittlement phenomena. plicated, being given approximately by

I n the case of the tin-cadmium alloys the conditions shown in Fig. 37.
and steel No. 1, the specimens of which The steels investigated yielded widely
broke in the creep test with very high varying elongation figures at rupture as
elongation values, a direct relationship a function of test duration. Figure 37
was established between the neck elonga- shows, however, that if we divide up the
tion and the notch sensitivity. The tests total elongation into proportional and
on austenitic steels at 600 C showed, necking elongation we can obtain clear
however, that in alloys with low elonga- relationships between the notch sensitiv-
tion at rupture the relationship of the ity and the elongation values of smooth
elongation figures is somewhat more corn- specimens in long-time creep tests.
REFERENCES
(1) W. Siegfried, "Essais de r6sistance de longue gen," Archly f. d. Eisenhaltenwesen, Vol. 6,

dure6, ~ la temp6rature ambiante sur des No. 10, p. 509 (1936).
epronvettes entaill6es en alliages d'6tain," (4) W. Siegfried, "Notch Sensitivity of Heat-
Revue de Metallurgie, February, 1953. Resisting Austenitic Steels," Symposium on
(2) W. Kuntze, "Kohiisionsfestigkeit Mitt. d. High-Temperature Steels and Alloys for
deutsch Materialprtifungsanstalten," Special Gas Turbines, Iron and Steel Institute,
Edition, Jul. Springer, Berlin (1932). Special Report No. 43, pp. 308-315 (1951).
(3) W. Kuntze, F. Uebel, and F. Gentner, "Um- (5) W. Kuntze, "Priiftechnische Bewertung yon
rechnung der im Zugversuch ermittalten Baustiihlen," Archiv figr das Eisenh~tten-
Bruchdehung auf andere Probenmesslitn wesen, Vol. 17, No. 5/6, p. 127 (1943).
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
T H E O R Y OF T I M E - D E P E N D E N T R U P T U R E AND I N T E R P R E T A T I O N OF
SOME STRESS-RUPTURE DATA
BY D. N. F~EY1
When considering the significance of as flow-induced rupture. Again there ap-

several types of elevated temperature pears to be no reason why this theory
rupture test results, the theory of such cannot be applied to time-dependent
rupture should be considered. This serves rupture o f a solid fracturing after plastic
as a rationale for the interpretation of flow. Freudenthal (3) has done this in
the test results and can lead to certain effect without, however, explaining how
more general conclusions. plastic flow leads to rupture.
The rupture of brittle solids has been It is proposed that the time-dependent
treated theoretically by Griffith (1)2 in rupture of a majority of steel and other
his widely quoted crack theory. Briefly, austenitic alloys over the temperature
Griffith said that rupture occurs when a range of interest in gas turbines (1000
microcrack reaches a critical size. At to 1800 F, say) may be considered as a
this size it takes less energy to increase composite process between the two
the surface of the crack than the elastic mechanisms outlined above. For rupture
energy stored around the crack as the taking place under relatively high
result of stress concentrations, and re- stresses, creep rates are usually high
leased as the crack is increased in size. enough to form the critical sized micro-
There appears to be no reason why this crack by plastic flow before subsized
theory cannot be applied to the time- microcracks present initially can grow
dependent rupture of any solid fracturing to critical size by random thermal oscil-
in a brittle manner. The time required lations. At low stresses on the other hand,
for fracture may be interpreted as time creep rates are usually so low that the
necessary for a microcrack to grow to subsized microcracks present initially
critical size by random thermal stress can grow to critical size by random ther-
concentrations. mal oscillations before there is any ap-
The elements of a theory for rupture preciable aid from dislocation condensa-
of ductile solids have been noted by tion. Thus short-time rupture is usually
Zener (2). It appears that the condensa- accompanied by larger ductilities than
tion of dislocations at some barrier as a long-time rupture.
result of plastic flow (creep, for example) The general concept of two mecha-
may result in a microcrack of critical nisms in elevated temperature rupture
size. This microcrack then grows in ac- is not new. Jenkins (4) and Grant, el al
cordance with the Griffith concept to (5), have proposed this as a result of
cause fracture. Rupture occurring by examining the fracture edges of a variety
this sequence of events can be considered of alloys. The author and Freeman (6)
also proposed such a two-stage theory
t Manager of Metallurgy, Scientific Laboratory, Ford
Motor Co. Dearborn, Mich. after examination of the fracture surfaces
The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the 1 st
of references appended to this paper, see p. 137. of the austenitic "super" alloy Inconel X.
131
Copyright
Copyright 9
by ASTM Int'lby
rights reserved); Fri Dec 30 www.astm.org
20:48:29 EST 2011
132 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY O~" M E T A L S
What is important, however, is that the properly part of this paper. Suffice it to
more detailed theory provides a rationale say that the precipitate particle spacing
for explaining the effects of at least one is probably, too large to l~ave the pre-
metallurgical variable, aging, on rupture cipitate particles act as efficient creep
test results. It also leads to a relationship barriers.
between notch effect on rupture time and An important point here, however, is
unnotched rupture ductility. that weakening of the creep resistance
i,ooI 10-3
"6
"6
~: // Ix
oJ
~ o/ 10- 4
r~
Aging Time,hr
Fla. 1.--Comparative Effects of Aging on Rupture and Creep Properties at 1200F of Solution-
Treated 16-25-6 Alloy.
EFFECT OF PRECIPITATION UPON and improvement of the rupthre resist-

RUPTURE TIME AND DUCTILITY ance mean that the useful ductility of the
Figure i shows the effect of aging at aged material is raised by precipitation.
1400 F prior to testing at 1200 F on the The explanation for this rather general
strength of solution-treated 16-25-6 at- phenomenon in austenitic alloys can be
loy3, while Fig. 2 shows typical struc- found within the rupture theories out-
tures of this alloy solution-treated and lined above.
solution-treated and aged. Precipitation Consider short-time (up to, say 500
from solid solution is evident. These are hr) flow-induced rupture in a single
unpublished data taken by Frey and phase alloy. Any metallurgical change
Freeman. which increases the rate of flow of dis-
From Fig. 1 it is evident that precipita- locations could be expected to shorten
tion had opposite effects on rupture time rupture time, other things being equal.
and creep resistance---the former being However, if the mode of dislocation con-
raised in general, and the latter being densation is changed at the same time
lowered. Similar results are found with no such correlation would necessarily
other non-precipitation creep-strength- follow.
ened alloys such as low carbon N 155 (7). One method of changing dislocation
The reason for lowering of the resist- condensation mode would be to intro-
ance to creep by precipitation is not duce precipitate particles. With such
particles acting as dislocation barriers,
Timken heat No. 17310 with composition 99 C 0 . 058 i the dislocations would not tend to collect
N 0.162, Si 0.54, P 0.025, S 0.618, Mn 1.82, Cr 16.84. Nt
26A8, Mo 6.60. at a common point (a grain houndary,
0
FIG. 2.--Typical Microstructures of Solution-Treated and Solution-Treated and Aged 16-25-6 Alloy.
F~
G~
134 SYMPOSIUM
for example), but would rather get chromium, become embrittled at ele-
"hung up" on various precipitate parti- vated temperatures after high tempera-
cle barriers along the way. Thus more ture solution treatment, not because of
creep or flow is needed for enough dis- grain growth but because of carbide
location condensation at one point to solution. He recommends that preven-
form the fatal microcrack. tion of carbide solution is desirable from
The results of Fig. 1 can now be inter- a toughness standpoint.
preted as follows: the reduction in creep One final point can be made: as rupture
strength due to precipitation can be time is increased by reduction of stress,
~80000~ ~~~-
, oooo 1 j Ill
1 4 0 0 0 0 ~ ~
, oooo I II r-- U n n o t c h e d
60000 L 9 ~
,oooo i TI I I III
20000[ I I III I I I t I I I II
o 60 " " Unnotched
g a o ~
~ zo
0 O.I I.O IO IO 0 I000
Rupture T,me, hr
Fxo. 3.--Stress-Rupture Characteristics,at 500 C, of 0.12 C, 0.7 Cr, 1.6 Ni, 0.8 Mo Steel,Quenched
and Tempered.
expected to reduce rupture time, other the rupture mechanism changes over to
things being equal. However, the intro- one that is usually not flow-induced.
duction of precipitate particles scatters Further, the metallurgical changes which
out dislocation condensation to the ex- vary the behavior of dislocations and the
tent tkat the needed extra amount of flow-induced rupture characteristics may
flow for formation of the critical size not necessarily have an effect on long-
microcrack results in significant increase time brittle rupture. Families of stress
in rupture life. rupture curves formed by systematic
A somewhat complementary picture, variation of some metallurgical factor
that of reduction of useful ductility with (aging time for example) frequently come
solution of precipitates, or extra phases, together as the rupture time increases.
has also begn noted by Thielsch (8). One can tentatively conclude from this
Thielsch found that chromium-iron that the truly brittle rupture character-
alloys containing 12 to 16 per %ent istics of a solid may be relatively little
FREY ON STRESS RUPTURE 135
affected by common metallurgical factors the unnotched ductility was much over
which vary short-time, flow-induced 5 per cent, the notch acted to strengthen
rupture. the specimen (see Fig. 3).
Brown (10) went somewhat further
EFFECT OF CIRCUMFERENTIAL NOTCHES and proposed that the ductility-notch
ON ELEVATED TEMPERATURE sensitivity relation was due to a pre-
RUPTURE STRENGTH cipitation reaction taking place during
Typical effects of circumferential the rupture test, such reaction being an
notches on elevated temperature rupture "embrittling" one.
-,-- F ~ ; Induced Froc/ure

Z
No c S t r e n g t h e n e d [ .._ Transihon----"
True Brittle Fracture
Notch Weakened " ~
-Unnotched Stress-Rupture
Unnotched.~._,~.
a/iOn
Rupture T~me,hr
FIo. 4.--Typical Notched-Unnotched Stress-Rupture Curves with Controlling Rupture Mech-
anism Indicated.
strength are shown on Fig. 3 (9). A It would appear, however, that a more
transition from notch strengthening to fundamental and less ambiguous explana-
notch weakening is evident. Other typical tion can be found in the two theories of
cases occur where only notch strength- rupture at elevated temperatures out-
ening or notch weakening is found, out lined above.
to the longest time of testing (between Consider the effects of the triaxial
1000 and 10,000 hr). stress system present at the notch upon
Brown (1o) has correlated with some the two types of fracture.
success the weakening or strengthening The general effects of notch triaxiality
effects of notches with the ductility of on plastic flow are well known. The tri-
an unnotched specimen breaking at the axiality acts to increase the resistance to
same time. He found that whenever the plastic flow since hydrostatic tension
unnotched ductility fell below 5 per cent present at the base of a notch does not
or so, the effect of a notch was to reduce cause flow (11). Stated in other words,
the rupture time. Conversely, whenever the radial and tangential stresses im-
136 SYMPOSIUI~ ON STENGTI-I AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
posed by the notch act to reduce the This acts to reduce the amount of notch
effectiveness of the axial stress to cause strengthening. It thus appears that any
plastic flow. This is despite the fact that simple calculation based on initial ge-
the axial stress is concentrated near the ometry of the degree of notch strength-
notch. ening will give the maximum notch
One can thus conclude that when rup- strengthening which in practice might
ture at elevated temperatures is flow- not be achieved.
induced, the effect of a notch is to In the stress range when rupture is
increase the time for rupture since the truly brittle in nature and when there is
rate of flow is reduced by the above notch weakening, calculation of the de-
argument. gree of weakening appears possible from
On the other hand, when rupture at knowledge of the longitudinal stress con-
elevated temperatures occurs in a truly centration.
brittle manner, a notch can be expected
to reduce the time for rupture. In this CONCLUSIONS
case the concentration of axial stress at I. Time-dependent rupture has been
the base of the notch is not "compen- shown to be reasonably considered as
sated for" by the radial and tangential two types of processes. At short times
stress components, since fracture can and high stresses rupture is flow-induced.
take place under conditions of hydro- That is, dislocations which are put in
static tension. motion and then stopped by various
As was noted before, flow induced types of barriers, condense and form a
fractures can be distinguished from microcrack of critical size, which can
truly "brittle" fractures by the elonga- grow by Griffith theory. At long times
tion at fracture. It does not appear un- and low stresses where creel) is neglig~le,
reasonable to assume, therefore, that rupture is of a truly brittle nature. Here
Brown's ductility criteria for the notch microcracks initially present in the lat-
effect really differentiates between flow tice have enough time to grow by random
induced rupture and true brittle rupture. thermal oscillations to critical size.
Taken together, the above arguments 2. The increased time to rupture as a
state that in the high rupture ductility result of precipitation with rather large
regions on the stress-rupture plot, where spacings ( > 10-5 cm) in austenitic alloys
fracture is flow-induced, the triaxiality proves to be explainable by the above
of the stress system set up by a notch theories. The improvement results from
strengthens the material; in the low introduction of many condensation cen-
ductility region, fracture is the brittle ters (rather than just grain boundaries,
type and the axial stress concentration for example). With many condensation
at base of the notch reduces the fracture centers more creep must take place be-
time. This is summarized in Fig. 4. fore sufficient dislocations condense o n
In the stress range when rupture is any one center to form the critical size
flow (creep) induced, and where there is microcrack.
notch strengthening, the increase in rup- 3. The opposite effects of circumfer-
ture life could perhaps be calculated ential notches on time to rupture at
from knowledge of the deviator stresses. short and long times also appears ex-
However, as a result of creep, the ge- plainable on the basis of the above
ometry of the notch changes and in such theories. Notch strengthening at short
a direction as to reduce the severity of times follows from the restriction such
the notch or the degree of triaxiality. a notch has on creep and consequent dis-
FREY ON STRESS RUPTURE 137
location condensation. N o t c h weakening Acknowledgment:

a t long times (low stresses) follows from T h e a u t h o r wishes to t h a n k the N a -
the stress concentration a t the root of
tional A d v i s o r y C o m m i t t e e for Aero-
the notch. M a t e r i a l s having flow-induced
nautics for p a s t sponsorship under their
fractures a t b o t h short and long times
will obviously be notch-strengthened a t research p r o g r a m on the f u n d a m e n t a l s
b o t h time periods, while materials hav- of high-temperature m e t a l l u r g y at the
ing true brittle fractures at long and University of Michigan. Under this pro-
short times will be uniformly notch- gram much of the content of this p a p e r
weakened. was formulated.
REFERENCES
(1) A. A. Griffith, "The Phenomena of Rup- (7) D. N. Frey, J. W. Freeman and A. E.
ture and Flow in Solids," Physical Trans- White, "Fundamental Effects of Aging on
actions, Royal Soc. of London, Vol. 221, Creep Properties of Solution-Treated, Low
p. 163 (1920). Carbon N155"AHoy,'' Nat. Advisory Com-
(2) C. Zener, "The Micromechanism of Frac- mittee for Aeronautics, Report I001,
ture," Fracture of Metals (1948). (1950).
(3) A. M. Freudenthal, "Inelastic Behavior of
(8) Helmut Thielsch, "High Temperature
Engineering Materials and Structures,"
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, Embrittlement in Chromium-Iron Alloys
N. Y., pp. 368-374 (1951). Containing 1-16 percent Chromium,"
(4) J. H. M. Jenkins, "The Fracture of Met- Metallurgia, Vol. 44, No. 265, November,
als," Institute of Metallurgists, London 1951.
(1948). (9) Erich Siebel, "Priifung von Stahlen auf
(5) N. J. Grant and Italo Servi, "Creep and Verspodung bei hoheren Temperaturen,"
Stress Rupture Behavior of Aluminum as Arch. f. d. Eisenhattenw., Jahrg 13, Neff
a Function of Purity," Journal of Metals, 9, Marz, 1940, s 387-396. (quoted by
Vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 909-916 (1951). Brown, Reference 10).
(6) D. N. Frey, J. W. Freeman, and A. E.
White, "Fundamental Aging Effects In- (10) W. Brown and G. Sachs, Nat. Advisory
fluencing High Temperature Properties of Committee for Aeronautics, Technical
Solution-Treated Iconel-X," Nat. Ad- Note 2433 (1951).
visors Committee for Aeronautics, Tech- (11) M. Gensamer, "The Strength of Metals."
nical Note 2385 (1951). Am. Soc. Metals (1941).
DISCUSSION
MESSRS. W. F. BROWN, JR., 1 D. P. then increasing to 9.1 per cent at 80,000

NEWMAN,1 AND GEORGE SACHS~ (pre- hr to rupture. The same effects are shown
sented in written ]orm).--Mr. Frey has for several alloys by Brown, Jones, and
presented an interesting attempt to ex- Newman 5 when the reduction of area is
plain some of the complex phenomena measured. We should ~like to ask Mr.
observed in stress-rupture tests on heat- Frey to explain such trends on the basis
resistant alloys using certain concepts of of his theory.
the dislocation and Griffith microcrack We understand him to propose that
theories. On the basis of our limited when rupture is flow-induced precipitate
knowledge, it appears to us that he sim- particles will trap dislocations at widely
plified the actual relations to such an scattered points and that therefore more
extent that they do not agree with the flow will be required to generate a crack
established facts. of critical size. We should like to ask
I t is our understanding that Mr. Frey Mr. Frey if the room temperature defor-
proposes that at low stresses~ creep rates mation of materials such as encountered
are so low that initially present micro- in tension tests on steels and heat treat-
cracks grow to critical size primarily by able aluminum alloys leads to flow-in-
thermal oscillations. This would require duced rupture. If this is the case, then
a continuous decrease in the rupture duc- how would he explain the well-known
tility with decreasing stress. However, it loss in ductility associated, for instance,
has been shown in numerous papers that with the aging of duralumin?
both the elongation and the reduction of Mr. Frey attempts to relate the em-
area at fracture in a stress-rupture test brittlement of ferritic stainless steels re-
may pass through distinct minima with sulting from an increase in the quenching
increasing rupture time. This has been temperature to reduction in the amount
reported for the elongation by Clark and of precipitate and the consequent effects
Freeman 3 for low-alloy 0.5 Mo steels and on the scattering out of dislocation con-
by Richard 4 for a 0.11 C, 1.58 Ni, 0.72 densation. I t should be pointed out that
Cr, 0.88 Mo steel. This latter steel is Thielsch 6 offers two explanations for the
very similar to the one in the author's observed embrittlement: segregation of
Fig. 3. Richard shows elongation values carbon atoms arrayed relative to the
at 500 C decreasing from 14 per cent at ferrite matrix and the formation of small
0.1 hr to 0.33 per cent at 1000 hr and amounts of martensite on cooling. Any
1 Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, National Ad-
visory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio. W. F. Brown Jr., M. H. Jones, and D. P. Newman,
~Director of Metallurgical Research, Institute of "Influence of Sharp Notches on the Stress-Rupture Char-
Industrial Research Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y.
C. L. Clark and J. W. Freeman, E1 ruination of the acteristics of Several Heat-Resisting Alloys," see p. 25.
Apparent Hot Brittleness of 0.50 Mo Steel," Transactions, Helmut Thielsch, "High Temperature Embrittlement
Am. Soc. for Metals Dec., 1942, pp. 1284-1302. in Chromium-Iron Alloys Containing 1-16 per cent Chro-
4 K. Richard, Private Commun cation, 1952. mium," Metallurgia, Vol. 44, No. 265, Nov., 1951.
138
D I S C U S S I O N ON S T R E S S R U P T U R E 139
hypothesis must also be able to account sharpnesses of from 4 to 6 are exceeded.

for the pronounced maxima in the hard- We feel that the loss of notch strengthen-
ness and tensile strength at quenching ing with reduction in rupture stress can
temperatures between 1800 and 2000 F best be explained by changes in the
and for the associated rise in elongation stress-strain characteristics of the mate-
and impact energy in this range. rial and possibly by progressive cracking
We should also like to ask Mr. Frey at the notch root.
what he considers to be ambiguous about In conclusion, we do not understand
our use of the phenomena of precipitation how Mr. Frey's explanation for notch
to explain the notch-rupture behavior of weakening, which also attributes it to a
heat-resisting low-alloy steels. stress concentration, cannot be equally
Regarding Mr. Frey's discussion of the well explained by the well-known em-
notch test, we would like to point out brittling phenomena of a precipitation.
that his consideration of a radial stress MR. J. GLEN1~ (by letter).--It is sug-
at the base of a notch is contrary to the gested in this paper that the theory put
accepted fact that no stress exists perpen- forward is applicable to the majority of
dicular to a free surface. steels and other austenitic alloys. It is
Regarding his statement that when not therefore quite clear from the word-
rupture is flow-induced notch strengthening whether the steels must be of the
ing would be reduced by creep flow be- austenitic type or whether the theory is
cause the sharpness is reduced, we would also applicable to ferritic steel.
like to point out some results obtained Perhaps the most important problem
by Fried and Sachs 7 and discussed by in relation to rupture tests is the question
Brown and Sachs. s These results for room of aging. In Fig. 1 the author shows that
temperature tests on an extremely ductile precipitation had opposite effects on rup-
boiler steel show that the decrease in ture time and creep resistance, the rup-
notch sharpness by plastic flow is not ture time being increased and the creep
sufficient to reduce appreciably the rate decreased. All these tests however
strengthening effect for a notch-ductile were carried out at 1200 F and a stress
material. Thus, a notch with an initial of 40,000 psi and the tests were of com-
sharpness of 125 is reduced by a 20-per parative short duration. In longer time
cent reduction of area to a sharpness of tests surely precipitation would occur
4 or 5. Such a change in notch sharpness during the actual testing and would cause
alters the notch-strength ratio very little a significant change in the results. If
and consequently the strengthening ef- precipitation during straining does occur,
fect is maintained. Such a conclusion can it is very difficult to explain all the ob-
also be obtained by considering the reserved facts of rupture testing on the
sults of Dana, Aul, and Sachs, 9 also dis- basis of the theory given in this paper.
cussed by Brown and Sachs 8 who show It might be added that precipitation dur-
that the triaxility for notch ductile met- ing testing occurs very readily in ferritic
als increases only slightly after notch steels and there does not seem any reason
7 M. L. Fried and G. Sachs, "Notched Bar Tension to doubt that it also occurs in austenitic
Tests on Annealed Carbon Steel Specimens of Various steels.
Sizes and Contours," Symposium on Deformation of Met-
als as Related to Forming and Service, Am. Soc. Testing MR. D. N. FREu (author).--Messrs.
Mats., p. 83 (1948). (Issued as A S T M S T P No. g7)
8 W. Brown and G. Sachs, National Advisory Com- Brown, Newman, and Sachs first raise six
mittee for Aeronautics, Technical Note 2433 (1951).
9A. W. Dana, E. L. Aul, and G. Sachs, "Tension questions; next present some additional
Properties of Aluminum Alloys in the Presence of Stress-
Raisers. I--The Effects of Triaxial Stress States on the
Fracturing Characteristics of 24ST," NACA TN 1830 x0Research Department, Colvilles Ltd., Motherwell,
(1949). Scotland.
data; and finally raise a last question. the paper) and to produce a brittle type
These will be answered in order. fracture.
To the first question, in regard to min- Now consider the data on the ferritic
imum elongation at rupture, one might stainless materials quoted by Mr. Brown
add another material that does the same and by the author. A reader is free to
thing, markedly, and that is the 16-25-6 accept either of Mr. Thielsch's explana-
alloy considered in the paper. There is tions for the embrittlement. The author
nothing in the theory outlined in the prefers the former because of reasons
paper to prohibit such a thing at all. In cited in the paper under discussion. As
the paper it was said ill general that as to the maxima in hardness and tensile
the rupture time increases, the amount of strength as well as in elongation and
creep that takes place decreases to the impact energy in the 1800 to 2000 F
point where you are no longer aiding the range, the theory outlined and under
imperfections in their growth towards discussion does not purport to explain
critical size. But for those cases where these effects but only the effects arising
rupture elongation goes up after certain from disappearance of the carbon parti-
rupture time periods, the theory says cles with still higher heat treatment tem-
only that the creep process must once peratures.
more be aiding rupture. This makes some
sense in one case at least, namely, N155
alloy compared with 16-25-6 alloy. ~ Ittotched
If one compares N155 and alloy and Vnnotched

16-25-6 alloy, one will find that the 16- 0
25-6 alloy has at lower stresses higher
creep rates than N155. Also, correspond-
ing to that, N155 alloy has a decrease
with time of the rupture elongation out
to the time periods examined, something Log T
over 1000 hr. The 16-25-6 alloy on the Fig. 5.
other hand shows a minimum in rupture
elongation. This shows that with 16-25-6 Hardness was mentioned showing a
as the rupture time is increased--and maximum. In regard to hardness alone,
the author cannot think of a better way I wish to point out here the additional
of saying it--the amount of creep catches fact that if you consider Timken alloy,
up to the point where you are aiding the once again, as the creep resistance of
rupture process by the creep itself. that material decreases, the hardness
One can differentiate between those goes up none the less. Hardness measured
two alloys still within the framework of at room temperature bears no relation-
the theory outlined. ship that we can find to the properties
Now, as far as room temperature ten- of the material at elevated temperatures.
sile data is concerned, I wish to point Next, the author regrets the use of the
out that at such a temperature fracture word ambiguity in the paper. However,
again can be either brittle or flow in- when you say yon have precipitation
duced. In the case of duralumin, fracture embrittlement, what is the mechanism?
of material aged to maximum strength is I t is believed that we can go one step
pretty sure to become the brittle type. further and say the reason precipitation
In this case the precipitate particles are does embrittle something is that it shifts
spaced close enough to raise the resist- the position at which the unnotched and
ance to flow (this point is mentioned in the notched rupture curves cross. Fig-
DISCUSSION ON STRESS RUPTURE 141
ure 5 illustrates this for two temper- notch-ductile material. The author is
atures. glad to know that. The question was
At some relatively low temperature T1 raised on the original paper as to whether
the curves cross at a longer time than at creep did alter the strengthening or not.
some higher temperature T2. It can be It now appears that the question is an-
said from this that at temperature T2, swered, which makes any theoretical cal-
at which it is assumed precipitation has culation based upon these remarks some-
occurred, the material is embrittled. The what easier.
reason offered for this--and it is claimed In closing the discussion of Mr.
that the reasoning is more definite--is Brown's remarks, the author believes
that the precipitation process in this case that explanations of the sort offered in
raises the creep strength to the point the paper are necessary to arrive at the
where the brittle fracture region of the fundamental causes of notched behavior
material occurs at shorter time periods. in the rupture test. Use of the term
Stated in other words, the flow-induced "precipitation embrittlement" does not
fracture region is shifted to shorter times adequately do this. It only restates the
by precipitation. problem.
The fifth question concerns the pres- In answer to Mr. Glen it is intended
ence of radial stress. I t is of course recog- that the theory presented should be ap-
nized that radial stress is zero at the plicable to both ferritic and austenitic
surface. The statement was made that materials. I t further admitted that pre-
only a portion of the bar is at anything cipitation occurs, especially during long-
approaching hydrostatic tension. It is time tests, in both austenitic and ferritic
believed that such a portion of the bar steels. However, it is believed that such
within the surface is important, and it is precipitation does not alter the theory
upon such a region that the argument presented in the paper. If during the
hinges. course of a rupture test precipitation
Mr. Brown makes the point that the occurs it can either make a fracture more
creep which takes place during the time or less brittle in nature according to
of the rupture test does not significantly whether it raises the creep resistance or
change the notch strengthening in a aids in preventing crack growth by flow.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
T H E E F F E C T OF GRAIN SIZE UPON T H E FATIGUE P R O P E R T I E S AT 80,

1200 AND 1600 F OF " P R E C I S I O N CAST" ALLOY X-40
BY P. R. TOOLIN~
SYNOPSIS
The effect of variation in the pouring temperature on the bending fatigue
properties of "precision-cast" fatigue specimens of alloy X-40 when tested at
room temperature, 1200 F, and 1600 F, is reported. The average unnotched
fatigue strength of the low-pouring-temperature fine-grained material, is ap-
preciably superior to that of the high-pouring-temperature material at room
temperature and at 1200 F but only slightly superior at 1600 F. At all tempera-
tures, the variation between the notched fatigue strengths of the two is less
than for the unnotched. The notch sensitivity of carefully ground notches was
greater at 1200 F than at either room temperature or 1600 F, where it was
very small. Machined notches have higher fatigue strengths at room tempera-
ture and 1200 F than carefully ground notches. Some tensile strengths are
also reported.
"Precision-casting" or "investment- fully ground notches and with machined

casting" has the intrinsic advantage that notches. The allow which is variously
complicated shapes can be reproduced known as alloy X-40, AMS 5382, or Stel-
readily from alloys which may be difficult lite No. 31, has been used throughout this
to form mechanically. However, these paper. This alloy is frequently used com-
castings often have large variations in mercially for high-temperature compon-
grain size both within the individual cast- ents, of which perhaps the best known is
ings and from casting to casting. This the rotating gas-turbine blade. While
paper is in the nature of a progress report, grain size is used throughout this paper
and it presents the results of one phase of as the variable, it should be noted ~kat
a program now in progress to study the variation in grain size is only the most
fatigue properties of precision-cast high- obvious metallurgical change which re-
temperature alloys. This phase is the sults from variations in pouring tempera-
effect of these grain size variations upon ture or cooling rate or both.
the fatigue properties of such materials.
The fatigue strength, unnotched and PREVIOUS WORK
notched, has been studied at room tem- The effect of variation in pouring and
perature, 1200, and 1600 F. At 1200 F, mold temperature on the creep-rupture
a comparison has also been made of the life (unnotched) of precision-cast speci-
fatigue strengths of specimens with care- mens has been reported by N. J. Grant
(1).2 Reference (2) contains fatigue test
LResearch Engineer, Westinghouse Research Labora- 2 T h e boldface numbers in p~trentheses refer to the list
tories, East Pittsburgh, Pa. of references appended to this paper, see p. 159.
142
Copyright
Copyright 9 Int'lby
by ASTM (allASTM Intemational
Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
TOOLIN ON EFFECT OF GRAIN SIZE ON FATIGUE 143
data on precision-cast 6059 alloy speci- ments on the fatigue strength of S-816
mens having two grain sizes; the fine- and Timken 16-25-6 at room temperature
structured material had superior fatigue and 1200 F.
strength at both 1200 and 1500 F. At room temperature, in general, fine-
The effect of a notch, a radial hole, grained wrought steels show superior fa-
upon the fatigue strength of an austen- tigue strengths. However, Peterson (6)
itic cast iron at temperatures up to 1160 F has shown that the notch sensitivity of
FI~. 1.--Illustrations of Grain Sizein Fatigue Specimens;Cross-Sections( >(5), Specimens( X 1).

(A = fine g r a i n m a t e r i a l ; B = l e a s t course; C = m o s t course.)
has been investigated by W. L. Collins steels increases as the grain size de-
(3), who has also reported similar tests creases.
for a high-strength cast iron in a preced- Rusk and Phillips (7) found that at
ing paper. room temperature both the fatigue
Range-of-stress tests at 450 and 600 C strengths and tensile strengths of two
on unnotched and notched specimens of cast magnesium alloys, C and H, in-
three austenitic alloys have been reported creased as the grain size diminished.
by Cornelius and Schmidt (4). However, the fatigue notch sensitivity of
Jones and Wilkes (S) studied the effect H alloy increased as the grain size in-
of notches and of various notch treat- creased, while that for C alloy behaved
144 SYMPOSIUM
in the opposite manner. The maximum fatigue strength at room temperature of

grain size was about 0.03-in. diameter-- wrought alpha brass has been investi-
FIG. 2.--Illustrations of Structure and Fatigue Fractures (X 75), (a) Fine and (b) Coarse, Tested
at 80 F, (c) Fine and (d) Coarse, Tested at 1600 F.
much smaller than the largest to be dealt gated by Sinclair and Craig (8), who
with in this paper. found the fatigue strength to increase as
The effect of grain size variation on the the grain size decreased.
MATERIAL Casting:
Composition: The specimens were precision-cast by
the Precision Casting Section, Materials
Alloy X-40 has been used for all the Engineering Department of the Westing-
tests reported herein. To prevent varia- house Electric Corp., East Pittsburgh,
tion of analysis to as great an extent as Pa., with the casting problems being
possible, essentially all specimens were overcome by the invaluable efforts of E.
cast from one master heat. The chemical H. Stetson, Jr., Metallurgical Engineer,
analysis, in per cent, of this master heat who supervised this phase of the work.
500
0
j~m=
A n IE ~1 .... o O
400
d
O
,v"
300 r
o
IF)
200
1200 F 1600F
"o o 9 Fine Groin
o
-r I00 a 9 Coarse Groin
,oo 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Time ot T e m p e r a t u r e , Hr.
FZG.3.--Aging Curves for Alloy X-40.
was: 0.50 C, 0.22 Mo, 0.82 Fe, 0.48 Mn, Grain Size:
0.005 P, 0.82 Si, 10.8 Ni, 25.1 Cr, 7.42
The fatigue specimens were cast, in
W, 53.6 Co. Analyses performed on speci-
lots of eleven, in molds which were at a
ments have indicated that there is no
temperature of 1000 C. The grain size
appreciable change in composition from
variation was obtained by varying the
that of the master heat. The carbon con-
pouring temperature from 1400 to 1575
tent was checked on three molds and
C, as determined with an optical pyrom-
found to vary less than 0.04 per cent
eter. Thus this paper presents only the
from the original value.
results of varying the pouring tempera-
The majority of the molds had 0.25
ture and not those which might be due
per cent silicon added to the melt in the
to variations in the mold temperature
precision-casting furnace, but this was (1). The range of grain size obtained is
omitted in some molds. However, there illustrated in Fig. 1. The specimens have
does not appear to be any effect attribut- been divided, for this report into two
able to this omission; or if there is, it is groups--fine and coarse. "Fine" is used
masked by the scatter resulting from to designate specimens having grains up
other causes. to a maximum of 0.05-in. diameter on the~
146 SYMI,OSlt~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
specimen surface and "coarse" to desig- hardness), 50 kg Vickers, with a tendency

nate specimens having grains larger than for the fine-grained ones to average about
this. The grain size was determined by 5 points higher and for the coarse to be
etching the specimens before they were about 5 points lower than this over-all
ground to their final diameter. average. The effect of time-at-tempera-
Figure 1 shows photomacrographs of ture on the hardness of X-40 is illustrated
the specimen, A being representative of in Fig. 3. The hardness readings were
the fine-grained material, B being from taken on the clamping section of the
the finest lot that was considered coarse, specimens where the stress is relatively
and C being at the upper end of the low. Some data were obtained by giving
i i 1
120000 __--0'303 Root D i a ~ O . O l 5 R.
o Unnotched, Fine Grain
IIOO00 9 Notched, Fine Groin
D Unnotched, Coarse Groin
I00000 9 Notched, Coarse Groin
* These Specimens Developed
90000 Small Surface Crocks o1 the
Bose of lhe Notch, See Texl.
~ - - 4.750
80000
Io~ o o o
-70000
%
- 60000 o ~ Machined Notch
Fine Grain
50000
zo 4 0 0 0 0 - - "1 . . . . ~-. . . . -L
30000
!
20000'
I0000
i04 iO5 i06 107 2X 107 i08 I09

Cycles to Fodure
FIG. 4.--S-N Curves, Precision-Cast Alloy X-40 at Room Temperature, Unnotched and Notched.
coarse grain range. Cross-sections taken additional aging to some specimens. The
near the critical section of the specimens aging curves for the metal at the regions
are shown in As, B2, and C2. Figure 2 of maximum alternating strain may differ
shows photomicrographs of fine and somewhat from these, as the hardness
coarse-grained material as cast and after tends to increase at a greater rate where
test at 1600 F. This program thus en- the material is subjected to alternating
compasses grains ranging from relatively strain.
minute ones, for cast material, of 0.01-in. At 1200 F, the hardness does not reach
or less diameter to ones which fill half of a maximum within 800 hr, although at
a 89 diameter cross-section. the longer times the hardening is pro-
ceeding at a decreasing rate. There ap-
Hardness: pears to be a tendency for the average
The as-cast hardness of alt specimens hardness of the coarse-grained specimens
averaged 290 D P H (diamond pyramid to be higher than that of the fine, which
TOOLIN oN EFFECT OF GRAIN SIZE ON FATIGUE 147
is a reversal of the as-cast relationship. non-rotating cantilever which, for these

A maximum average of about 400 D P H tests, was subjected to completely re-
is reached in roughly 50 hr at 1600 F. versed bending at a frequency of 7200
I t is advantageous, of course, that this cpm. The nominal stresses were calcu-
alloy does not rapidly overage at 1600 lated by normal elastic beam theory, with
F. the room temperature dimensions being
used. The test temperatures were deter-
Specimens: mined by a thermocouple spot welded to
The specimens were precision cast ap- the specimen on the neutral axis at the
proximately 0.03 in. oversize on the di- critical section. This allowed the speci-
ameter and were finished to the final size men temperature to be kept near the test
shown in Fig. 4 by grinding and polish- temperature at the start of the high-
ing. The unnotched specimens were stress tests where the specimen tends to
ground with a 4-in. diameter GA 120-06- overheat for a time. All elevated-temper-
V 10 wheel rotating, 5200 rpm, at right ature specimens were left at the test
angles to the axis of the specimen, while temperature overnight before the fatigue
the specimen rotated at 300 rpm. For the test was started. They thus received a 15
final cuts the longitudinal feed was main- to 18 hr stabilization at the test tempera-
tained at 0.0015 in. per revolution while ture.
the infeed was reduced in steps from The criterion of failure that has been
0.012 to 0.005 to 0.002 in. on the radius. used is that a fatigue crack should de-
A coolant was used at all times. The velop to such size, normally less than
specimens were then polished in turn 0.1-in. penetration, that it will cause the
with 180, 400, and 600 grit abrasive. The automatic-shut-down feature of the fa-
final polishing marks were longitudinal. tigue machine to operate.
The notched specimen is geometrically
FATIGUE TEST RESULTS
similar to the above except for a semi-
circular groove of 0.015 in. radius and Unnotched and Notched Specimens Tested
0.015 in. depth. An A-80-V2-BT wheel, at Room Temperature:
6-in. diameter, rotating at 5200 rpm was At room temperature, the specimens
used to grind this notch. The specimen tested had either fine grains or grains
was rotated at 1100 rpm with opposite considerably larger than B of Fig. 1. The
rotation to the grinding wheel. A coolant
S-N curves for both unnotched and
was also used here. The wheel was fed notched tests are shown in Fig. 4. At 20
in at a rate of 0.000006 in. per revolution
million 4 cycles, the average fatigue
of the specimen. The notch was not pol- strength for the unnotched fine-grained
ished after grinding. This notch has a specimens is about 55,000 psi, while that
stress concentration factor, Kt, of 2.27 as
for the coarse is 22 per cent less, or about
taken from Peterson's K t curves (9), 43,000 psi.
which were derived from Neuber's work. For the notched specimens at room
temperature, Fig. 4, the same criterion of
FATIGUE TEST PROCEDURE failure has been used as elsewhere, but
The fatigue testswere made in West- the behavior of the specimens at the low
inghouse High-Temperature Fatigue Ma- stress end of the S-N curve is somewhat
chines Type M D ) These are repeated- anomalous. While, as noted on the curve,
bending machines, the specimen being a small surface cracks developed, these did
A description of this machine is given by Toolin and 4 All elevated temperature data will be reported at
Mochel (2). 100 million cycles.
148 SYMPOSlU~
ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
not progress inward enough (normally face was discontinuously cracked for a
0.05 to 0.10 in.) to alter the natural fre- chordal length of about 0.23 in., after
quency of the system by the amount re- which the surface showed no further
quired to cause the fatigue machines to change. At 24 million cycles a small
shut down. Therefore, in Fig. 4 these crack appeared at the other maximum
tests have been designated as nonfailures. stress point, but this crack never became
The time at which these cracks started wider than 0.06 in. Later another crack
on the fine-grained specimens is not 0.02-in. long formed with its end 0.02 in.
known, but their lack of further progres- from the first. The natural frequency of
sion at the 100 million cycle region was the system was checked periodically and
noted. The fine-grained specimen which the lack of sizeable change in this indi-
did not fail during its initial run of 100 cated that the cracks did not progress
million cycles at 37,000 psi, was turned further into the specimen.
TABLE I . - - F A T I G U E P R O P E R T I E S OF ALLOY X 4 0 .
'Fatigue Notch
Notch
Fatigue Strength a Factor, KIb Sensitivity i FatigueRat o
Factor, qC
Test Temperature Specimen Type
Ratio o
Fine, d Coarse, d Coarse Fine
psi psi to Fine,
Coarse Fine Coarse Fine Coarse
_ _ per cen~
Room Temperature . . . . Unnotched 55 000 43 000 78 0.51 0.47

Notched [ 40 000 36 000 e 90 6:36 6:ii e 0.37
1200 F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unnotched 57 000 I 49 000 86 .... I 0.61 0.59
Notched 36 000 36 000 i00 i.s8 i:~6 o:i6 0.28 /o.41
Machined Notch 52 000 e 48 000 e 92 e 1.10 e 0.988 0"08e--0"02e I . . . .
1600 F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :, Unnotched ~/31ooo/ 97

Notched [29 ooo i29 o00/ lOO i:i6 i:6~
a Room temperature fatigue properties are based on 2 X 10~ cycles, 1200 and 1600 F on 10a cycles.
b Kf = tmnotched fatigue strength divided by notched fatigue strength.
Kf -- 1
Cq= K~--I"
d Fine and coarse are used to designate fine-grMned and coarse-grMned, respectively.
6 Based on a limited amount of data.
90 deg and retested at a nominal stress of Room temperature tests on as-ground

42,000 psi for 120 million cycles. This unnotched specimens and on ground and
specimen was then manually broken polished ones have not indicated any
apart and it was found to have cracks at large difference between the mean fatigue
all four points of maximum stress. None lives of the two, but if there should be a
of these had progressed inward more than high residual stress left by the careful
about 0.01 in. Because of its unorthodox grinding of the notch, one could assume
nature this second run is not plotted on that the crack penetrated only through
Fig. 4. The fine-grained specimen at the shell of material containing this re-
40,000 psi had also developed surface sidual stress. However, A. J. Fenner, et al.
cracks at the time the test was stopped. (10) have observed a similar phenomenon
When this specimen was sectioned and in axially-loaded specimens of mild steel
examined microscopically the same lack having machined Vee notches with a
of crack penetration was observed. 0.002-in. root radius. They report finding
In the case of the coarse-grained speci- very small cracks at the base of these
men which " r a n out," a small crack was notches when tested at a nominal stress
observed at 250,000 cycles, this proof less than one half the fatigue limit, for
gressed and others started until the sur- the same notch, as determined with com-
plete fracture as the criterion of failure. having a machined notch indicates that
References (11) and (12) also contain re- the fatigue strength of such notches
sults which will be of interest to those would be decidedly superior to that for
who wish to pursue this further. ground notches. A crack large enough to
The room temperature results are sum- shut the machine down developed in this
marized in Table I. I t is noteworthy that machined notch.
while the fine-grained specimens have a
decided superiority in the case of the Unnotched Specimens Tested at 1200 F:
unnotched specimens, this superiority is The results of the fatigue tests a t
considerably less where a stress-raiser is 1200 F on the unnotched specimens are
120000
I j I J I I
o Unnotched, Fine Groin
II 0 0 0 0
A Unnotched, Coarse Groin, Type B Fig. I
o Unnotched, Coorse Groin, Lorger Thon Type B
I00000 ~' This Symbol Locotes the Meon Life, Log-Normol
Distribution, for the Stress of Which it is plotted,
90000 ~, Specimens Which ore Retested ol Higher Stress
~
/J~' "~, ore Numbered for Identificotion ot Both Stresses.
9$ 8OOOO
, ! I
70000 \\6 ~-
60000
v
o ~ ~ ~-o --....~__._~ o 0
5 5000C o Uo t o
E m
6
4oooc
30000
2000 0 t
I0000
104 I0 s 106 I07 I0 s 109

Cycles to Foilure
FIG. 5.--S-IV Curves, Precision-Cast Alloy X-40 at 1200 F, Unnotched.
present. 5 This is in agreement with what shown in Fig. 5. The fine-grained speci-
has been found for wrought steel at room mens are superior to the coarse ones; at
temperature (6). As fatigue failures usu- 108 cycles the fine-grained specimens
ally occur at stress-raisers, this result have an average fatigue strength of 57,-
should be of interest to the designer, for 000 psi, while that for the coarse is 14
it tends to lessen the importance of the per cent less or 49,000 psi. Although
deleterious effect of coarse-grained struc- there have not been a statistical number
tures. of fine-grained specimens tested, it ap-
The test on the fine-grained specimen pears that they may have less scatter
than the coarse ones. There are a con-
5 The data for coarse-grained specimens are admittedly siderable number of tests on the coarse-
scanty, but further tests would have to lower the average
notched fatigue strength to 31,000 psi, which seems un- grained specimens at 1200 F, and the
likely, before the notch sensitivities of the two grain sizes
w o u l d be the same. majority of these were run at one of the
150 SYMPOSllmO N STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
following nominal stresses: 56,000, 54,- scatter s or it may indicate that the aging
000, 52,000, or 48,000 psi. In Fig. 5 there phenomenon has a greater beneficial ef-
is a symbol at each of these stress levels fect upon the coarse-grain structure than
representing the mean life as determined upon the fine. As noted in the discussion
from these tests by assuming a log-nor- of Fig. 3, the coazse-grained specimens
mal distribution and using probability appear to harden more when aged than
paper. At 56,000 and 54,000 psi this is a do the fine-grained ones.
straightforward procedure, but at 52,000 These tests at 1200 F also provide
and 48,000 psi, where some of the speci- some justification for the somewhat ar-
mens were unbroken when the test was bitrary division of the specimens into
stopped, this procedure may be question- the two classifications of fine and coarse
able. In these last two cases, all test grained. In Fig. 5, the specimens from
points were plotted on the probability the same mold and with the same grain
paper in orthodox fashion; but the points size as B of Fig. 1 are shown as triangles.
for the nonfailures were given very slight The four specimens of grain size B tested
weight in determining the orientation of at 56,000 psi have a mean life slightly
the distribution line as long as they fell greater than that of the predominantly
on the low cycle side of this line, and all coarser-grained specimens tested at
of them did. While this procedure is not 54,000 psi. However, the one B-test at the
exact statistically, it seems that it should latter stress has a life less than the mean
give some indication of the mean lives. life of all the specimens at that stress.
Of course, the exactness of this procedure At 52,000 psi two B tests are short of the
decreases as the percentage of nonfailures mean life while a third did not fail. It is
in the data increases. noteworthy that at 52,000 psi one of the
The S-N curves for these coarse- two shortest lived tests and one of the
grained specimens at 1200 F could be tests which did not fail are of grain size B.
determined either by a stress-wise bal- Thus while a full statistical treatment
ancing of departures from the curve or might show a difference, the above tests
by utilizing the mean lives at the several indicate that specimens Of B-grain size
stress levels to establish the curve. The will not have an appreciably greater av-
S-N curve in Fig. 5 has not been based erage fatigue strength than those of much
completely on either of these; the low- coarser grains.
cycle end was determined by the mean The scatter in the coarse specimens is
lives while a compromise between the presumably not entirely due to the pres-
two approaches was used to establish the ence of faults but is also contributed to
high-cycle end. This has resulted in the by the orientation of the grain or grains
average 108 cycle fatigue strength being occupying the two regions of maximum
designated as 49,000 psi. (If a straight stress that are present in these nonrotat-
line were determined on the basis of the ing bending tests. As the strength of a
four mean lives, it would have a greater grain varies considerably with its crys-
slope than the curve shown and would tallographic orientation, the random ori-
indicate a 108 cycle fatigue strength of entation of the grains would cause a vari-
slightly less than 47,000 psi). Either of ation in the expected strength of the
these average fatigue strengths repre- specimens. This has also been noted for
sents a greater increase from the room 6 If one assumes that the top of the scatter band for
the coarse-grained specimens at room temperature is
temperature fatigue strength than was 45,000 psi and that the corresponding bottom at 1200 F
is 47,000 psi, the differential is 2000 psi. This is the same
shown by the fine-grained specimens, s e e as that for the average fatigue strengths of the fine-grained
Table I. This may be a result of the specicause.
..... hichmayindicatethatscatterisnottheentire
tension (13) and creep-rupture (1) tests. The scatter band for the tests that were
The variation in grain orientation from raised to 68,000 psi extends into that of
specimen to specimen is attested to by the fine-grained specimens, but the mean
the fact that, in the coarse specimens, is less than the presumed mean of the
there is an appreciable variation in stiff- fine. Due to the limited amount of data,
ness among the specimens. This is due, it is probably not significant that all the
of course, to the variation in Young's raised coarse-grain tests had fatigue lives
modulus with orientation. It thus seems greater than the one virgin coarse-grain
that perhaps once the grains reach a cer- test at 68,000 psi or that the mean life of
tain threshold size the strength is greatly the coarse-grained specimens is greater
120000
I I I
I10000 o Ground Notch, Fine Grain
9 Machined Notch, Fine Grain
I00000
o Ground Notch, Coarse Grain
9 Machined Notch, Coarse Groin
90000
~ R e t e s t e d Specimens ore
9~ 80000 Numbered at Both Stresses.
* Except for These Two, all Machined
70000 Notches hod Kt=2.32 Rather
J
Than the Standard 2.27.
60000 27 ~
o o- _ _ t i
c 50000
40000
30000
20000
I0000
I0 4 105 I0 6 107 I 0 ~1 10 9
Cycles tO Failure
FIO. 6.--S-N Curves, Precision-Cast Alloy X-40 at 1200 F, Notched.
influenced by the orientation of some one than that of the two fine-grain raised
grain. tests. This superiority of the raised-
It is not possible from the data to say coarse-grain tests could also be due to
whether or not a large grain having the differences in the amount of "damage"
optimum orientation would show as great suffered by the individual specimens or,
strength a s the fine-grained material. alternatively, to the possibly faster age-
However, when the stress on specimen hardening of the coarse-grained material,
No. 4, which was unfractured after al- which was mentioned in connection with
most 300 million cycles at 48,000 psi, Fig. 3.
was raised to 58,000 psi, the resulting test
point falls nicely on the fine-grain curve. Ground Notch Specimens Tested at 1200 F:
Of course, as this alloy ages at this tem- For the ground notch tests at 1200 F,
perature, Fig. 3, one comes to the ques- Fig. 6, there seems little justification for
tion: Is this due to aging, understressing, drawing more than one S-N curve to
or would it have done so as a virgin test? represent both the fine and the coarse
152 SYMl,osnr~ ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF METALS
grain data. At 100 million cycles, this notches in all except two specimens were
common curve indicates an average slightly deeper than the standard notch,
notched fatigue strength of 36,000 psi as and they had a theoretical stress concen-
compared to 57,000 psi and 49,000 psi tration factor, K,, of 2.32. Also, except
for the unnotched fine- and coarse- for the two standard notched specimens,
grained specimens, respectively. Again, these specimens were poured into molds
as at room temperature this notch has at 870 C and were cast from two other
caused a greater reduction in fatigue master heats of X-40 rather than from
strength for the fine material than for the one used for all other specimens.
the coarse, this reduction being 37 per However, the analyses of all three heats
cent for the fine and 27 per cent for the were very similar. For the above reasons
coarse. Table I gives the fatigue notch and because it is difficult either to control
factors and notch sensitivity factors, and or to determine ~ the amount of working
shows that these are both greater at put into a machined notch, these tests are
1200 F than at room temperature. One not on a strictly scientific basis. However,
reason for this may be that this alloy they do indicate that the bending fatigue
ages at 1200 F, and thus the 1200 F tests strength at room temperature and 1200 F
are not made on material which is iden- of precision cast X-40 can be signifi-
tical to that tested at room temperature. cantly improved by cold working the
Tests on specimens aged at temperatures surface.
higher than the test temperature are Again the raised tests are superior to
planned. the virgin tests, and here one can add the
It is interesting that all of the raised possibility of variations in machining
tests fall in the upper part of the scatter technique to the causes mentioned pre-
band of the virgin tests. Perhaps this viously. It should be noted that these
indicates that there were no nonprogress- tests cover only about 250 hr, and thus
ing cracks in the 1200-F notched tests perhaps one is not justified in drawing
that ran out and that the positive effects conclusions for members which will be at
of aging and understressing of the notch temperature for much longer periods.
have proceeded at a greater rate than the To obtain an indication of the effect of
negative damage effect, or it may merely machining this alloy, a cross-section of
indicate that these were superior speci- the clamping end of a fine-grained speci-
mens. men (in the as-cast condition) was faced
off with a carbide tool using 0.005-in.
Machined Notch Specimens Tested at cuts and finishing up with two 0.002-in.
1200 F: cuts. The resulting surface had a Vickers
While machining alloy X-40 may not hardness, 10 kg load, at least 50 points
be the optimum method for production higher than the same surface when it was
metal-removal, it does provide a means subsequently finished by careful grinding
of obtaining small notches which have in the manner used on the specimens.
beneficial residual stresses or cold work- Thus, the machining appears to intro-
ing or both over much Of the notch sur- duce work-hardening in the surface
face. The data in Fig. 6 indicate that at metal.
1200 F both the fine, and coarse-grained
specimens with machined notches have Unnotched Specimens Tested at 1600 F:
fatigue strengths at 108 cycles that are The results of the fatigue tests con-
appreciably above that of the ground
7 The notch is too small and the grain size too l~rge to
notches. As noted on Fig. 6 the machined utilize X-ray methods.
ducted at 1600 F are presented in Fig. 7. the coarse-grained specimens and 21 mil-
At this temperature, there is less differ- lion cycles for the fine-grained specimens.
ence than at the lower temperatures in The scatter at this stress is slightly
the fatigue strengths of the fine- and greater for the coarse-grained specimens
coarse-grained specimens. Much of the than for the fine-grained ones; the stand-
unnotched testing has been done at one ard deviation and coefficient of variation
stress level in order that a somewhat being 0.56 and 0.82 for the coarse, and
more definite measure of this difference 0.45 and 0.61 for the fine-grained speci-
might be obtained with a minimum mens. It is noteworthy that the one spec-
amount of testing: Also', none of the imen which had the longest life at this
coarse-grained specimens had grains that Stress is a coarse-grained one, which is an
120000
i I I
I IO00C o Unnolched, Fine Groin
9 Notched, Fine Groin
IO000C o Unnotched, Coarse Grain
9 Notched, Coarse Groin
90000' Deeper Notch _Kt = 2 , 4 9
.~/~Retested Specimens ore
-~ 8 0 0 0 0
Numbered at Both Stresses.
I
~oooo'
60000 S
J
/
o
.E 5 0 0 0 0
z 40000 ; 6/,
o/ "~- '--'o~ '•"':",,,.~- ~ O,.~C ,.ID - I
30000
ZOO00
I0000
104 I05 106 [07 I08 IO9

Cycles to Failure
FIG. 7.--S-N Curves, Precision-Cast Alloy X-40 at 1600 F, Unnotched and Notched.
were any less than three times the sur- interesting addition to the discussion of
face diameter of those shown in B of Fig. "Unnotched Specimens Tested at
1. At the nominal stress of 33,750 psi, 1200 F."
five coarse- and five fine-grained speci- Obviously there are not enough data
mens have been tested. One of the coarse- in Fig. 7 to determine adequately the
grained specimens was actually run at a slopes of the S-N curves and these slopes
500 psi higher stress and is so plotted, have been based on previous experience.
but when statistically treated the life of While at 33,750 psi, the mean life of the
this specimen was adjusted in accordance fine-grained specimens is threefold that
with the slope of the S - N curve. Noting of the coarse-grained specimens, there is
that five specimens is a small number for only about a 1000 psi difference between
statistical treatment and assuming a log- the fatigue strengths in the region be-
normal distribution, the mean fatigue yond 5 X 106 cycles. At 108 cycles, the
lives at 33,750 psi are 7 million cycles for fine-grained spedimens have a fatigue
strength of about 32,000 psi while that grained specimens is 1.1, which is con-
for the coarse-grained is 31,000 psi. Thus siderably less than the factors of 1.58 and
at 1600 F on a fatigue strength basis, the 1.31 found at 1200 F for the fine- and
fine-grained specimens have only a 3 per coarse-grained specimens, respectively.
cent superiority. Apparently there is greater "easing" of
the notch at 1600 F than at the lower
Notched Specimens Tested at 1600 F: temperatures. It should be pointed out
The test temperature of 1600 F has a that after a few hours at 1600 F, the
great equalizing power on the fatigue material is not metallurgically identical
properties of this alloy; for just as there to that tested either at 1200 F or at room
is much less difference in the fatigue temperature. An additional factor may
strengths of the unnotched fine- and be the fact that at 1600 F there is some
coarse-grained specimens, so also is there preferential surface attack that may be
T A B L E I I . - - T E N S I L E P R O P E R T I E S OF A L L O Y X-40.
Tensile Strength, psi

Reduction in Elongation, Yield
Test Temperature, Grain Size a Area, per Strength 0.2
deg F a h r cent a
per cent a
per cent, psl a Wes ting- Haynes-
house a Stelliteb
Room T e m p e r a t u r e . . . . Fine 7.8 6.0 75 600 107 400 113 000

Fine 1.0 r 109 600r ....
Mixed 3.0 '513 7i'000 93 600 ....
Coarse 5.0 5.3 .59 800 92 000 ....
1200 F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fine 5.5 c 88 500 c 74 000

Mixed 6.0 "216 63 '600 95 300 ....
Mixed 3.4 4.7 66 200 92 500 ....
Coarse 7.6 4.0 58 800 83 000 ....
Coarse 7.6 4.0 61 700 81 800 ....
Coarse 6.6 3.3 61 600 84 300 ....
1600 F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fine 4.6 4.0 44 800 57 000 50 000

i Mixed 9.4 10.7 56 800
Mixed 11.2 8.0 .... 59 800 ....
a T ests on aged-at-test-temperature specimens.

b T ests on as-cast specimen of unreported grain size (14).
r Notched specimen.
less difference in fatigue strengths of the more deleterious to the unnotched fatigue
unnotched and notched specimens. These strength than to the notched.
1600 F notched-test results are plotted,
with the unnotched, in Fig. 7. Although FATIGUE RATIO
the number of tests is far from statistical, Table II lists the tensile strengths as
it seems unlikely that additional tests obtained on 0.333-in. diameter, 189
would lower the fatigue strength at 100 gage length, ground surface, button-
million cycles drastically below the headed tension specimens. The notched
29,000 psi shown for both the fine and specimen had a ground notch identical to
the coarse specimens. This value is only that used in the fatigue specimen. The
a 9 per cent reduction from the corre- 0.2 per cent yield strength was taken
sponding strength of the unnotched fine- from stress-strain curves determined with
grained specimens and only 6 per cent an extensometer attached to the speci-
below that for the unnotched coarse- men grips. The tension specimens have
grained specimens. been divided into three groups--fine,
As shown in Table I, the fatigue notch mixed, and coarse grained. The fine have
factor for both the fine'- and the coarse- a grain size comparable to that of the
TOOLIN ON EFTECT OF GRAIN SIZE ON FATIGUE 155
fine-grained fatigue specimens; the mixed used, the results would, in some cases,
are somewhat variegated with areas of be appreciably different. The fatigue ra-
fine grains and other areas of grains up tios for the notched tests at 80 and 1200
to 0.08-in. diam. The coarse-grained spec- F fall at approximately 0.40. It is in the
imens had grains of about 88 diam. field of notches and surface effects that
These diameters are surface dimensions. the fatigue ratio becomes of less value as
The specimens tested at 1200 and 1600 an index of fatigue properties.
F were aged 230 hr at the test tempera-
ture so that they would have approxi- DISCUSSION
mately the same time at temperature as In Fig. 8 some of the data in Table I
the fatigue specimens have at the l0 s have been plotted so that the gross trends
cycle point. The room temperature tests can be observed. As the specimens were
were on as-cast specimens. The tension carefully ground and then polished,
tests indicate that fine-grained material
has greater strength at room temperature ~40[- ~ Per Cent Reduction
from Unnotched to
and at 1200 F than does the coarse. Also, L~O - - " "'-~''"
as expected, the semi-circular notch has oF-:;", , :% Notched.

o Fine a Coorse
0.60~-
no gross effect at either room tempera- cr 0 . 4 0 ~ ...- ~ o- . . , Notch Sensitivity
ture or 1200 F. It is interesting that de- 0,2 ..... " "--, Factor - q.
o Fine a Coarse
spite their larger grain size, the three 01 , , , , , "-'~
coarse-grained specimens at 1200 F Fatigue Strength

"~ 6 0 0 0 0 8 0 F at 2 X IO 7 Cycles
showed amazingly little scatter in their o..
Others at IO8 Cycles.
i 50 000' _ 9
results. Table II also lists the tensile 40oo0
~--%-""~ ""~x o Fine Unnotched
~.~ 9 F i n e , Notched
strength of the as-cast material (grain 30000 ~'- - "~-'B... e Coarse, Unnotched
9 Coarse, Notched
size unreported) (14). ~= 2 0 0 0 0 . . . . " - .
o, .. == Per Cent Reduction
These tests were performed at an av- ~= I0000 "~ from Unnotched Fine
= , i i , "'~ tO Unnotched Coarse.
erage strain rate of about ones per hour, 0 800 1200 1600
while the fatigue test average straining Test Temperature, deg Fohr
Squared Scale
rate is on the order of three thousand FIO. 8.--Effect of T e s t T e m p e r a t u r e upon
times this. Manjoine's curve (15) indi- Fatigue Properties.
cates that the tensile strength at a rate
of 10 per hr is about 70,000 psi and that which, if anything, might be expected to
there is an aging peak at 100 per hr leave the surface with compressive resid-
with the strength then dropping back to ual stresses, the greater fatigue strength
about 70,000 psi at 1000 per hr. On the at 1200 F is presumed to be due to the
basis of this and the 230-hr aging before aging that occurs at that temperature
testing, which might reduce the strain- (Fig. 3). At 1600 F the fatigue strengths
aging peak, it can be assumed that the of the two grain-size groups are ap-
tensile strength at the fatigue-test rate proaching each other and if the curves are
would not be substantially different from extrapolated they will meet at approxi-
that reported herein. mately 1650 F. The addition of a static
The fatigue ratios are listed in Table I component of loading or a change in the
and those for the unnotched case vary frequency of straining would presumably
from 0.45 to 0.6. These values are based shift the location of this point.
on the tension specimens stabilized for While the unnotched fatigue strength
230 hr at the test temperature; should is greater at 1200 F than at room tem-
the as-cast values from Reference (13) be perature, this greater strength is not re-
8 Sometimes written 1 in. per in. per hr. flected in the curve for the notched tests.
156 Su ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
Apparently the aging has increased the stress concentration factor, Kt, also de-
notch sensitivity. The plot of the notch creases as the notch acuity decreases (I 7).
sensitivity factor, q, illustrates this, q be- Under "Unnotched Specimens Tested
ing greater at 1200 F than at room tem- at 1200 F," the possibility is mentioned
perature or 1600 F. It may be encourag- that there may be a threshold grain size
ing for the designer to note that q is above which the average fatigue strength
approaching zero at 1600 F, but the rap- will not vary appreciably with grain size.
idly decreasing fatigue strength of this Should this be so, consideration of the
alloy at that point should also be noted. possible effects of "volume of material at
Both the curves for q and those showing peak stress," stress gradient (6) and the
the per cent reduction from unnotched to number of grains per cross-section (7)
notched deserve to be qualified by the may indicate that the type of loading
observation that they are for the specific and the specimen size will influence this
threshold grain size. At any rate, it is
I00 0 0 0 I I unfortunate that in much of the produc-
x K8-1000
K8-1024
tion-casting, other considerations fre-
~, 8 0 0 0 0 0 R- 102 quently make it impossible to take ad-
o R- I00
o vantage of the greater unnotched fatigue
% strength of the fine grains. Where there
_ 60000
o is an appreciable steady component of
load at elevated temperatures, the finest
,~ 4,0000 grain size may not be the optimum one
U3
/500F (1, 2).
.-~ 2 0 0 0 0
Examination of a number of specimens
having grains much larger than B of Fig.
1 has indicated that, at all three test
0 3 4 6 8 l0 temperatures, the fatigue fractures tend
ASTM Groin Size Number to start at a grain boundary. Once
FIG. 9 . - - N o t c h Sensitivity Factors Obtained
on X-40 Plotted with Peterson's Sensitivity started, the fractures tend to progress
Curves for Steels. perpendicularly to the axis of the speci-
mens and do not appear to exhibit any
notch tested and that while the trends great tendency to follow the grain bound-
shown may apply to all notches the spe- aries. Perhaps the fracture tends to start
cific values will not. For this reason Fig. at the grain boundary more because this
9 has been included. This figure compares point is at a meeting of two volumes of
the notch sensitivity factors obtained on metal having different crystallographic
X-40 with some room temperature curves orientation than because the grain
for steel, taken from Peterson's paper boundary is weaker. Thus the relative
(16), While these curves are not well orientation of two adjacent grains may
defined for very small radii, this plot also influence the fatigue strength. Figure
indicates that X-40, at its worst, has a 10 shows photographs of a 1600 F fai[ure.
notch sensitivity no greater than mild There is a need for more information
steel at room temperature and conse- in the region between completely re-
quently it would not be classed as se- versed loading and steady loading. At
verely notch sensitive. While it is ex- present this is scant, but it is interesting
pected that q for X-40 would increase-- to compare the static stress required to
as the steels d o - - if the notch acuity is produce failure in 230 hr with the fatigue
decreased, it should be noted that the strength at 108 cycles. It requires 230 hr
TOOLIN ON EFFECT OF GRAIN S~ZE ON FATIGUE 157
to reach 10s cycles in the 7200 cpm, is 31,000 psi for the coarse-grained speci-
sinusoidally loaded, bending fatigue mens, while a static load of only about
tests. At 1200 F, the static axial stress 20,000 psi (14) would be required to cause
S
FIo. 10.--Photographs of a Fatigue Fracture in a Coarse-Grained Specimen. 1600 F, 34,000 psi,

5,860,000 Cycles.
Photograph A shows the surface as etched after testing; line M - M is the plane of maximum
nominal stress; S indicates the probable start of the fracture as deduced from photographs B arid
C which show the fracture surface.
that would cause fracture in 230 hr is failure in 230 hr. ~ At a static load equal
about 51,000 psi (14), which is slightly to the 31,000 psi fatigue strength the
greater than the 47,000 psi average 108 expected life would be less than 10 hr.
cycle fatigue strength obtained for the Obviously the type of loading is an im-
unnotched coarse-grained specimens. At portant consideration in design.
1600 F, the fatigue strength at 10~ cycles This material had been aged 50 hr at 1500F.
158 SYMPOSIUM
ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF METALS
CONCLUSIONS the data) and 1600 F the average notched

fatigue strength does not appear to be
It should be noted that conclusions are dependent upon the grain size. Thus the
based upon a specific set of tests, partic- effect of variation in grain size is much
ular features of which follow. Alloy X-40 greater for unnotched specimens than for
(AMS 5382 or Stellite No. 31) was used notched ones; the gain that might be
to precision-cast the fatigue specimens, expected for the fine-grained material is
which had a circular cross-section of apparently offset by its greater notch
0.33-in. rain diam. In casting these spec- sensitivity.
imens, the mold temperature was held 5. This alloy, as-cast, has its greatest
constant and the pouring temperature notch sensitivity in the region around
was varied. The unnotched specimens 1200 F. At 1600 F the notch sensitivity
were carefully ground and polished, factor, q, is approaching zero. However,
while the 0.015-in. radius semicircular at its worst, 1200 F, it would not be con-
notches were only ground or, where sidered severely notch sensitive.
noted, machined. Except for the over- 6. Fatigue tests on specimens wifh ma-
night stabilization at test temperature chined notches have indicated that the
for the 1200 and 1600 F tests, no heat bending fatigue strength of this material
treatment was given to the fatigue speci- can be appreciably improved at both
mens. The fatigue tests were completely room temperature and 1200 F by cold
reversed loading, repeated bending tests working the surface.
made at a frequency of 7200 cpm. 7. The fatigue ratio for the unnotched
1. At temperatures up to 1600 F, pre- specimens lies between 0.45 and 0.60 for
cision-cast X-40 (AMS 5382 or SteUite all three test temperatures, when the
No. 31) has a higher unnotched, average tension specimens are aged for a time
fatigue strength 1~ when it is poured at equivalent to that at which the fatigue
low temperatures, with resulting fine strength is taken.
grain-size, than when it is poured at high
temperatures, which results in large Acknowledgment:
grains. The effects of concomitant micro-
structure variations have not been inves- The author gratefully acknowledges
tigated. the cooperation of E. H. Stetson, J r ,
2. Extrapolation of the present data, who handled the precision-casting phase
obtained at 7200 cpm, indicates that the of this program, and of his associates in
coarse-grained structure might be supe- the Precision-Casting Section, Materials
rior in fatigue strength above 1650 F. Engineering Department, East Pitts-
3. As-cast X-40 has a greater un- burgh Works. A debt is also owed for the
notched fatigue strength at 1200 F than assistance of R. E. Peterson, Manager,
at room temperature. and other members of the Mechanics
4. The notched fatigue strength of the Department, Research Laboratories, par-
fine-grained specimens is greater than ticularly Mrs. E. M. Schlotzhauer and
that of the coarse-grained specimens at J. R. Wetherby for the fatigue work and
room temperature, but at both 1200 F K. R. Waugh and C. M. Fox for the
(where there is considerable scatter in tension tests. The metallographic work
of R. L. Anderson and his associates and
lo F a t i g u e strength is used to designate the value at the photographic work of D. Glasser et al.
2 X 107 cycles for the room temperature tests and at 1
X 109 cycles for the 1200- and 1600-F tests. should not go unnoted.
REFERENCES
(1) N. J. Grant, "The Effect of Composition (9) R. E. Peterson, "Design Factors for Stress
and Structural Changes in the Rupture Concentration--Part I," Machine Design,
Properties of Certain Heat Resistant Al- February, 1951, p. 169.
loys at 1500 F," Transactions, Am. Soc. (10) A.J. Fenner, N. B. Owen, and C. E. Phil-
Metals, Vol. 39, p. 368 (1947). lips, "The Fatigue Crack as a Stress-
(2) P. R. Toofin and N. L. Mochel, "The High- Raiser," Engineering, Vol. 17, May 25,
Temperature Fatigue Strength of Several 1951, pp. 637-638.
Gas Turbine Alloys," Proceedings, Am. Soc.
(11) H. F. Moore, "A Study of Fatigue Cracks
Testing Mats., Vol. 47, p. 677 (1947). in Car Axles," Bulletin No. 165, University
(3) W. L. Collins, "Fatigue and Static Load of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station,
Tests of an Austenitic Cast Iron at Ele-
June, 1927.
vated Temperatures," Proceedings, Am.
Soc. Testing Mats., Vol. 48, p. 696 (1948). (12) T. V. Buckwalter, O. J. Horger, and W. C.
(4) H. Cornelius and W. Schmidt, "Notch Sanders, "Locomotive Axle Testing, Tram-
Effect for Heat-Resistant Austenitic Ma- actions, Am. Soc. Mechanical Engrs., Vol.
terials at Normal and Elevated Tempera- 60, p. 335 (1938).
tures" (in German) Luftfahrtforschung, Vol. (13) F. S. Badger, Jr. and W. 0. Sweeny, Jr.,
20, No. 10, December 8, 1943, p. 292. "Metallurgy of High Temperature Alloys
(5) W. E. Jones and G. B. Wilkes, "The Effect Used on Current Gas Turbine Designs,"
of Various Treatments on the Fatigue Symposium on Materials for Gas Turbines,
Strength of Notched S-816 and Timken Am. Soc. Testing Mats., p. 99 (1946). (Sym-
16-25-6 Alloys at Elevated Temperatures," posium issued as separate publication, STP
Proceedings, Am. Soc. Testing Mats., VoI. No. 68.)
50, p. 744 (1950). (14) "Haynes Alloys for High-Temperature Ser-
(6) R. E. Peterson, "Methods of Correlating vice," a booklet published by the Haynes
Data from Fatigue Tests of Stress Concen- Stellite Co., 1948.
tration Specimens," Timoshenko 60th An- (15) M. J. Manjoine, "Effect of Rate of Strain
niversary Volume, The Macmillan Co., on the Flow Stress of Gas Turbine Alloys
New York, N. Y., p. 179 (1938). at 1200 and 1500 F," Proceedings, Am. Soc.
(7) R. S. Rusk and C. W. Phillips, "Grain Size Testing Mats,, Vol. 50, p. 931 (1950).
and Properties of Sand Cast Magnesium
Alloys," Metals Technology, Am. Inst. Min- (16) R. E. Peterson, "Relation Between Life
ing and Metallurgical Engrs., TP 1771 Feb- Testing and Conventional Tests of Ma-
ruary, 1945. terials," ASTM BULLETIN,No. 133, March,
(8)" G. M. Sinclair and W. J. Craig, "Influence 1945, p. 9.
of Grain Size on Work Hardening and (17) R. E. Peterson, "Relation Between Stress
Fatigue Characteristics of Alpha Brass," Analysis and Fatigue of Metals," Proceed-
Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 44, p. ings, Soc. Experimental Stress Analysis,
929 (1952). Vol. 9, No. 2.
DISCUSSION
MR. B. J. LAZAN.I--I should like to temperature of the specimens is not ac-

comment on Mr. Toolin's observation tively controlled during the start of the
that during a fatigue test of notched high stress tests. Very often internal
specimens the first evidence of fatigue damping causes an appreciable heating of
cracking frequently occurs appreciably the specimen, and the actual temperature
before fracture. In the accompanying Fig. may be considerably higher than the pre-
11 curve A represents the number of set temperature. In Mr. Toolin's bending
cycles to complete fracture and curve B tests the thermocouple was located at the
the number of cycles to the first evidence
of cracking. The details on the manner of
,I
determining the first evidence of crack
curves are omitted, but in the case of sev-
eral materials investigated it has been
observed that curve B is substantially be-
low curve A in the finite life region. For
one material, the first evidence of crack
occurred at a value as low as 10 to i5 per
cent of the life to fracture. At lower stress
levels, this percentage increases, although
the number of cycles between the first Log N-~m~
evidence of crack and fatigue failure may Fio. II.
be several million cycles.
I should like to ask Mr. Toolin where neutral axis of stress, where in all proba-
in the region between curves A and B of bility the temperature remained at the
Fig. 11 he thinks his curves fall? The set temperature. However, at 90-deg dis-
specimen, I gather, does not fail com- placement from the neutral axis, where
pletely before the machine stops auto- the stress is quite high, the temperature
matically, yet apparently there must be may have increased during the start of
a fairly large crack developed up to the the test. This temperature increase would
point where the machine will shut off. be considerably greater at the high-stress
I should like to suggest a possible an- levels than at the lower stress levels and
swer to Mr. Toolin's question regarding it is possible that the temperature at
the bunching of fatigue data most notice- the point of high stress may have been
able in Fig. 6 of his paper. In our work we considerably higher than that indicated
found that similar behavior occurs if the by the thermocouple. I wonder whether
* Director of Engineering Experiment Station and Mr. Toolin measured the temperature
Professor of Materials Engineering, University of Minne-
sota, Minneapolis, Minn. distribution around the specimen, partic-
160
DISCUSSION ON EF/~ECr O/? GRAIN SIZE ON FATIGUE 161
ularly during the start of a high stress Lazan if he would describe this method
fatigue test. which is so sensitive for the determain-
MR. G E O R G E S A C H S . 2 - - O n e point in tion of cracks.
Mr. Toolin's paper is particularly inter- MR. LAZAN.--We use a rotating beam
esting to me, namely, that relating to the testing machine for damping, elasticity,
effect of machining which Mr. Lazan also and fatigue tests. A sketch of this ma-
mentioned. Our conventional concept is chine is shown in the accompanying Fig.
9that at the temperatures which are being 12.
considered here no stresses should be re- S is the rotating spindle, P is the speci-
tained in the specimen, except those cor- men, and mounted in the end of the load-
responding to external loading. ing arm, A, is a target, T, the position of
Now, this is a rather hazy concept. what can be measured by means of a mi-
For instance, the stress-rupture tests croscope. A continuous record is kept of
which we presented 3 indicate strongly the vertical deflection at point T and the
that stress concentrations are retained at so-called "horizontal traversal" on rever-
high temperatures for a sufficiently long sal of the direction of rotation of the
time to affect the results significantly. specimen. This horizontal motion of the
This also appears to apply to fatigue target is in direct proportion to the damp-
tests. According to the author's test re- ing energy absorbed by the test speci-
suits, stress concentrations or their ef- men.
fects must be present at i200 F to the
fullest extent; at 1600 F effects which
can be attributed to stress concentrations
are practically eliminated. Thus, within
a substantial range at high temperatures, Fio. 12.
stress-concentration and related effects
When a crack develops, there is a con-
appear to be retained. However, we are
siderable amplification in the resulting
at a loss to visualize how residual stresses
motion, at the target T. By analysis, the
or stress distributions at high tempera-
size of the runout and vertical deflection
tures will look.
can be associated with the size of the
MR. W. F. BROWN, JR.*--I was very
crack. This is the method used to deter-
interested to hear that Mr. Lazan had
mine the first evidence of crack point.
investigated the phenomenon of cracking
A microscope method is also employed
before complete failure in fatigue speci-
to detect cracks with the microscope
mens. He has stated that he has de-
mounted to sight on top of the notch
veloped a method for determining when
where the fibers are in tension.
the crack started and presumably for fol-
I should like to call your attention to
lowing its progress.
the work of Lessells and Jacques z in which
Progressive cracking is something that
notched specimens were sectioned after a
is also important in rupture tests on
certain number of cycles of fatigue stress-
notched specimens. It has been discussed
ing and it was found that at stresses as
in our paper and will be discussed further
9low as 50 per cent of the fatigue limit
in the papers by Siegfried6 and by Davis
there were cracks existing.
and Manjoin~3
MR. TOOLIN (author's closure).--In
Therefore I should like to ask Mr.
reply to Mr. Lazan's discussion, our cri-
Director of Metallurgical Research, Institute o[ In- terion of failure, as noted in the test, re-
dustrial Research, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. u
a See p. 6 sults in a crack of 0.1 in. or less penetra-
4 Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, National Ad-
visory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio. 7 j. M. Lessens and H. E. Jacques, "Effect of Fatigue
s See p. 93. on Brittle Transition Temperature of Steel," Welding Re-
s See p. 67. search Supplement, Feb., 1950, pp. 74-75, 83-85.
162 S Y m ? O S l U ON
~ S T R E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF M E T A L S
tion and thus our S-N curves are not these specimens are not visible during the
based on complete fracture as is Mr. La- test, the time of the initia:tion and the
zan's curve B in Fig. 11. However, under rate of p~ogression of these cracks is un-
constant load conditions, the fatigue known.
crack tends to progress at an ever increas- On the question of the overheating of
ing rate and our curves should not be dis- the notched specimens tested at 1200 F,
placed appreciably from one based on thermocouples located at the edge of the
complete fracture. In regard to curve A notch and in the plane of maximum stress 9
of Fig. 11, the results of Lessells and have indicated that, in the stress range of
Jacques, 7 those of Fenner, Owen, and interest, if there is appreciable overheat-
Phillips, 8 and those in this paper all seem ing it is confined to the base of the notch.
to indicate that this curve for the first While unnotched specimens do tend to
indication of fatigue fracture in notched overheat at the start of tests running at
specimens sometimes drops down to half high stress, and are kept from excessively
the stress at the high-cycle end of the doing so by cooling the furnace or inter-
fatigue curve based on complete fracture. mittently stopping the test, the notched
Cracks sometimes start at stresses below specimen has a much smaller volume of
what would normally be called the fatigue material within, say, 10 per cent of the
limit and these may progress inward at an peak stress than does the unnotched one.
exceedingly slow rate. An example of this This results in the notched specimen lib-
is the specimen which, at 250,000 cycles, erating a smaller amount of heat at the
developed a small surface crack that did peak stress region and tke surrounding
not progress inward ,to any appreciable metal is apparently able to conduct it
extent by 323,000,000 cycles at which away rapidly. Similarly both the un-
point the test was stopped. Small cracks notched and notched specimens should
have also been observed at the root of the tend to overheat less than axially loaded
notch when specimens which ran out at specimens of the same diameter would.
1200 F and at 1600 F were sectioned. As As Mr. Sachs comments indicate, there
i A. J, Fenner, N, B. Owen, and C. E. Phillips, "The is still much to be learned about notch
Fatigue Crack as a Stress-Raiser," Engineering, Vol. 17,
May 25, 1951, pp. 637-638. sensitivity and residual stresses.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
RECOVERY AND C R E E P I N AN ALLOY STEEL

BY H. A. L E Q U E A R 1 AND J. D. LUBAHN1
SYNOPSIS
By interrupting a creep test and observing that the creep rate is higher
afterward than before by amounts increasing with the duration of the inter-
ruption, it is possible to establish that recovery (reduction of the amount of
strain hardening) has occurred. Recovery occurs in quenched-and-tempered
chromium-molybdenum-vanadium steel at 1000F, but not at 800F.
When recovery occurs, the plastic creep rate becomes constant--sooner for
smaller stresses, and apparently immediately for a sufficiently small stress.
When recovery does not occur, the plastic creep rate decreases continuously.
Recovery does not cause the creep, however, for pronounced creep occurs
at temperatures where no recovery occurs.
I t has been widely assumed that the metallographic advancement in resolving

process of recovery influences creep at polygonization, it may be necessary in
elevated temperatures. The term "re- the future to modify the above definition
covery," as used here, means a reduction of recovery to specify a reduction in
in the amount of strain hardening be- strain hardening "without any micro-
cause of exposure to high temperature, structural change other than polygoniza-
without any observable change in the tion."
microstructure. The use of the term in Recovery at elevated temperature of
this way gives a quite restricted mean- strain hardening produced at r o o m tem-
ing to the word because it distinguishes perature has been demonstrated by
recovery from all metallurgical softening several investigators (1, 2, 3), 2 although
processes that can be followed under in most investigations where the soften-
the microscope, such as grain growth ing was attributed to recovery, no at-
and recrystallization; also, the distinction tempt was made to demonstrate the
is made between recovery, which can absence of recrystallization and other
occur only after straining a metal, and processes involving metallographic
any process that can proceed in the ab- change. However, there do not appear to
sence of prior strain, such as overaging have been any investigations intended to
or tempering. The above definition is not show that strain hardening introduced
quite satisfactory in that the process of at creep temperatures can recover at the
polygonization, which i~ thought to be same temperature. On the contrary, it
at least partly responsible for recovery, has been widely stated that strain hard-
has now been observed metallographi- ening does not occur at elevated temper-
cally in certain metals. Pending further atures. A few preliminary experiments
showed that recovery can occur at the
1 General Electric Research Laboratory, Schenectady, The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the
N.Y. list of references appended to this paper, see p. 179.
163
Copyright
Copyrightby
9 ASTMbyInt'l
ASTM(all rights reserved); www.astm.org
Intemational Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
TABLE I.--COMPOSITION AND HEAT

T R E A T M E N T OF T H E STEEL.
12 0o0
Composition, per cent:
Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.41
Chromium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.99
Molybdenum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.58 I0 000
Vanadimn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.31
Balance--Fe and typlcaI umotmts o{ Mn, Sit S, and P
Heat Treatment: 8 000
1. Oil quench from 1650 F as 3 in. round.
. Temper 12 h r at 1240 F.
9 Temper 5 hr at 1100 F.
temperature of straining (Fig. 1), but

the temperature of these experiments was
not such as to cause pronounced creep.
The tests to be described in this re-
port were made on an alloy steel with
a bainitic structure (see Table I) at a
temperature of 1000 F. At this temper-
4 000
2 000
0
i
4 5
i
6
I/,,
7
hr ol Room Temperature
i
8
J
9
Conventional Slroin, mils per in.
FIG. 1.--Room-temperature Tension Test of

I
I0
i~1
ature pronounced creep occurs, but the 0.040 in. Decarburized Mild Steel Strip. Stress-
much higher previous tempering temper- Strain Curve Made with O. S. Peters Microfor-
ature of 1240 F precludes the possibility mer-Type Strain Gage and Baldwin-Southwork
Testing Machine and Stress-Strain Recorder.
of tempering occurring during the test.
Recrystallization during the test is un- In order to show whether or not re-
likely because the strain did not exceed covery occurs during a creep test, the
1 per cent. Consequently, one would test was interrupted by a period at zero
expect that the only kind of metallurgical stress, and the subsequent creep behavior
softening that would occur in these tests was observed. One would expect that if
would be recovery. recovery occurred during the interrup-
25 0 0 0
'~ 20000
=-
E
"6 1 5 0 0 0
c
.o
g
loooo
5 000
J
I 2 3 4 5
Conventional Strain, mils per in.
FIo. 2.--Room-temperature Stress-Strain Curve for OFHC Copper That Was Previously
Stretched 8 per cent.
t~
rO
t~
FIG. 3.--Creep Equipment and Close-up of Strain Gage.

F,
~../Coupling
... To Lever
~
[•i
Section "A"-"A"
Lock
Nuts-<~,~ ' 1 ~ "/-B~
Elastic Pivots~'~ ~ I r c u l a r Knife

End of Gage Length
L,.J~ Edge
Specimen
,, n:.-- I0"
0.505" Diam -~
,Split Clomp-~
Section "B"J'B" i/~_20 Threads_~ f' \ Front End of
Gage Lengfh
i7~'
P,,lllnn r~,~ ~ ~Coupling
Section "C"-"C"
e ~ AUR
into
Section "D"-"D"
r
th
Corriag
e ~ e G o g e SplitA!
fror
Go~
Section "E" 2'E"
Carria!
Adjusti
Attach
Clamps
End of
~ .r
Leng
Section "F"-"F"
To Fro
FIG. 5.--Creep Gage Mechanism
LEQUEAR AND LUBAHN ON ALLOY STEEL 167
1.4 "
1.2
Creep~
1.0
35000 psi
0.8-
~ 0.6 - ~ E / o s t i c Shortening due to ~

o 1~ ] ~ Removing 35000 psi -LQ-[--EIostic
Ol . I T Lengthening
>~ ~ Creep Recovery f I I due fo
o c~ o o At Zero Stress t ~.~_ F?e-opplying
0.4
r 35000psi
"6
Creep of 35000psi
0.2 -Elastic Stro/n due to Roisl)Tg Stress from 25000 psi fo 35000psi
Creep at 25000 psi
Elastic Strain due to Applying 25000 psi
0 I I = I I I I I
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320
Time, hr
FIG. &--Interrupted Creep Test on Quenched-and-Tempered Chromium, Molybdenum, Vana-
dium Steel at 1000 F and 35,000 psi.
1.4-
L2-
c
8 Lo
c 0.8
(/3
c 0.6
.9
E
(oJ 0.4
2
"9 02 _E/_os(/c
r 2 5 0 0 0 ps,
I" E/ost,c / I
0
0 5 I0 15 20 25 30//310 315 320 325 530 535
Tirne,hr
Fro. 7.--Magnification in Time of the Part of the Test of Fig. 6 before and after the Interruption
at Zero Stress.
168 SYMPOSlU~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
tion, the creep rate after the interruption motion from one end of the gage length
would be higher than the creep rate had to the corresponding carriage, all joints
been just before the interruption. If were made rigid by lock nuts or set
this were so, however, recovery would not screws; but any flexure necessitated by
have been demonstrated unequivocally. small transverse movements of the speci-
It is well known that even when re- men was readily permitted by "elastic
covery does not occur, there is a round- pivots" (a rod with local thin spots in
ing off of the stress-strain curve, or what two places as if there were two thin sheets
appears to be a temporary softness, passing through the axis and perpendicu-
following a sojourn at zero stress (Fig. 2). lar to each other, as shown in Fig. 5).
Since this temporary softness is not due Two rods from each end of the gage
to metallurgical change, it is presumably length extended out of the furnace to the
a purely mechanical effect. There is no corresponding carriage. These were lo-
reason to suppose that tests at elevated cated on opposite sides of the specimen,
temperature would be free of such a so that their average longitudinal move-
mechanical effect; and if it did occur, the ment would be equal to the longitudinal
creep rate would be temporarily in- motion of a point on the specimen axis
creased, somewhat as if recovery had at the end of the gage length. The motion
occurred. In order to distinguish re- of the two rods was averaged by a
covery from this mechanical effect, the mechanical device shown in Fig. 5 con-
fact that a mechanical effect would be sisting of a one-to-one lever with elastic
independent of time may be employed; pivots. The two rods were connected to
on the other hand, the extent of re- the ends of the lever, and the motion
covery would depend on the duration of its midpoint was transferred to the
of the no-load period. Thus, recovery can carriage.
be demonstrated by showing that the The testing procedure was the same
creep rate after a no-load interruption as that used previously (4, 5, and 5),
is greater than before by an amount that except for the application of a standard
increases with the duration of the no- load of 25,000 psi for a short time before
load period. beginning the main part of the test on
a new specimen. This procedure makes
EQUIPMENT, TESTING PROCEDURE
it possible to estimate the variations in
The equipment was the same as that strength among presumably identical
described previously (4),except for some specimens, even when the main parts
modifications in the strain gage shown of the tests involve different loads for
in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The dial gage and different specimens.
zero adjusting screw for the pin of the
dial gage to bear against were mounted RESULTS
coaxially with the specimen in two car- Figure 6 shows the result of a test for
riages that were free to move longi- a long interruption and Fig. 8 for a short
tudinally. The carriages were guided one. Figure 7 is a magnification in time
against transverse motion by ball-bearing of the parts of the test of Fig. 6 before
guides so as to reduce the longitudinal and after the interruption. It shows that
friction and thus also the tendency for the creep rate is larger after the inter-
changes in length in the rods connecting ruption than before. However, not all
the carriages to the ends of the gage of the difference in rate is due to re-
length. covery during the interruption. The
For high fidelity in the transfer of creep rate following the interruption is
LEQUEAR AND LUBAEN ONALLoYSTEEL 169
1.0
0.9
ffect$
0.8 ~- ~0 9" ~ due to Removing
o7~-
I ~~
"5
I- 35ooop,/o.~
o61_ ~,~ it ~ ~5 Se~o~d~
~
0.4 .~-
oN
,~,o
r
8 o~
02
Stroin due to Roislng Stress to 35000p$i
0 I ~_~l_Cfeep of ~5000 psi
- l'rl I E l ~ u e tO ~tpplying25000 psi
0(5 I I I i I I I I
0 5 ~0 ~5 20 25 30 35 40
Time, hr
FIO. 8.--Interrupted Creep Test on Quenched-and-Tempered Chromium, Molybdenum, Vana-
dium Steel at 1000 F and 35,000 psi.
Creep at 35000 psi

0.84 ~- Creep at 35 000 psi __
Extrapolated Zero of Creep

0.82 I (See Fig. 14.)
0.80
'~,
- ~
o= .! Cb
s
- 0.78 - ~
03
-6 O Measured Points
o
r 0.76 - ~
9 Assumed to be the some
c or as Test of Fig.6.
>=
g
O 0.74
#- .'0
,r
0.72 - ~u
L~
0.70 Creep R e c o v e r y ~
ot Zerol Stress ~ ,
I I I
22.9 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4
Time, hr
FIG. 9.--Magnification of the Test of Fig. 8 in the Neighborhood of the Interruption at Zero
Stress.
170 SYMI'OSlLrM
ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY O1~ METALS
higher than before, partly because of to the creep recovery occurring in the
the anelastic strain. Figure 6 shows that brief period of zero stress. I t will be
there is considerable anelastic shortening shown that this tail disappears when the
at zero stress; and there will be approx- anelastic strain is subtracted off, leaving
imately the same amount of anelastic a plastic creep behavior that is a con-
tinuation of that prevailing before the
E 0.50 interruption, even for the period im-
mediately following re-application of the
0.48 load. These considerations, together with
.S
9 earlier results (4, 5, and 6) indicate that
046 more reasonable results can be obtained
~From Fig.II
by plotting the plastic part of the creep
044 rather than the total creep.
The anelastic behavior was determined
r
042
by a mehtod described previously (4)
o using creep recovery data like that of
Fig. 6. Figure 10 shows the creep re-
0402 -~l ol 'I 2 3J 41 covery data plotted versus log time, and
Log]0 Time, rain Fig. 11 shows the relaxation spectrum,
FIG. 10.--Creep Recovery Data Following 24 ~b, and the corresponding ~b' curve for
hr at 35,000 psi. unloading. The relaxation spectrum can
0.04
u/
0.03
V-' 0.02
0.01
0
-2 -I 0 I 2 3 4 5
Log107", rain
FIG. ll.--Relaxation Spectrum Corresponding to the Creep Recovery Data of Fig. 10.
lengthening upon reapplying the load be defined in terms of its relation to

(4). The influence of anelastic strain on the equation:
the result is apparent also in Fig. 9,
e = al(1 - e-triO + a2(1 - e-~1~2)
which is a magnification of Fig. 8 in the + aa(1 - e-tlra) + . . . .
neighborhood of the interruption. Figure
9 shows that there is a sharply-curved where ~ is the anelastic strain and t is time.
transient that corresponds to a high The equafionhas an infinite series of terms,
strain rate for about 4 rain after re- each having an infinitesimal as its coeffi-
applying the load and whose extent in cient and each having a relaxation time
terms of anelastic strain is about equal greater by an infinitesimal than that of the
LEQUEAR AND LUBAHN ON ALLOY STEEL 171
preceding term. The series is represented The relation between the two curves
by the graph with ordinate r which in Fig. 11 is that ai for creep recovery
is called the relaxation spectrum. The following 1440 min (24 hr) at 35,000
a r e a of an infinitely narrow vertical psi is a certain fraction of ai at the same
rectangle under the curve is the co- log r for creep under 35,000 psi, the frac-
efficient "a" of one of the terms, and tion being (1 - e -1440/,).a In order that
the abscissa to the center of the rectangle the calculated creep recovery curve fit
is the logarithm of the relaxation time the data as well as is shown in Fig. 10,
"r" for that term. Such a relaxation it was necessary to draw the relaxation
spectrum can be approximated by a spectrum for creep at 35,000 psi with
finite series when the elements of area an inflection point, as shown in Fig. 11.
0.0007
0.0006
0.0005
0.0004
0.0003
" 0.0002
o.o OOl
- 0.OO00
0.0008
O..ll= ~ ql)
O..C
.o_ 0.0007
O "U "~
_Q 0 . 0 0 0 6
r Ln o. ~ ~ ~,...~r'/T'~-/~//////////// B = Excess Anelostic Strain over ///~
,~ 0.0005 <~/--~
~/////////////////// that at t = 4 0 Min due to Applyinq ~ / /
~ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / " as ooo p s ~ at ,= o . . / / / ] ,////j
0.0004 ~ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / S ~ ////////////////////. +",
0.0003 ~Curve 0
/. ///~..
0.0002
~//'/////////////////. A= Anelostic $froin due to Adding" " / / / / / / / / /
0.0001 I0 0 0 0 psi at t =40 rain ////-
?; , ,,
0.0000 I00 200 300 400 500 600 700 800" 900 I000
Time, min
FIG. 12.--Schematic Diagram Illustrating the Method of Correcting for the Anelastic Strains.
have a finite width. Actually, ~b' is cal- Consequently the curve has the appear-
culated first from the slopes of the ance that it will eventually pass through
strain versus log time curve (Fig. 10). a maximum, a possibility that was con-
From this curve, ~b is determined by sidered unlikely from earlier tests (4).
dividing values of 4/ by (1 -- e-tZ/*), The measured creep curve for any
h being the load duration in minutes. particular time interval was corrected
After fairing the points so obtained, the for anelastic behavior by subtracting,
validity of the final derived ~b curve for the same time interval, the anelastic
may be checked by reversing the pro- strain resulting from all prior load
cedure, and the final ~b' curve is verified changes (see Fig. 12), as follows: first,
by comparing the resulting strain time 3 In this calculation, the fact that there was a delay of
1 hr out of 24 in applying the last 10,000 psi of the 35,000
curve with the measured one (Fig. 10). psi was neglected.
172 Sxrm,osIv~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
the amount of anelastic strain due to cess anelastic strain over that prevailing
each prior load change is determined at the beginning of the curve to be cor-
as a function of time beginning at the rected is determined by subtracting the
instant of that load change (curve D amount of anelastic strain prior to this
7-
6 o Data-Total Creep Strain
3
2
I
13
0.9 0 4 8 12 16 ~ 24
,.= m
~, .0.8
QI
0.7
F= o.6
=-
"e 0,5
o.4
i 0.3
0.2
0.4 _0.1
I I I I I I
0 I0 20 30 40 50_.,,,,,o,/
0.3 ~ - Time, rain
0.2
0.1
I 2_ 3 4 5
Time, min
Fro. 13.--Creep Behavior at 35,000 psi after 40 rain at 25,000 psi, 24 hr at 35,000 psi, and 5
Days at Zero Stress, 1000F. Quenched and Tempered Chromium,Molybdenum,Vanadium Steel.
Strain and Time Measured from the Moment of CompletingLoad Application.
in Fig. 12). This curve is obtained from time, from the whole curve, thus obtain-
the strain-time curve corresponding to ing that part of the anelastic strain (due
the ~-log 7 curve in Fig. 11, by multiply- to one prior load change) that appears
ing all the ordinates by the ratio of the in the interval of time in question (B in
load change to 35,000 psi. Then the ex- Fig. 12). Finally, all of these latter
LEQUEAR AND L U B A H N ON ALLOY STEEL 173
curves for all the prior toad changes are ing a long interruption before and after
added together, giving the total anelastic correcting for the anelastic strain, and
strain appearing in the time interval Fig. 14 shows the creep curve following
being considered (C in Fig. 12). When a short interruption before and after
this curve of anelastic strain v e r s u s time correcting for the anelastic strain. Figure
is subtracted from the measured creep 14 shows that the tail on the measured
curve, the result is the curve of plastic curve is due to the anelastic effects.
2.0
0 Data-Total Creep Strain

1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4.
,_c
_~ 0
I I I I I I i 1 .
~" 0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
B T i m e , hr
o3
_ 0.3
o
g
=.,7-
O.2
m
~3
O.I
0
| I 1 I I I
0 I0 20 30 40 50 60
T i m e , rain
Fro. 14.--Creep Behavior at 35,000 psi after 42 min at 25,000 psi, 22.4 hr at 35,000 psi, and 35
see at Zero Stress. 1000 F Quenched-and-Tempered Chromium, Molybdenum, Vanadium Steel.
Strain and Time Measured from the Moment of Completing Load Application.
creep versus time. This procedure was The results of all the tests are sum-
indicated to be correct from previous marized in Fig. 15, where the log of the
experiments (4, S, and 5). (For purposes rate of plastic straining is plotted against
of correcting the creep curve following the amount of plastic strain. The upper
the interruption, it was found to be suf- graph, for interruptions of the order of
ficiently exact to assume that the initial 89min, shows that the plastic creep rate
load was applied all at once, rather than is essentially the same after the interrup-
25,000 psi and 10,000 psi about an hour tion as before. The lower graph, for
later.) interruptions of 5 to 12 days, shows that
Figure 13 shows the creep curve follow- the creep rate is considerably higher im-
o--o 25 Sec at Zero Stress After 3.6 mils per in.
Plastic Strain
-4.4
t,--z~ 35 Sec at Zero Stress After 5.9 mils per in.
c q ~ Plastic Strain
~: -4.B ~e---o 35 Sec at Zero Stress After 4.8 mils per in.
b. Plastic Strain
.c_ -5.2
Jm,~---e- . . . . . ~ ....... ..e

Q.
i i i I L i I I I
L.
<_) 0 I 2 5 4 5 6 7 8 9
9-~ / Plastic Strain, mils per in.
-a -4.4 K
o ~" e---o 12 Days at Zero Stress
E. ~ ~ o - - o 5 Days at Zero Stress
"
I "~.. I;"~--'~--'~ " --o 9
0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Plastic Stroin, milsperin.
FIG. 15.--Interrupted Creep Tests at 1000 F and 35,000 psi. Quenched-and-Tempered Chromium,
Molybdenum, Vanadium Steel. Upper Graph Shows Tests with Short Interruption and Lower
Graph Shows Tests with Long Interruption.
-4.0 - o T i m e Rate of Change of Total Creep Strain

-4.2 - 9 Time Rate of Change of Total Plastic Strain
-4.4,
-4.6
-4.8 1
-4.0
.5 days a t
9~ - 5 . 2 ko~ Zero Stress ',~.~
~, -5.4
d -5.6
E-5.8 0 I I ~ l I I I I I
I 2 5 4 5 6 7 8 9
Plastic Strain, mils per in.
c
o
o'3
-4.0
-4.2 f
o -4.4
- 4.8 3.5 seconds

- 5.0 o t Zero S t r e s s
-5.2
-5.4 o ~ 2
-5.6 I I I I I I
0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Plastic Strain, mils per in.
FIG. 16.--Comparison of Results Expressed in Terms of Total Strain Rate and Plastic Strain
Rate Respectively. Upper Graph Shows a Test with a Long Interruption and Lower Graph Shows
a Test with a Short Interruption.
174
LEQUEAR AND L U B A H N ON ALLOY STEEL 175
mediately after the interruption than

04
before, and within the duration of the
f
test it does not fall to the creep rate that
0.5 would have prevailed in the absence of
an interruption of the test. The conclu-
0.2 sion from Fig. 15 is that recovery does
occur in quenched-and-tempered chro-
OJ mium, molybdenum, vanadium steel at
1000 F.
==
O
-.-,-----------7-,
I0 20 30 40
Figures 13 and 14 show that the creep
T= Time, min rate may be markedly different when one
= considers only the 'plastic part of the
'5
O.t6 creep than when one considers the total
creep. On the other hand, it is clear from
Fig. 16, which shows some of the results
o 032
expressed in terms of both plastic creep
rate and total creep rate, that the con-
0.08
clusion that recovery occurs is not
o Data-Total Creep Strain
9 Calculcoted- Plastic Strain
affected by failure to correct for the
0,04
anelastic effects. The conclusion might
have been affected if smaller loads or
00~ ~
"
O.5
e
1.0
i
1.5 2.0
shorter times had been used, so that the
Time rain
anelastic effects were a much larger frac-
tion of the total.
Fie,. 17.--Creep Curve for Quenched-and-
Tempered C h r o ~ u m , Molybdenum, Vanadium Figures 7 and 8 show that the creep
Steel at 1000 F and 25,000 psi. rate is constant over a considerable in-
Part 111"
of the
0.007 Port 1T of the Experiment !~. E xperiment~l
Part I
0.006
= 0.005
of the
Experiment
f
- 0.004 Elastic o 7 2 0 0 0 psi
o 9 Zero Stress Elastic
0.003
g
O
-a 0.002
~e Elastic
0.001
I I I I I I I I I I I
0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 I000 I100
Time, hr
FzG. 18.--Strain-time Curve for a Creep Test on Chromium, Molybdenum, Vanadium Steel at
800 F Interrupted by a Sojourn at Zero Stress at the Same Temperature.
terval of strain. This behavior was also Apparently, however, for chromium,
observed for the plastic creep during the molybdenum, vanadium steel at 1000 F
initial period at 25,000 psi stress, as a balance is eventually reached between
illustrated in Fig. 17.* For most metals strain hardening and recovery for a stress
0-5 I Total(Measured)
0.4
0.3
0.2
Anelostic (See Fig.20)
0.1
o F" = I I I l I ]
o I 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time, rain
0.9
Totol
0.8-
0.7
Ane/os Hr (See Fig 20)
I~ 0.6
~ 0.5
Plast/c (Calculated)
(,n 0.4
o.
0.3
o
020 I0 20 30 ~ 4 0 -60 70
Time, min ~_~,~""1"
2.0
Ane/ost/c (See Fig.20)
i.5
I.O ~ Plost/'c (Calculated
0.5
080 4
I ~
8
I
12
l
16
l
20
I
24
Time, hr
FIo. 19.--Part I (see Fig. 18) of a Creep Test Interrupted by a Heat Treatment.
and most testing conditions, the creep of 35,000 psi; and for the very small
rate decreases continuously during the creep rate at 25,000 psi this balance ap-
part of the test up to 1 per cent strain. pears to have prevailed from the outset.
- ~ Figure 17 is typical of all but one test; in that test the
The latter conclusion is open to some
plastic creep rate was considerably higher than any of the question, however, because the plastic
others, and the plastic creep curve showed some down-
ward concavity. effects are such a small part of the whole.
- 0.02
- 0 . 0 4 ~-
-o.o6 r -"'~ _
- 0 . 0 8 I- - ~"'~ ~ Q
-010 I I I I I I I I -I I I I I t ,t3
9 0 i 8 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I0 ii i2 13 i4 1'5 i6 i7
Time, min
h ).,
~_ _o,2r~ 06
~_ -o.,4hh
O( ~ ~ >
-oo2 -~ "% 0.4
._oo4 :Oo.E %
'6 - 0 06 " I t~. 02 ,~..,~'~- Plost/c ( C o l c u l o l e d ]
E ~
R I i I I I I I I
m -0. 0 -0.26~ _m 0 Z
4 8 12 ~6 20 24 28 32
-0.12 -o.zel I i i I J u ~._ 9
o -0.14, 0 4 8 12 i6 20 24 28 Time, hr
E
-0.16: T i m e , hr o p~
-O J8
o
- 0.20 I6 TolO/ (Meosued) ~ ,.-'w~
- 0.22 u ot~
- 0.24 ~-~
_o2~ 1-& o
-o28 I- "R.. 08 _
0.41 ~j..,.,~."~ Ploshc(Calculoted)
-~176 " , : , o , ~ _ _ V..*"
- 0.32 (- ~x-"-u.-mm,.,-,~ n n n ~O o o
- 0.34 I I I v~'~-ul O~rZ
_ _ i l I I t I I I I
0 I00 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 20 40 60 80 I00 120 140 160 180 200
Time, hr Time, hr
FiG. 20.--Part I I (see Fig. 18) of a Creep Test Interrupted by a Heat i ~ ' FzG. 21.--Part I I I (see Fig. 18) of a Creep Test Interrupted by
Treatment. a Heat Treatment.
178 SYMPOSIUM
The behavior at a lower temperature, Figure 22 shows the result of the test
where recovery does not occur, is shown represented as log plastic creep rate
b y a test at 800 F on the same material v e r s u s plastic strain. The figure shows
as those described previously (Figs. 18 that the creep rate after the interruption
to 23). This test was conducted in the is about the same as before and there-
same manner as those above except t h a t after decreases somewhat more rapidly
no temporary preliminary standard load than before the interruption. Thus, the
-2
I
~._~ ~1- Porl n : 800hr at
coc:~ Zero Stress
E .E - 4
i.z .__.
"6
g ~,-, - S
o _o
:.-1 o- Port I - 9 - - P o r t Trr ~
-aL
o.ool 0.002 0 0~03
PlOShC S t r o m , mils per m.
FIG. 22.--Variation of Plastic Strain Rate with Strain for a Creep Test .Interrupted by a Heat
Treatment. Derived from Figs. 19 and 21.
Creep Recovery During 800

-2 hr at Zero ;tress
c-
o -4
n-
o.
i-
o -5
O
-6 I I I I I 1 I t I I
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.2 3.6 4.0
Creep S t r a i n , m i l s per in.
FIG. 23.--Creep Test at 800 F and 72,000 psi Interrupted by an 800-hr Period at Zero Stress.
was applied (Fig. 18). Figures 19 and interruption at zero stress did not cause
21 show the creep behavior before and a weakening, or recovery; if anything,
after the interruption, and Fig. 20 shows there was some strengthening, or what
the creep recovery obtained during the would be called "strain aging" according
interruption. Figures 19 and 21 also show to certain definitions of the term (2).
the curves of plastic strain v e r s u s time, Figure 23 shows the results represented
which were obtained b y subtracting off in terms of the measured creep strain
the anelastic strains in a manner de- and measured creep rate. After the inter-
scribed previously. ruption, the creep rate decreases rapidly
LEQIYEAR AND LUBAHN ON ALLOY STEEL 179
from a value higher than that before the before the interruption, both the plastic
interruption to a value lower than that and total creep rates had become con-
before the interruption. When repre- stant in some of the tests at 1000 F,
sented in this way, the test results are as shown in Figs. 8 and 15; but Figs.
difficult to interpret in terms of recovery 19 and 22 show that both the total and
or strain aging. the plastic creep rates before the inter-
I t is interesting to compare the curva- ruption decrease rapidly at 800 F.
ture of the creep curves, or the manner Although recovery influences creep,
in which the creep rate decreases, for it obviously does not cause the creep,
conditions where recovery occurs and because there is pronounced creep at
where it does not. After the interruption, 800 F, where recovery does not occur.
the rate of plastic straining was usually
constant if recovery had occurred (1000 Acknowledgment:
F), as shown in Fig. 15, and even the The authors are indebted to E. A.
rate of total straining was constant after Smith, J. M. Smith, G. R. Cornell, and
a brief period (Fig. 8); but when re- B. J. Drummond for assistance in con-
covery did not occur (800 F), the plastic ducting the tests and making the cal-
creep rate after the interruption ex- culations. This work received support
hibited a continuous and marked de- from the Flight Research Laboratory,
crease, as shown in Figs. 21 and 22. Even Wright Air Development Center.
RE~'ERENCES
(1) T. V. Cherlan, P. Pietrokowski, and ]. E. (4) J. D. Lubahn, "The Influence of Stress
Dorn, "Some Observations on the Re- and Time on Creep Recovery," General
covery of Cold-Worked Aluminum," Trans-
actions, Am. Inst. Mining and Metallurgical Electric Research Lab. Report RL-591.
Engrs., Vol. 185 (J. Metals 1,948, 1949). (5) J. D. Lubahn, "The Influence of Anelasticity
(2) J. D. Lubahn, "Strain Aging Effects," on Tension, Creep, and Relaxation," G. E.
Transactions Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 44, pp. Research Lab. Report RL-623.
643-666 (1952). (6) J. D. Lubahn, "The Boundary Between
(3) J. D. Lubahn, "Creep of Metals," Am. Soc.
Metals Symposium. Cold Working of Metals Anelasfic and Plastic Behavior," G. E.
(1949). Research Lab. Report RL-644.
DISCUSSION
MI~. M. J. MA~jOlm~.I--Mr. Lubahn some process that decreases the strength

should be congratulated on a more strict or load-carrying capacity.
definition of the term "recovery." It has One more distinction is necessary in
been used during the past decade to order to separate recovery clearly from
mean several things. The redefinition other metallurgical changes which result
here should clarify the discussion of this in softening. There are certain metal-
paper and separate "recovery" from the lurgical changes, such as overaging,
anelastic effect described in the paper. overtempering and grain growth, which
As a second comment, will references will proceed whether plastic strain is
4, 5, and 6 become more generally avail- present in the metal or not. Furthermore,
able so that they might be studied? in these processes it is possible to follow
MR. J. D. LImAHN (author).--Regard- the changes metallographically, at least
ing Mr. Manjoine's first comment about in the more advanced stages. Recovery,
recovery, I would like to point out that on the other hand, does not occur until
there is not only a need for redefining there is some plastic strain and, further-
" r e c o v e r y " ill a more specific fashion, more, cannot be followed metallographi-
but also it is important to distinguish cally except possibly under certain very
carefully between "recovery" and favorable conditions (polygonization).
"creep recovery." Thus, I envision recovery, for the time
The term "creep recovery" is generally being, as a loss of strain hardening.
taken to mean the gradual shortening References 4, 5, and 6 will appear in
that takes place after a decrease in the Vol. 45 (1953) of the ASM Transactions
creep load or after complete removal of as a single paper entitled " T h e R61e of
the creep load. Thus, creep recovery is Anelasticity in Creep, Tension, and Re-
a length change appearing during some laxation Behavior."
interval of time following a decrease in MR. J. GLEN2 (by letter).--Many years
load. ago a theory of creep was put forward
"Recovery," as used in the paper, re- suggesting that the creep was due to a
fers to a metallurgical change--a change balance between strain hardening and
in the inherent nature of the metal or recovery. Although the theory is too
in the arrangement of the atoms--that simple to explain all the observed facts
will occur in the absence of stress. Al- it appears from the present paper that
though we are not in a position at the strain hardening and recovery do play
present time to say what the nature of
an important part in the creep process.
the atomic rearrangement is, it is possible
This is particularly true in tests at high
to define recovery phenomenologically as
i Research Engineer, Westinghouse Research Labora- SReseaxch Department, Colvilles Ltd., Motherwell,
tories. East Pittsburgh, Pa. Scotland.
180
DISCUSSION ON ALLOY STEEL 181
stresses. For this reason it is hoped that ing must play a part of lesser importance.
the authors will continue their work on For example, the writer has carried out a
these lines. One or two questions, how- creep test of duration 20,000 hr at a
ever, can be raised at this stage. stress of 13,340 psi at a temperature of
I t is stated that recovery does not 1038 F on a similar type of steel to that
cause creep because pronounced creep used by the authors. The total creep was
occurs at temperatures where no re- approximately 0.15 per cent at the end
c o v e r y occurs. In this connection, how- of that time and the creep rate had been
ever, should not a distinction be made more or less steady after a period of
between transient creep and steady rate about 5000 hr. I t so happened that this
creep? At a low temperature if a stress test was interrupted after about 15,000
exceeding the elastic limit of the metal is hr and was maintained at temperature
applied, creep occurs at a diminishing with no load for a period of nearly 48 hr.
rate and eventually ceases. This creep On reimposing the load, no change in
ceases because the metal has strain-hard- creep rate could be observed. In other
ened. At a somewhat higher temperature, words, no recovery had occurred.
however, recovery occurs during the Since it is possible to have recovery
creep test so that the strain hardening is when testing at a high stress and no
decreased. Creep therefore continues in- recovery when testing at a lower stress,
definitely. it is very important to define the actual
Since recovery occurs during the creep border line at which the change-over
test as well as during the time that the occurs.
load is removed, it is difficult to draw The writer would like to suggest to the
conclusions regarding creep rate before 'authors that recovery does cause creep
and after a prolonged period when the under certain circumstances. In other
test specimen is at zero stress. Thus, in words, if recovery is not taking place
Fig. 7 of the paper it is shown that after a then creep would eventually cease.
long period at zero stress the creep rate MR. L t m a m ~ . - - I am especially inter-
on reapplication of the stress is increased. ested in Mr. Glen's comments as they
If, however, the test itself had been car- are related to current concepts of the
ried out for the same time, surely the r61e of recovery in governing creep be-
same amount of recovery--if not m o r e - - havior.
would have occurred. I t is to be expected I believe the implications of Mr. Glen's
therefore that the creep rate would have second paragraph are that a constant
increased; that is, the test would have creep rate only occurs when there is
entered the third stage of creep. I t would rapid recovery accompanying the defor-
appear therefore that under these cir- mation, whereas the creep rate contin-
cumstances the third stage of creep de- uously decreases if recovery is absent.
pends on the rate of recovery which in
I t seems to me that this picture is prob-
turn must increase with increase in the
ably correct, or at least it appears to be
amount of creep. Some tests of this type
consistent with the results of the tests I
might go a long way to clarify the process
of creep and in particular to explain why have made so far. This point has already
a tempered steel may creep more slowly been emphasized in the paper.
at a low stress and faster at a high stress Mr. Glen mentioned that if the stress
compared with a normalized steel. were not removed, recovery would occur
At a low stress approaching that which in amounts equal to, if not greater than,
would be used in practice, strain harden- what would occur at zero stress. I agree
182 SYMPOSI~ ON STRBNGTII AND DUCTILITY O1~ M E T A L S
with this viewpoint and feel that the the recovery is very rapid, whereas
nature of creep should be studied using smaller recovery effects might very well
the concept that strain results in strain cause the creep rate to diminish only
hardening, while at the same time there somewhat less rapidly than otherwise.
is a loss of this same strain hardening This latter idea perhaps also accounts
with time due to recovery. for the statement at the end of the paper
Lately I have noticed two investiga- that "although recovery influences creep,
tions, which are too recent to have ap- it does not cause the creep . . . . " I think
peared in print as yet, indicating that Mr. Glen understood this statement as
recovery occurs more rapidly under stress implying that recovery is not one of the
than in the absence of stress, as Mr. Glen contributing causes of creep. This impli-
has intimated. If this is so, it would be cation was not intended; in fact, the
necessary to study recovery under var- statement just quoted includes the idea
ious small stresses which do not cause that " . . . recovery influences creep . . . . "
appreciable creep, in addition to observ- On the other hand, it seems clear from
ing recovery under zero stress. the experiments described that recovery
On the other hand, although recovery is not the only cause of creep, because
occurs under stress as well as under zero creep does occur when recovery is absent.
stress, this does not necessarily mean that I would say that the amount of creep
the creep rate will increase. In addition in the absence of recovery is not to be
to the recovery, there will also be creep considered lightly. Even though the creep
under stress which would not have oc- rate continuously diminishes (what Mr.
curred under zero stress, and therefore Glen calls "transient" creep), the
additional strain hardening will occur. amounts of creep are very large and con-
Consequently, I would say that whether tinue over very long periods of time and
third-stage creep occurs or not would are therefore of considerable engineering
depend upon the relative importance of significance. I do not believe that this
the strain hardening from the creep and transient creep actually ceases, even at
the recovery from the passage of time. long times. Recent experiments on copper
Although there may be an increase in indicate that even the creep which occurs
creep rate under certain circumstances, at room temperature never ceases, al-
even this increase will not result in a though the rate of decrease of the creep
creep rate higher than the initial rate rate is very rapid with strain.
(where there was no strain hardening in The 20,000-hr creep test at 13,340 psi
the first place). described in the discussion seems to in-
I think a fundamental difference be- dicate that the creep rate might be con-
tween Mr. Glen's picture of creep and stant over long periods of time even
my best current notions relates to the
though recovery is not occurring. In this
question of "transient and steady rate
test the no-load period during which re-
creep." I feel that the mere fact that
covery was allowed to proceed was only
Andrade's empirical equation for creep
has two terms does not require that creep 48 hr in comparison with a prior test
should be regarded as consisting of two duration of 15,000 hr. However, I would
physically distinct components. I think of say that under these conditions one
recovery as causing more or less loss of would not expect to find any additional
strain hardening, with sufficiently large recovery resulting from t h e no-load
effects to result in a constant creep rate period because it is so short in compari-
only under extreme circumstances where son with the duration of the entire test.
DISCUSSION ON ALLOY STEEL 183
The same situation occurred in the test the recovery at small stresses results in
described in the paper. Figure 8 shows a larger tendency toward constant creep
that an interruption of 35 sec after 23 hr rate than does recovery at a larger stress.
does not cause any noticeable recovery. This behavior might seem reasonable
This is a ratio of interruption time to when one considers that the amount of
prior creep time of 0.007, which is ac- creep, and therefore the amount of strain
tually greater than the ratio of 0.003 in hardening, is much smaller at low stress
Glen's test. On the other hand, Fig. 7 level; consequently recovery occurring
shows that when the interruption time is at a given rate is more easily able to
long compared to the prior duration of reduce this smaller amount of strain
creep, it may be possible to observe con- hardening to a negligible value. It is
siderable recovery. important to bear in mind in any com-
The tests described in the paper appear parison involving two such widely dif-
to lead to the opposite conclusion from ferent stress levels that the proportionate
Glen's tests regarding the effect of stress anelastic effects will be much larger for
level on the relative importance of re- the lower stress level and may mask the
covery. The comparison between Fig. 17 effects if not properly taken into account
and the early part of Fig. 7 shows that (see Fig. 17).
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
A N E X P E R I M E N T A L S T U D Y OF T H E S T R E N G T H A N D D U C T I L I T Y OF
STEEL AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES
BY J. GT.EN1
SYNOPSIS
The object of the investigation was to explain the effect of various tempering
treatments on the creep resistance of carbon and low-alloy steels and to eluci-
date the probable behavior of such steels during long-time service at high
temperature. It was suspected that the problem was related to precipitation
hardening since creep tests and tension tests carried out over a range of tem-
perature showed that an increase or decrease in resistance to deformation could
be brought about by different tempering treatments.
To follow up these preliminary tests true stress-strain tension tests were
carried out on a series of low-carbon steels containing varied amounts of man-
ganese and molybdenum. Similar steels killed with aluminum were also tested.
In the absence of manganese and molybdenum a maximum in the stress for a
given strain was obtained at about 200 C. When manganese was added a second
maximum appeared at about 300 C, and with molybdenum at about 500 C.
These maxima in stress are attributed to the precipitation of carbides during
the process of straining, the type of carbide formed depending on the testing
temperature and the alloying elements present. The influence of tempering is
also indicated.
To each maximum in stress there corresponds a minimum in ductility.
This suggests that the strain preceding rupture is also related to the precipita-
tion of carbides, in this case at the grain boundaries.
From these tests it was possible to explain many of the effects of alloying
elements on the creep resistance and ductility of steels under various condi-
tions of testing. It was concluded that the factor which largely determined such
effects was precipitation.
The importance of the phenomenon of many ways, from the practical point of
creep in metals at high temperature has view there are only two distinct require-
been recognized for more than 25 yr, but ments: first, material suitable for those
only within the last decade has research applications which demand a service life
on this problem been intensified as a of only a few hundred hours under very
result of the rapid increase in the tem- severe conditions and,'second, material
peratures and stresses at which high- which will give a life of 100,000 hr or
temperature equipment is being operated. more under less severe conditions.
Although the problem is being tackled in The modern gas turbine aero engine is a
tribute to the spectacular advances which
*Metallurgist, Research Department, Messrs. Col-
villes Ltd., Motherwell, Scotland. have been made in alloys to withstand
184
Copyright
Copyright by 9 by(all
ASTM Int'l ASTM Intemational
Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
GLEN ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF STEELS 185
very high temperatures and stresses for The development of a general theory
a relatively short time. Although many of creep would be of great assistance in
problems have to be solved in the devel- making such a choice, but, unfortunately,
opment of such alloys, there is no diffi- although much progress has been made
culty in deciding whether or not a new by physicists, particularly by elaborating
alloy has a greater creep strength than the theory of dislocations, the work to
existing alloys since tests can be carried date has been confined mainly to the
out for the full service life. study of the creep behavior of pure metals
However, to determine the creep or, at least, metals which do not undergo
strength of a new alloy intended for a structural changes during testing. These
long service life it is necessary at present theories have been admirably summa-
to carry out a series of "long-time" creep rized by Sully (2) and by Rotherham (3).
tests, the duration of each test being, of In all alloys of commercial importance
O,10
- O.
.E
o 0.05 0.2
"~
u~ f/" C/~urve Tre ot rnent 0.2 / j
rj / - , N950 C O,I ~"'2 (o)
2 N950 C+lOhr 650C I I
5 N950 C§ 650C 2000 4000
4 N950 C+IO0 hr 650C
I I I
400 800 1200
Time, hr
Fzo. 1.--Creep Tests on 0.5 per cent Molybdenum Steel. Stress 13,440 psi, Temperature 550 C.
course, much shorter than the intended structural changes do occur during ser-
service life. By an extrapolation such as vice at high temperature so that the
that used by Tapsell (t) 2 it is possible to theories of creep are of little assistance
deduce the stress-temperature curves for in developing new alloys.
various deformations in, say, 100,000 hr. Probably the first to recognize the im-
To obtain this information on one steel portance of structural changes was Bailey
in one heat-treated condition is a for- (4), who carried out creep tests on 0.5 per
midable task so that to test a whole cent molybdenum steel under standard
series of steels in such a manner is not conditions after tempering for various
practicable, particularly if each steel has times at 650 C. He showed that temper-
to be tested in various conditions of heat ing for a short time increased the creep
treatment. For this reason it is desirable resistance as measured by the standard
to know whether or not a particular test, whereas tempering for a long time
steel is likely to be an improvement on markedly decreased it. Since the creep
existing steels before carrying out an
resistance appeared to be related to the
elaborate program of testing.
degree of spheroidization, he also studied
The boldface numbers in parenthese refer to the list
of references appended to this paper, see p. 221. the rate of spheroidization at various
186 ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
SYMPOSIUM
temperatures by a careful comparison of whether or not the steel would improve

photomicrographs. In this way he was or deteriorate during service.
able to deduce the time at the service Bailey's work has been extended by
0.4
~4
c
lu
o
==
E
O
02
U)
I Curve Tre0trnent
I N 950 C
2 N 950 C+IO hr 6 5 0 C
3 N 950 C+50hr 6 5 0 C
4 N950 C+lOOhr 6 5 0 C
I I I
200 400 600
Time, hr
FIG. 2.--Creep Tests on 0.5 per cent Molybdenum Steel. Stress 8,960 psi, Temperature 600 C.
0.10
11
u
(D
=
.E
o
0q
//~,~" 2 N975 C + I O 0 hr 6 5 0 C
f
3 N975 C + l O 0 0 hr 6 5 0 C
4 N975 C+ 5 hr 6 9 0 C
5 N975 C+lOOhr 690C
I i I
2000 4000 6000
Time, hr
FIG. 3.--Creep Tests on Molybdenum Vanadium Steel. Stress 13,440 psi, Temperature 550 C.
temperature which would give the same the author (s) by carrying out similar
degree of spheroidization as a given time tests under different sets of testing con-
at 650 C. Thus, by knowing the effect of ditions. The results are illustrated in Figs.
tempering at 650 C on the creep resist- 1 and 2. I t will be noted from Fig. 1 that
ance he claimed to be able to predict tempering for 10 hr at 650 C greatly
GLEN ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF S~EELS 187
increases the creep resistance of 0.5 per creep resistance, and even prolonged tem-
cent molybdenum steel when tested at a pering at this temperature failed to cause
stress of 13,440 psi and a temperature a decrease. This has been confirmed by
of 550 C. These were the testing condi- Bailey (6). Testing at a temperature of
tions used by Bailey. If, however, the 600 C and a stress of 8960 psi gave simi-
tests are carried out at a stress of 8960 lar results, but when the testing tempera-
psi and a temperature of 600 C (Fig. 2), ture was raised to 650 C and the stress
the same tempering treatment causes a decreased to 6720 psi, Prolonged temper-
substantial decrease in the creep resisting at 690 C caused a decrease in creep
ance. Thus whether or not a given steel resistance (Fig. 4) after about 500 hr.
is improved by a certain tempering treat- The initial increase in creep resistance
0.15
J 2
i OJO
8
0.05
V i N975 C
N975 C+5hr 690C
N975 C+lO0hr 690C
I I I
400 800 1200
Tirne~hr
FIG. 4.--Creep Tests on Molybdenum Vanadium'Steel. Stress 6720 psi, Temperature 650 C.
ment depends not only on the degree of on tempering followed by a decrease with
spheroidization produced by tempering more prolonged tempering suggests that
and service but also on what the service this phenomenon is related to that of
conditions are to be. precipitation hardening. For this reason
To show that the above result is not hardness tests were carried out on the
confined to this particular steel, further test specimens after tempering. It was
creep tests on a 0.5 per cent mo-
lybdenum, 0.25 per cent vanadium steel TABLE I.--TENSION TESTS OF MOLYBDENUM-
VANADIUM STEEL.
were carried out with the results shown
in Figs. 3 and 4. Specimens tempered for Tensile Strength,
psi
increasing times at 650 C gave a small Treatment
increase in creep resistance when tested 2O C
i
[ 55O C
!
at 550 C and a stress of 13,440 psi. In-
creasing the tempering temperature to Normalized 950 C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 152 84 000
Normalized plus 5 hr 690 C ....... i12 448 66 080
690 C resulted in a great increase in
found that the hardness of the 0.5 per be obtained by testing a known precipi-
cent molybdenum steel decreased after tation hardening type of steel at different
tempering for only 1 hr at 650 C. Tests temperatures. For this purpose prelim-
on the molybdenum-vanadium steel inary tests were carried out on a steel
showed that the maximum precipitation containing 0.15 per cent carbon, 1.0 per
hardening occurred after tempering for cent molybdenum, 0.25 per cent vana-
IO0,O00
80,O0O -- /
m
\
" ~ UltimoteTensile
-~ X Strength
60,000 - \\\.
i
- \ \\
cn 40,000 - V, \\ \
ZO,O00
--Curve
~on, 2. ~Treo:
N950C
me:t
3.ond4. N950C+ 3 HR 690 C
I I I
200 400 600
Temperoture,deg Cent
FIG. 5.--Tension Tests on Molybdenum Vanadium Steel.
about 1 hr at 690 C and that more pro- dium, which showed a maximum in hard-
longed tempering caused softening. Thus, ness after 5 hr at 690 C. Tension tests
although the hardness of the steel had were carried out at room temperature
been decreased appreciably by prolonged and 550 C with the results given in
tempering at 690 C, the creep properties Table I.
at both 550 C and 600 C showed a sub- It will be noted that tempering in-
stantial increase. It was thought that creases the ultimate tensile strength at
some explanation of this difference might room temperature considerably but re-
GLEN ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY O17 STEELS 189
duces it at 550 C by about the same internal stresses which increase the re-
amount. This result appears to be of sistance to the passage of dislocations
fundamental importance since there is and thereby increase the elastic limit or
no suggestion in the literature on pre- yield stress. However, this theory has
cipitation hardening that such a result not been extended to explain the effects
should be anticipated. of precipitation on the tensile strength or
The original discoverer of precipitation hardness and, in particular, the fact that
hardening showed that an increase in the tensile strength may be lowered by
hardness occurred, and for this reason tempering, whereas the elastic limit is
it has been tacitly assumed by most increased. Such an increase in the elastic
workers on this problem of precipitation limit and decrease in tensile strength is
hardening that coherent precipitation experienced with many steels and non-
necessarily implies an increase in hard- ferrous alloys which are not classed as
ness or tensile strength. In fact a hard- being of the precipitation hardening type.
ness-time of tempering curve is a stand- So it may be that precipitation "harden-
ard method used to investigate the ing" is more widespread than is generally
problem. realized.
Most workers on precipitation harden- Since it has been shown that the tem-
ing have studied the form of the precipi- perature of testing affects the tensile
tate and there is general agreement that strength of a precipitation-hardening
the maximum hardening effect is ob- steel and since this phenomenon was
tained when the precipitate is in a par- likely to throw new light on the problem
ticular form, the so-called coherent pre- of creep, it was decided to investigate
cipitate, though there is still some the subject more fully. Besides carrying
controversy as to the exact nature of this out the tests at different temperatures,
precipitate. it was considered necessary to use a more
To confirm the above data, further accurate measure of the stress-strain re-
tests were carried out on another molyb- lationship. For this reason sufficient read-
denum-vanadium steel of the same type ings were taken throughout the test to
with the results shown in Fig. 5. As be- obtain the true stress-true strain curve,
fore, tempering increased the tensile since in this way the true stresses could
strength of specimens tested at room be compared not only at the elastic limit
temperature but less than for specimens but also at any desired level of strain up
tested at higher temperatures; at about to the point of fracture. A large variety
300 C the strength of the tempered speci- of steels containing one or more of the
mens was lower than that of the nor- more important alloying elements was
malized specimens. On the other hand, tested. All the results cannot be included
tempering was found to increase the elas- in the present paper, which is limited to a
tic limit at all temperatures within the description of the results obtained on a
limits of testing. This suggests that the few of the simplest steels in the normal-
elastic limit is a simpler criterion of pre- ized condition. The effect of tempering
cipitation "hardening" than is the tensile is considered briefly and will be elab-
strength or hardness. Now it is the elastic orated in a future paper.
limit which is used as the criterion of To keep the number of variables within
hardening in the dislocation theory of reasonable bounds, the investigation was
precipitation hardening propounded by restricted to a consideration of steels
Mott and Nabarro (7). This theory pos- with a carbon content of about 0.10 to
tulates that the precipitate causes high 0.12 per cent. This restriction can be
190 SYMPOSIUM O N S T R E N G T H A N D DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
justified to some extent as the majority of HEAT TREATMENT

high-carbon steels are unsuitable for use
Since a high normalizing temperature
at high temperature. To illustrate the
is necessary to obtain the maximum creep
effect of alloying elements the manganese
resistance in ordinary steels and since
and molybdenum were varied from less
one of the objects of the test was to cor-
than 0.1 per cent up to 3.5 and 1.5 per
cent, respectively. Finally, the effect of relate the results with creep tests, it was
deoxidation with aluminum was also in- decided to normalize all the steels at
vestigated for some of the steels. 950 C. This treatment also helped to
insure that a uniform austenite would
DETAILS OF E X P E R I M E N T A L STEELS be obtained with all the carbides in solu-
Most of the steels used were made in tion even in the case of the high-molyb-
a 35 kva high-frequency furnace and denum steels.
T A B L E I I - - C H E M I C A L COMPOSITION.
"
Molybde-
Steel Type Carbon, Silicon, Sulfur, num, per
perce~t per cent per cent cent
A H.F. 0.11 0.07 0.028 0.01

C
E
G
H
B.O.H.
H.F.*
H.F.*
H.F.
0,13
0.13
0.09
0.12
0.05
0.10
0.29
0.04
0.032
0.032
0.029
0.026
ii!! i:i 0.04
0.01
0.02
0.55 N
N
J B.O.H. O. 105 0.20 0.030 0.46 ~4
!i!iiii
K H.F.* O. 13 0.15 0.032 0.49 N
L H.F. 0.10 0.05 0.026 1.46 3A
M tt.F. 0.12 0.04 0.028 1.48 N
N tt.F. 0.09 0.16 0.028 1.43 N
B H.F. 0.105 0.10 0.027 0.02 8
D B.O.H. 0.095 0.07 0.026 0.05 8
F H.F. 0.105 0.18 0.028 0.01 8
* ?00-1b H.F. casts.
cast into 18- or 27-1b ingots. This mate- The bars were cut into 10-in. lengths
rial was forged to a 1-in. square bar. In and placed in an electric furnace which
addition, three steels which were ob- was controlled thermostatically. After a
tained in the form of 1-in. diameter bar temperature of 950 C had been reached
had been made in a 700-1b high-fre- and maintained for a period of 1 hr, the
quency furnace. The remaining three specimens were removed and allowed to
steels were obtained in the form of 389 cool freely in air.
diameter bars rolled from 80-ton casts of
TESTING PROCEDURE
basic open-hearth steel. These bars were
re-rolled to 1~ in. diameter. An analysis All the tests were carried out on a
was carried out on the material and 20-ton (British) Avery multilever tension
gave the results shown in Table II. testing machine. The test specimens used
To the three steels (B, D, and F) were 0.564 in. in diameter and were fin-
which gave a fine grain size an aluminum ished by grinding to obtain exactly 3 in.
addition equivalent to 3 lb per ton was parallel between the shoulders. The test
made. No aluminum was used to deoxi- specimens were screwed into connecting
dize the other steels. rods joined by heavy pins to spherically
seated inserts in the top and bottom of the stress-strain curve by drawing a
crossheads of the machine. Accurate axi- straight line from the point of maximum
ality of loading was thus obtained. load to the fracture point. Using this
For the room temperature tests, a method the stress at fracture was over-
Lindley extensometer reading to 0.0002 estimated by approximately 7000 psi
in. was attached to the gage length of when the reduction in area was high.
the specimen. In addition two dial gages When the reduction in area was less than
were connected to the crosshead of the 50 per cent, however, both methods gave
tension machine, one reading to 0.0001 in. nearly the same fracture stress.
and the other to 0.001 in. The test was For the high-temperature tests a fur-
then commenced at a straining rate of nace 15 in. square by 18 in. long contain-
0.015 in. per min, that is, the rate of ing a heavy steel tube to insure uni-
deformation o f the test specimen was formity of temperature was placed in
0.005 in. per in. per rain. As the load position around the test specimen. This
increased, simultaneous readings of load furnace was thermostatically controlled
and extension, both on the extensometer to-4-2 C. To carry out the test the
and on the dial gages, were taken until furnace was raised to approximately the
the extension was about 3 per cent. correct temperature and the test speci-
Straining was then stopped, the extensom- men inserted. The test specimen reached
eter was removed, and the diameter of the desired temperature within approxi-
the test specimen was measured at three mately 89hr and was maintained at tem-
positions. Straining was recommenced perature for exactly 89 hr before com-
but was interrupted at intervals to meas- mencing the test.
ure the load, diameter of the test speci- Since the purpose of the high-tempera-
men, and extension (on the dial gage ture tests was to detect fairly large ef-
reading to 0.001 in). This was continued fects, it was considered more important
until the test specimen fractured. to maintain a constant strain rate with-
The true stress-strain curve was calcu- out interruption rather than to a t t e m p t
lated by the method proposed by Mc- to measure the stress-strain curve with
Gregor (8), that is, using loge Ao/A or great accuracy. For this reason no ex-
logo L/Lo, where A0 and L0 are the orig- tensometer was attached to the test
inal area and gage length, respectively, specimen, the deformation being meas-
and A and L the area and length at any ured by means of the dial gages. The
instant. Up to the maximum load the strain rate was maintained at 0.015 in.
gage length remained parallel so that per min until the test specimen fractured,
either the area or length could be used repeated readings of load and extension
to calculate the strain. Beyond the maxi- being taken throughout the test. The
mum load log~ Ao/A alone could be used. load at fracture was measured as ac-
It was found that the stress-strain curve curately as possible. The stress-strain
from the maximum load to fracture was curve up to the maximum load was calcu-
very nearly a straight line, This was lated using loge L/Lo and a straight line
verified by all the tests carried out at drawn from the maximum load point to
room temperature. Since the stress and the fracture point. As confirmed by the
strain at fracture were known from the room temperature tests, this method
load at fracture and from the reduction gave a reasonably accurate estimate of
in area of the fractured test specimen, it the stress-strain curves and was adequate
was oossible to define the straight part for its purpose.
60,000
60,000
" 40,000
.J
20,000
593 C
I I I I
I0 20 30 40 50
Elongotion, per Cent
FIG. 6.--Load-Elongation Curves for Steel A (0.07 per cent Manganese).
,zq,ooo ir f
I00,000
j S i j j J
"~ 8 0 , 0 0 0
J
~n 6 0 , 0 0 0
40,000
_ ~ ~ 9s__-2~ - ~ -
20,000
_ 593_.C........ ~ -- - --
I
0.2 0.4 0.6 08 I0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Stroin
FIG. 7.--True Stress-Strain Curves for Steel A (0.07 per cent Manganese).
TESTS ON Low-MANGANESE STEEL it was found t h a t at temperatures some-

Using the m e t h o d outlined, tests were w h a t above room t e m p e r a t u r e the maxi-
carried out at various temperatures up m u m load was greater t h a n at room
to 650 C. Some of the load-extension temperature, t h a t is, the steel strain-age-
curves for the 0.07 per cent manganese hardened. I n the tests between 50 C and
steel A are shown in Fig. 6. As expected, 200 C violent fluctuations of the load
occurred during straining, giving a saw ried out at 482 and 593 C that the true
toothed load-extension curve. The fluc- stress at fracture was lower than the true
tuation in load died away near the maxi- stress at the maximum load. In other
mum load. words, softening or recrystallization had
When a saw toothed type of load- occurred during testing. Since sufficient
elongation curve was obtained, a smooth readings were not taken to define the full
160,000
140,000
/ \
120,000
./ \
,
'7D.,, I00,000
in
g
03 80,000
60,000
/ \\\\
40,000
20,000
I O0 2 O0 300 4 O0 ,500 600

Temperature, deg Cent
Fro. 8.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel A (0.07 per cent Manganese).
curve was drawn through it for calculat- curve, the indicated curve (hatched) is
ing the true stress-strain curve. The only an approximation.
stress-strain curves for steel A are shown In order to indicate the general trend
in Fig. 7. The tests at 50 to 280 C showed of the results more clearly, the data have
a rate of strain-hardening initially higher been replotted in Fig. 8, where the stress
than the room temperature tests, but for different values of strain has been
after the maximum load they were very plotted against the temperature of test-
similar. ing. The values of the strain and the
It will also be noted for the tests car- corresponding elongation and reduction
194 SYMPOSIUM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY Ot' M E T A L S
of area are shown in the Table I I I . I t coherent precipitate. For the present,
will be realized, however, that the elonga- therefore, it will be accepted that a co-
tion values can be used only if the corre- herent precipitate corresponds to a high
sponding stress is below the maximum elastic limit.
load. Since steel A has quite a high elastic
By extrapolating the curves in Fig. 7 limit at room temperature, a coherent
beyond the fracture points it was possible precipitate must have formed at some
to estimate the stress corresponding to stage during the normalizing treatment.
strains greater than that for fracture. Carbide is precipitated as pearlite during
Thus, in Fig. 8 hypothetical curves could the transformation from austenite and
be drawn at various strains. A few such as iron carbide particles from the ferrite
curves havebeen inserted simply to show on further cooling. Since carbon diffuses
the trend of the iso-strain curves more rapidly in ferrite even at moderate tem-
dearly. peratures, it must be at a comparatively
low temperature that precipitation be-
T A B L E I I I . - - S T R A I N , ELONGATION, AND comes so difficult that the finely dispersed
R E D U C T I O N OF AREA.
coherent type of carbide is formed. As
True Strain Elongation, Reduction of
loge A o/A per cent Area, per cent precipitation becomes more difficult, the
ferrite will tend to become supersatu-
0 = E.L. 0 0
0.001 0.1 0.1 rated with carbon.
0.01 1.0 1.0
0.05 5.t 4.8 Each test specimen was heated to the
0.1 10.5 9.5
0.5 64.8 39.2 testing temperature for approximately
1.0 63.2 89 hr immediately before testing. The
1.5 77.5
2.0 86.4 following explanation can thus be given
2.5 91.7
3.0 95.0 for the elastic limit curve shown in Fig.
8. At room temperature the elastic limit
is quite high owing to the presence of the
At this stage it would be well to give
coherent precipitate. With increasing
a tentative explanation of the results
temperature up to about 150 C, the elas-
indicated above before proceeding with
tic limit falls only slightly since no car-
the further complications which result
bide has gone back into solution. Be-
from the addition of manganese and
tween about 150 and 300 C, most of the
molybdenum.
coherent carbide goes into solution so
I t is well known that the elastic limit
the elastic limit falls sharply. With fur-
of a pure metal is very low and that the
ther increase in temperature the elastic
addition of soluble alloying elements does
limit falls relatively slowly since it is
not normally increase it appreciably.
little affected by solution of the more
Cottrell (9), however, has suggested a
massive carbide particles.
type of solution which is an exception to
In the above discussion it has been
this rule. He postulated that an alloying
assumed that carbide was the only pre-
element in interstitial solution tends to
cipitate affecting the elastic limit. Nitride
segregate round the dislocations to form
may have a similar effect.
an "atmosphere." The presence of this
"atmosphere" increases the stress neces- Although the change in elastic limit
sary to move the dislocations, that is, with temperature can be explained by the
increases the elastic limit. However, as amount of coherent precipitate present
will appear later this mechanism appears before testing, this does not explain the
to be only another way of describing a variation of the iso-strain curves with
temperature (Fig. 8). Since all the evi- place at a stress greater than that which
dence supports the conclusion that some would be necessary in the absence of
form of precipitation akin to coherent precipitation. At room temperature, how-
precipitation occurs during deformation, ever, carbon diffuses within the lattice so
it was considered advisable to assume slowly that equilibrium may not be es-
160,00C
140,000
\
.... .. / .~'~...Fracture Stress
- ,.o..~" ........ " "%

120,000
"-, \ \
9
I00,000
, \',X
O3 80,000
60,000
x
J o.o/
40,000
i ..... EL. ~ ~ ~
20,000
IO0 ZOO 300 400 500 600

Temperoture, deg Cent
FIO. 9.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel C (0.59 per cent Manganese).
precipitation in presenting the results, tablished during straining. This is shown

so that the various complicating factors by the well-known fact that after strain-
could be introduced without causing con- ing the hardening increases with time,
fusion. that is, more carbide precipitates. If the
On straining beyon d the elastic limit strain is high enough, so much carbide
at room temperature, the metal work may be precipitated during strain that
hardens with the formation of slip bands. no excess carbon remains in the ferrite.
During this process, carbide is precipi- As evidence for this, Balick (10) found
tated so that further slip can only take that Armco iron bar which was reduced
196 SYMPOSIUM
by more than 70 per cent by cold-drawing With increasing temperature, carbon

did not increase in hardness when aged becomes more soluble in the lattice and
at moderate temperatures. has less tendency to precipitate during
On straining above about 100 C the deformation. Thus, the iso-strain curves
excess of carbon in the ferrite precipitates show a maximum in stress at a certain
/ \
~6o,ooo / \
9 \
,,
140,000 ,9/
: L
~ 9
i ,oo,ooo ~~ ~ "~,,i\
~o,ooo ~ ~~
~o,ooo
o.oi
\ %~
40,000 ~ ~ " - -
20,000
9 \ 1"5
IO0 2 O0 300 4 O0 500 600

FIG. 10.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel E (1.5 per cent Manganese)9
rapidly in the initial stages so that the temperature. Under the relevant condi-
rate of strain hardening is greater than tions of testing this was found to be
at room temperature. When the excess about 200 C. Above this temperature the
carbon has been removed, the rate of precipitated particles are less effective in
strain-hardening slows down abruptly preventing slip so that for a given strain
and from this point to fracture is similar the stress decreases rapidly. Recovery
to that at room temperature. Due to and recrystallization tend to occur during
the reduction in the rate of strain-harden- straining, forming stress-free crystals
ing the specimen necks down. with the carbide in solution. This occurs
more rapidly the greater the strain and marized in ]~ig. 8. Similar tests were
the higher the temperature of testing, so carried out on steels C, E, and G con-
that at high temperatures the iso-strain taining 0.59, 1.50, and 3.7 per cent man-
curves tend to cross each other (Fig. 8). ganese, respectively. The method of plot-
200,000
lb
I
180,000 %
",-I ~Frocfure Stress
,oo,ooo
~., Nk ,
,oo,ooo oj---%:I
,~ 120,000
I00,000
80,000 .......-
60,000
%-
40,000
I
20,000
I00 200 3O0 400 500 600

Temperature, de(] Cent
FIG. ll.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel G (3.7 per cent Manganese).
EFFECT OF VARYING M A N G A N E S E ting the data was similar to that already

CONTENT described, so that only the final curves
are shown here (Figs. 9, 10, and 11).
The results obtained on steel A con- Comparison of these figures with Fig.
taining 0.07 per cent manganese are sum- 8 suggests that a second strain-age-hard-
198 ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF METALS
SYMPOSIUM
ening effect with the maximum at about iron carbide before testing is commenced,
300 C has been superimposed. Since the so that the elastic limit tends to be
first peak has been supposed to be due to greater than at room temperature. This
the precipitation of iron carbide and since is particularly true of steel G (Fig. 11).
the second peak appears when manganese Above this temperature the coherent iron
is added to the steel, it is logical to sup- carbide begins to go back into solution
pose that the second peak is due to the so that the elastic limit tends to drop to
precipitation of manganese carbide. a lower value. But' before testing starts
Manganese carbide (or a complex man- some coherent manganese carbide can
ganese iron carbide) is more stable than precipitate owing to gradual solution of
iron carbide, so that on normalizing it the more massive carbide particles which
will tend to form in preference to iron do not contain the equilibrium amount
carbide. However, whereas there are suf- of manganese carbide. Thus, the elastic
ficient iron atoms at every position for limit does not fall sharply to a low value
iron carbide to precipitate without diffu- as with steel A (Fig. 8) b u t depends on
sion of iron atoms, precipitation of man- the amount of iron carbide going back
ganese carbide would require diffusion into solution and the amount of man-
not only of carbon but also of the much ganese carbide which precipitates. With
larger manganese atoms. As the specimen steel G the amount of manganese carbide
cools further, a reduction in the rate of which forms more than compensates for
diffusion of manganese will inhibit the the amount of iron carbide which returns
precipitation of manganese carbide and to solution so that a maximum in elastic
allow iron carbide to precipitate instead. limit is obtained at about 400 C. A simi-
Thus, the elastic limit at room tempera- lar maximum would be shown for the
ture depends on the combined effect of lower manganese steels except for the
the manganese and iron carbides which effect of the coherent iron carbide.
have precipitated in the coherent form. On straining beyond the elastic limit
The rate of cooling during normalizing the behavior of the steels at the lower
is too high to allow the formation of the temperatures is similar to that of steel
equilibrium amount of manganese car- A (0.07 per cent manganese). But above
bide, but even so there appears to be about 200 C, where iron carbide shows
some association between the carbon and less tendency to precipitate, manganese
manganese atoms in solution, since on carbide can precipitate and being more
cooling to room temperature the carbon stable gives a peak in the stress-strain
is more highly supersaturated than for curve at a higher temperature. Thus, at
steel A (0.07 per cent manganese). This the higher temperatures, the stress for a
effect increases as the manganese is in- given strain is greater for the manganese
creased. This increase in supersaturation steels than for steel A, even in the case
of carbon is shown by a lower elastic of steel C which is very similar to steel
limit at room temperature and a greater A in its behavior at room temperature.
rate of work hardening. As is shown in Fig. 6 the stress on steel
As already stated the elastic limit at A fluctuated violently during straining at
room temperature depends on the temperatures below about 200 C. When
amount of manganese carbide and iron manganese was added to the steel this
carbide which precipitate in the coherent fluctuation in load took place as before,
form during normalizing. In testing at but reappeared between about 250 and
temperatures up to about 200 C there is 300 C, thus giving further proof of the
a tendency for further precipitation of existence of a second strain-age-harden-
ing peak. A further effect of the precipi- ments would show a similar effect. Mo-
tation of manganese carbide is that re- lybdenum was an obvious choice in view
crystallization due to strain does not of its importance in creep-resisting steels.
occur until a higher temperature than for Since molybdenum carbide is more stable
steel A. The recrystallization tempera- than manganese carbide and since there
160,000
\
/ k
t
140,000
/ //
//
///
120,000 ~~'~~\\'\
1.1.Froctufe
Stress
:~ i00,000
o
80,000
60,000
.... ~ ~
40,000'
20,000
I O0 200 300 400 500 600

Temperofure, deq Cent
FIG. 12.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel H (0.07 per cent Mn, 0.55 per cent Mo).
ture increases with increasing manganese is evidence that the rate of diffusion of
content. molybdenum is slower than that of man-
ganese, it was anticipated that a molyb-
EFI~ECT OF MOLYBDENUM denum steel would have a maximum in
Having demonstrated that manganese stress at a higher temperature than does
has a pronounced effect on the aging a manganese steel. In order to eliminate
characteristics of steel, it seemed logical the effect of manganese as far as possible,
to assume that other carbide-forming ele- two molybdenum steels with a low man~
200 SYMPOSIUM
ganese content were prepared and tested. rated solution, since molybdenum, like
The 0.55 per cent molybdenum steel H manganese, appears to inhibit the pre-
contained 0.07 per cent manganese, and cipitation of iron carbide. This effect
the 1.46 ~per cent molybdenum steel L increases as the molybdenum content in-
contained 0.11 per cent manganese. The creases, with the result that the higher
results are shown in Figs. 12 and 13. molybdenum steel (Fig. 13) has a lower
160,000
Fracture Stress
t40,O00
120,000
I00,000
03 80,000
60,000
O.Ot '~
40,000
20,000
IO0 200 300 400 500 600

Temperoture, de(] Cent
FIG. 13.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel L (0.11 per cent Mn, 1.46 per cent Mo).
On normalizing these steels, the equili- elastic limit at room temperature than
brium amount of molybdenum carbide the lower molybdenum steel (Fig. 12).
does not form, but a certain amount of On reheating for testing, there is little
coherent molybdenum and iron carbide change in elastic limit up to about 200 C.
is precipitated as is shown by the fact As the temperature increases beyond 200
that the steels have quite a high elastic C the coherent iron carbide precipitate
limit at room temperature. Even so, some begins to return to solution so that the
of the carbon is retained in supersatu- elastic limit falls as the temperature in-
creases. This fall in elastic limit continues tic limit, the molybdenum steels, like the
up to about 450 C, since molybdenum the manganese steels, show a second max-
diffuses so slowly that no appreciable imum in the curves of stress for a given
amount of its carbide forms during the strain, though at a higher temperature
half hour at temperature before testing. than for the manganese steels (500 as
Above this temperature a certain amount against 300 C).
160
/ \,
|40,000
|20,000
I00,000 / /
80,000 i
60,000
40,000 1
I
20,000
tOO 200 300 400 500 600

FIG. 14.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel J (0.51 per cent Mn, 0.46 per cent Mo).
of molybdenum carbide is precipitated The load on the molybdenum steels

so that the elastic limit begins to increase fluctuated violently during straining at
and reaches a maximum at about 600 C. about 100 to 200 C. This fluctuation dis-
In effect, molybdenum behaves just as
appeared at a slightly higher temperature
manganese does, except that its carbide
precipitates at a higher temperature than only to reappear markedly between 400
that of manganese. and 500 C. When molybdenum is present
Similarly, on straining beyond the elas- there is no detectable recrystallization
202 SYMPOSIUM
during straining even at a testing tem- hardening is caused by the presence of

perature of 650 C. molybdenum in solution in the steel, but
As already observed, the presence of it is now well-established~ particularly
molybdenum increases the Supersatura- from the work of Gensamer (11), that the
tion of carbon at r o o m temperature. presence of alloying elements in substi-
180,000
\ i. ~ / \
t6o,ooo /.o .--~<' \\
kx\ /// ~irectore Stress:
t40,000 "../
0.5Strain
120,000 "~----.___ _-i /
,oo,ooo o ~i..___ ~
q3
.ooo
60,000 / 0.0/
40,000
20,000 \
I O0 200 300 400 500 600

FIO. 15.--Iso-Strain Curves for Stee~K (L30 per cent Mn, 0.49 pe~ cent Mo).
Thus, on testing at room temperature it tutional solution in steel has a minor

is to be expected that the rate of strain effect on the stress-strain curve. Indeed
hardening will be greater for steels H it is probable that the effect of such
and L than for steel A (compare Figs. alloying elements in solution is even less
8, 12, and 13). This results from the than that suggested, since the work de-
precipitation of iron carbide in the slip scribed above shows that it is virtually
planes during straining. I t might be ar- impossible to test a steel without inter-
gued that the increased rate of strain ference from aging effects.
G L E N ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF STEELS 203
The above results clearly indicate that steel K (1.30 per cent manganese, 0.49
the effect of molybdenum is similar to per cent molybdenum), steel M (0.58 per
that of manganese--that is, as the tem- cent manganese, 1.48 per cent molyb-
perature of testing is increased the elastic denum), and steel N (1.24 per cent man-
limit passes through a maximum and so ganese, 1.43 per cent molybdenum). The
160,000 /
\
"x\ /, ~.-Frocfure Stress
140,000
120,000
J
I\
.== I00,000 ""~ o.____L~ , ~ \,
r
80,000 _J
J
60,000
40DO0
",.,.
20,000
I00 200 300 400 500 600

rernperoture, de(J Cent
Fro. 16.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel M (0.58 per cent Mn, 1.48 per cent Mo).
also does the stress corresponding to a results are shown in Figs. 14, 15, 16, and
given strain. 17.
With these steels the elastic limit at
STEELS CONTAINING BOTH MANGANESE room temperature is comparatively low,
AND MOLYBDENUM indicating that only a small amount of
Further tests have been carried out on precipitation of carbides has occurred on
0.5 and 1.5 per cent molybdenum steels cooling and that there is a large super-
containing approximately 0.5 and 1.25 saturation of carbon. Thus, on reheating
per cent manganse: steel J (0.51 per cent for testing, carbide, particularly man-
manganese, 0.46 per cent molybdenum), ganese carbide or molybdenum carbide
204 SYMPOSIUM
depending on the temperature, is pre- third peak at about 550 C due to molyb-
cipitated and obviates the normal drop denum carbide. Steel M (Fig. 16) is simi-
in elastic limit on heating. Steel J (Fig. lar to steel J, but the molybdenum car-
200,000
..... ....'"'[ ...... .....,

180,000 , ........ , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
",~-Froctgre Stress
, o,ooo ,,,,
~4opoo = \
- 120,000
i
cn IO0,O00
80,000
60~000
"'-.%
40,000
20,000
I O0 200 300 400 500 600

Temperature, dec] Cent
FIG. 17.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel N (1.24 per cent Mn, 1.43 per cent Mo).
14) shows a gradual fall in elastic limit bide peak is more pronounced. In the
up to 450 C and a slight rise at about case of steel N (Fig. 17), the precipitation
550 C. Steel K (Fig. 15) shows a slight is so pronounced that the elastic limit
peak due to precipitation of iron carbide even at 600 C is higher than that at room
at about 150 C, a second peak at about temperature.
350 C due to manganese carbide, and a The iso-strain curves for these steels
GLEN ON S T R E N G T H A N D DUCTILITY oF STEELS 205
show the effect of three curves with indi- one example. Samples of the low-manga-
vidual maxima being superimposed. nese, 1.5 per cent molybdenum steel L
Thus, the curves for the two steels J and were tempered for 10 hr at 650 C and
M (Figs. 14 and 16) show no marked tension tests were carried out at various
variation with temperature. The influ- temperatures as for the normalized speci-
ence of the manganese and the molyb- mens. Figure 18 shows the curves of
denum in increasing the stress for a given elastic limit and of stress at 0.5 strain
140,000
IZ0,000
J \ 0 5 Stra
100,O00 \\,,// - \
\
\
\
80,000
\
\\
\
\
60,000 "~, \
40,000
Curve
20,000
t and2 N950C
3 and 4 N 950C+10 hr 650
I I I
I00 200 300 400 500 600
FIG. 18.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel L (0.11 per cent Mn, 1.46 per cent Mo).
strain Can still be deduced by comparing for the two conditions of heat treatment.
the ~curves with those of the previous These results can be explained as follows.
steels. For the other two steels (Figs. 15 As already mentioned, the elastic limit
and 17) the evidence for the three peak at room temperature of the normalized
is more marked. steel is low because very little coherent
molybdenum carbide has time to form
EFFECT OF TEMPERING during the normalizing treatment and
As already indicated, it is not intended the elastic limit is due mainly to coherent
in this paper to discuss all the results iron carbide which precipitates below
obtained on the effect of tempering, but about 350 C. Since the carbide which
it would be timely a~ this stage to give formed during normalizing does not con-
206 SYMPOSIUM
tain the equilibrium amount of molyb- the normalized steel drops to a low value
denum, tempering at 650 C causes this at about 400 C, since this steel contains
iron carbide gradually to dissolve while little coherent molybdenum carbide.
at the same time a carbide rich in mo- With the tempered steel, however, the
lybdenum is precipitated. Some of this elastic limit at 400 C is still quite high
carbide will spheroidize during temper- because of the coherent molybdenum car-
ing, but a considerable amount will still bide formed during tempering. Above
be in the coherent form at the end of the 400 C the elastic limit of the normalized
160,000 / i"
/
/
/
140,000
/ i
~
120,000
,oo o o o
i / / / I f ' J
~ so,sos ~ -
60,0OO
cut "~176176
2 N 950 C 500 C
40,000 3 N+lOhr 650 C 20C
4 N§ 650 C 500C
20,000 9 Moximum Load
0.4 0.8 1.2

Strain
FIG. 19.--True Stress-Strain Curves for Steel L (0.11 per cent Mn, 1.46 per cent Ms).
tempering period. On cooling from the steel increases because of the molybde-
tempering temperature, some iron car- num carbide which forms during the time
bide will precipitate in coherent form so at temperature before testing, whereas the
that the elastic limit of the tempered elastic limit of the tempered steel gradu-
steel at room temperature results from ally falls owing partly to the effect of
the combined effect of the two carbides. temperature and partly to the re-solution
On reheating for testing, there is little of some of the molybdenum carbide at
change in the elastic limit of both steels the higher temperatures.
up to a temperature of about 200 C. At room temperature there is a greater
Above t h a t temperature the coherent degree of supersaturation of carbon in
iron carbide begins to go back into solu- the case of the normalized steel. Thus,
tion. Because of this, the elastic limit of on straining beyond the elastic limit, the
GLEN ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF STEELS 207
rate of work hardening of the normalized at about 200 C due to the precipitation
steel is greater than that of the tempered of iron carbide during straining. At a still
steel. This is shown from the stress-strain higher temperature the normalized steel
curves in Fig. 19. Even so, the stress at shows a second maximum due to the pre-
2.8
,# j
2.4
0# i p
.o /:.k,i
o
u. 1.6 ,
o
.E
ss~ ///
o
,,,.. i . i i
i
08 i ~~
f Hatched Curves For
j Alummium Killed Steel
, I I
ioo 200 300 400 500 600
FI6. 20.--Ductility Curves for _ManganeseSteels.
0.5 strain is greater for the tempered cipitation of molybdenum carbide during
steel because of its high elastic limit. straining. In the tempered steel, however,
For a much greater strain, which cannot most of the carbide has already been
in this case be attained without rupture, converted to molybdenum carbide so
the normalized steel would support a that on straining beyond the elastic limit
greater stress than the tempered steel. very little molybdenum carbide can pre-
Both steels show a maximum in stress cipitate. In other words, the rate of strain
hardening is low. The stress-strain curves ditions of testing. This will be further
for the two steels at 500 C is shown in discussed.
Fig. 19.
It can be deduced, therefore, that an TRUE STRAIN AT FRACTURE
increase in hardness or tensile strength In the work described above, attention
on tempering depends not only on the was confined to the stress values obtained
'1
" 1
2.0 I I I
/ i
I
1.6
t.2 I -
o
0.8
0.4 I , ,i I - I
I
,.,.......
t , | i
tO0 200 500 400 500 600

Temperoture, de(] Cent
FIO. 21.--Ductility Curves for 0.I per cent M n Steels.
coherent precipitate which is produced at a given strain. Apart from strength,

b y tempering but also on the rate of work however, the most important property
hardening, which may result from the of a steel at high temperature is its duc-
precipitation of an entirely different con- tility. In rupture tests at a constant stress
stituent. Since the results of short-time this is usually measured by the elonga-
tension tests vary considerably depend- tion at fracture, hut in tke present test
ing on the temperature of testing, it is it was considered that the reduction of
not surprising that the results of creep area was a more convenient and accurate
tests also vary widely under varying con- measure of this property.
By measuring the minimum diameter imum in ductility at about 150 C and

of the fractured test specimens, the re- that as the temperature increases above
duction of area was easily calculated and this value the ductility rises rapidly to a
converted to give the true strain. For very high value. Steel C (0.59 per cent
simplicity in the following discussion, the manganese) shows a minimum at about
true strain at fracture will be referred tO the same temperature and in addition a
2-4
/
2.0
~
IJ.
o
1.6
t/ /
"4 1"2
ID
0.8
S
0.4
I00 200 300 400 500 600

FIG. 22.--Ductility Curves for 0.5 per cent Mn Steels.
as the ductility. The values of true strain point of inflexion at a somewhat higher
at fracture were plotted against the tem- temperature, suggesting a second mini-
perature of testing and a smooth curve mum. With steels E and G (1.50 per cent
was drawn for each steel. and 3.7 per cent manganese) two distinct
Figure 20 shows ductility curves for the minima were observed.
steels of different manganese contents Similar curves were prepared for the
(the hatched curves refer to the alumi- molybdenum steels as shown in Figs. 21,
num killed steels which are discussed 22, and 23 for comparison with the corre-
later). I t will be noted that steel A (0.07 sponding manganese steels. In the 0.1
per cent manganese) shows only one min- per cent manganese steels A, H, and L
(Fig. 21), two minima are again observed, that, with the exception of steel A, each
the second one in this case being due to minimum in ductility occurs at a higher
the presence of molybdenum. In Figs. 22 temperature than the corresponding
and 23 for the 0.5 per cent manganese maximum in stress. This temperature
and 1.5 per cent manganese steels, con- difference in more pronounced the higher
2.4
2.0
r 16
"5
~o
0.8
0.4
I00 200 300 400 .500 600

Temperoture, de{] Cent
FIO. 23.--Ductility Curves for 1.5 per cent Mn Steels.
taining molybdenum, three minima are the manganese or molybdenum content

to be expected. The minimum due to of the steel.
manganese is, however, .masked bjr the Microscopic examination of sections
superposition of the other two minima, cut from the fractured test specimens
possibly because the effect of manganese showed that below about 300 C failure
is reduced in the presence of molybde- was by shear, whereas above that tem-
num. perature failure was more or less inter-
Comparison of the minima in ductility crystalline in character. In tests broken at
(shown in Figs. 20 to 23) with the max- a temperature above 300 C but below the
ima in stress (Figs. 8 to 17) indicates minimum due to either manganese or mo-
lybdenum, the fracture appeared to be Since there is a minimum in ductility

the typical cup and cone type ; but it was associated with each maximum in stress
observed that the fiat area at the center and since the latter appears to be related
of the fracture showed intercrystalline to the precipitation of a particular car-
cracks, ,nhereas at the sides failure was by bide during straining, it seems clear that
shear. In other words, failure was initi- the minimum in ductility is also related
ated by intercrystalline cracks near the to the precipitation of that carbide.
center of the test specimen and changed When slip occurs in a particular crystal
to shear near the periphery. In tests of a cubic metal like steel and reaches a
~.5
/ \
/ \
\ \
1.0
/
/
o
LL
-~ 0.5
Curve Treatment
I N 950 C
2 N 9 5 0 C+IO hr 650 C
I 1
200 400 600
FIG. 24.--Ductility Curves for Steel L (1.46 per cent Mo).
broken at a slightly higher temperature, grain boundary, it can normally continue

the area of intercrystalline failure in- into the next crystal since there is a large
creased and the depth of the cup and number of available glide planes and
cone decreased. At temperatures around glide directions. If, however, precipita-
the minimum in ductility, the fracture tion occurs in the vicinity of the grain
was completely intercrystalline and boundaries, it will interfere with the nor-
cracks could be detected a considerable real propagation of slip across the grain
distance from the main fracture. At tem- boundaries, so that dislocations tend to
peratures above the minimum, the inter- become locked there and a high interna~
crystalline cracks did not begin to form stress develops across the grain bounda-
until after the test specimen had necked ries. As straining continues and precipita-
down so that cracking and fracture were tion proceeds, this stress may increase
confined to a single plane. until a crack develops at the grain bound-
ary. The stress concentration set up at As already mentioned, each minimum

the ends of the crack will cause it to in ductility occurs at a higher tempera-
propagate rapidly so that the test speci- ture than the corresponding maximum
men fails. In this case failure occurs in stress. The maximum in stress results
partly by the formation of further inter- from precipitation within the slip planes
crystalline cracks and partly by shear. for which the atoms involved need only
i/..51 . . . . ~ .
140,000 \,
\
\
9120,000 """ "- _ k

/'01"'""-
-~ "x~!
~ FraCture
Stress
I00,000
!
80,000
tn
60,000
40,000 ""
20#00
100 200 300 400 500 600

FIG. 25.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel B (0.15 per cent Mn) A l u m i n u m killed.
The temperature at which precipita- diffuse a small distance. The maximum

tion has its maximum effect on ductility in ductility, however, occurs when atoms
is shown by the minima in the curves. diffuse through a much greater distance
At higher temperatures precipitation is to the grain boundaries. The minimum
less effective in preventing slip, so that in ductility should, therefore, occur at a
a higher strain is reached before fracture. higher temperature than the maximum
At lower temperatures diffusion to the in stress.
grain boundaries is slower so that a Although the above explanation serves
higher strain is again reached before frac- to explain the effect of manganese carbide
ture. or molybdenum carbide in causing inter-
crystalline failure, it does not explain the solution of the carbide formed during
first minimum in ductility due to iron normalizing and a simultaneous precipi-
carbide, since intercrystalline cracks were tation of carbide rich in molybdenum, it
not observed below 300 C. It is, however, leaves less molybdenum in solution.
possible that failure in this case is also Thus, during straining there will be less
due to a small intercrystalline crack. At precipitation of molybdenum carbide
160,000
140,000
-.-::':.'S~_..~\__ r~o~,,,?~S,re,s
120,000 "- "I'-. \ / l
/ "_,,
I00,0 O 0
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
tO0 200 300 400 500 600

FIO. 26.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel D (0.49 per cent Mn) Aluminum killed.
the temperature of the minimum due to both at the grain boundaries and in the
iron carbide the stress is high so that a slip planes of the tempered steel. For
very high stress concentration will exist both reasons it is to be expected that the
as soon as a crack forms, and rapid failure tempered steel will show a greater duc-
by shear may occur without the inter- tility at high temperatures.
crystalline crack which initiated failure
EFFECT OF DEOXIDATION WITH ALU-
being detected.
MINUM ON STEELS OF VARYING
In Fig. 24 it is shown that tempering
MANGANESE CONTENT
of steel L (1.5 per cent molybdenum)
increases the ductility at high tempera- Three steels deoxidized with 3 lb of
tures. Since tempering cat~ses a gradual aluminum per ton have also been tested.
214 SYMPOSIUM
These were steel B (0.15 per cent man- perature. In other words, precipitation
ganese), steel D (0.49 per cent manga- during straining causes steel B to work
nese), and steel F (1.53 per cent man- harden but to a smaller degree in the
ganese). All three steels were fine-grained case of steel A,particularly at the higher
in the McQuaid-Ehn test. strains.
The iso-strain curves for steel B are Iso-strain curves in steel D and F are
160,000 /
~-10 J~'~'>:'"'--/"-"
"l ~ \\ .FroctureStress
140,000
120,000
100,000
o)
Bo,ooo
u')
60,000
40,000
20,000
100 200 300 400 500 600

Temoerofure, deg Cent
Fro. 27.--Iso-Strain Curves for Steel F (1.53 per cent Mn) Aluminum killed.
shown in Fig. 25. I t will be noted by shown in Figs. 26 and 27. The most
comparison with the results on steel A notable feature of the results is that at
(Figs. 8 and 25) that at low strains there room temperature or above about 300 C
is no essential difference in the behavior they are little different from those for
the steels with no alumin.um (Figs. 9 and
of the two steels. At higher strains, how-
10), that is, the effect of manganese does
ever, and above room temperature, the not appear to be influenced by the pres-
stress on steel B for a given strain is ence of aluminum. Between these tem-
little different from that at room tern- peratures, however, the degree of strain
aging is reduced by aluminum as in the also occur. I t appears, however, that iron
low manganese steel (Fig. 25). Thus, with nitride precipitates at a slightly lower
the 1.5 per cent manganese steel the temperature than iron carbide so that
second maximum in stress is actually the first minimum is obtained at a lower
greater than the first. temperature. In effect there are two min-
In the literature there has been con- ima which occur at nearly the same tem-
siderable controversy as to whether car- perature and cannot be separated by the
bon, nitrogen, or oxygen is responsible testing methods used.
for strain-age-hardening (the first maxi- One further point to note is that de-
mum in stress), but within recent years oxidation with aluminum increases the
the consensus of opinion has attributed ductility, particularly near the minima.
it to nitrogen and to a lesser extent car- I t is evident, therefore, that aluminum
bon. As shown above, deoxidation with has an effect at the higher temperatures
aluminum considerably reduces the nor- which is not noticeable when comparing
mal strain-age-hardening effects, but has the stress obtained for a given strain. The
no influence on khe magnitude of the aluminum-killed steels, however, have a
second maximum in stress. Since alumi- much finer structure than the other steels
num precipitates nitrogen from the steel and therefore a much greater grain
as an insoluble nitride, it is evident that boundary area. For this reason the effect
the aluminum-killed steels show the ef- of precipitation will be less pronounced
fect of carbon on strain-aging and that and the ductility will be greater. In addi-
in a steel with no aluminum the first tion, it is possible that during cooling
maximum in stress is due to the com- and possibly also during straining some
bined effect of nitrogen and carbon. In oxide is precipitated from the steels with-
these steels, therefore, the first maximum out aluminum, thereby tending to aug-
in stress should really be considered as ment the effect of carbon.
two maxima which happened to occur at
approximately the same temperature. DISCUSSION
The ductility of the aluminum killed
Precipitation Hardening:
steels shown in Fig. 20 is considerably
greater than that of steels without alumi- Since the discovery of precipitation
num. The effect of manganese, though hardening by Wilm some 40 yr ago nu-
still detectable, is less pronounced. merous theories have been put forward
Comparing the curves for steels A and to explain the mechanism of the process.
B, it will also be noted that the minimum I t is only within recent years, however,
ductility in the aluminum killed steel B using improved techniques of X-ray crys-
occur at a slightly higher temperature tallography that a study of the shape,
than in steel A. In fact all the aluminum- size, and structure of the particles caus-
killed steels tend to show a first minimum ing hardening has been possible. It now
in ductility at a slightly higher tempera- seems fairly well established that the
ture than the corresponding steels with- initial particle formation, if it can be so
out aluminum. called, consists of the segregation of
Since the nitrogen has been precipi- atoms within certain planes of the parent
tated as insoluble aluminum nitride, the metal. These particles may grow and
first minimum in ductility for these steels form various transitional structures be-
results from the precipitation of iron car- fore they break away from the parent
bide, whereas in the steel without alumi- lattice to form noncoherent particles with
num precipitation of iron nitride will the structure of the final precipitate. I t
216 SYMPOSIUM
is agreed that w h e n the particles lose cipitate" formed may be merely a segre-
coherency the material softens, but at gate or some form of transitional phase,
what stage of the particle growth the rather than a true precipitate.
hardening is greatest remains controver- With regard to the tests in the paper,
sial. it is clear that steel L (1.5 per cent molyb-
From the work reported in the present denum) is of the precipitation-hardening
paper it seems clear that the hardening type, since the elastic limit and tensile
effect depends not only on the amount strength at room temperature (and also
and type of precipitate present before the hardness) was increased by tempering
testing, but also on the method of testing for 10 hr at 650 C (Fig. 18). It is also
and the criterion of hardening used. known that the hardening is related to
Thus, for example, if in a certain alloy the precipitation of a complex molybde-
the stress for a given strain is plotted num carbide during tempering. But the
against the time of tempering, the curve normalized steel in a test at about 500 C
of the elastic limit may show a maximum showed a much higher value of stress for
after 20-hr tempering at a given tempera- a strain of 0.5 than did the tempered
ture. If the stress at 0.5 strain is taken steel so that it is reasonable to conclude
as the criterion of hardening, the maxi- that precipitation of molybdenum car-
mum may occur after only 10-hr temper- bide occurred during straining. That
ing. Similarly at a still higher strain a being so, it may be concluded that the
maximum may not occur, since the alloy 0.5 per cent molybdenum steels behave
softens after the shortest possible temper- in a similar manner even though they do
ing time. By increasing the temperature not increase in hardness at room tem-
of testing, the change-over from "hard- perature after tempering. In other words,
ening" to "softening" will occur at lower precipitation is an important phenome-
values of strain. Since deformation may non in 0.5 per cent molybdenum steels
result in precipitation, possibly of a pre- as well as in 1.5 per cent molybdenum
cipitate entirely different from that steels. It is only a question of degree. A
which formed during tempering, it is not similar argument could be applied to the
surprising that in the past very different manganese steels since the 3.7 per cent
conclusions have been reached regarding manganese steel G was known to increase
the effect of the initial precipitate. in hardness on tempering. Finally, it
In view of the above, and since there seems logical to suppose that precipita-
is little evidence in the literature regard- tion of iron carbide or nitride can also
ing the mode of precipitation in steel, it occur during straining, accounting for
is impossible from the present work to the first maximum in stress.
state the form of precipitate which causes The general conclusion, therefore, is
the hardening effect. that in steel a variety of precipitates
The only factor common to all pre. form both during heat treatment and
cipitation hardening alloys is that hard- during straining. Even in the simplest
ening seems to occur when the precipitate steel three precipitates may form,
causes strain in the lattice, that is, when namely, iron carbide, iron nitride, and
there is coherence between the lattice of manganese carbide. It will be realized, of
the precipitate and of the matrix. For course, that the exact structure of the
this reason, i n discussing precipitation precipitates may not conform to that of
the term coherent precipitation as used the above three compounds. Since the
by Geisler (12) was adopted. The "pre- effect of these precipitates will depend
GLEN ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF STEELS 217
on many other factors such as method of in tension occurs at a particular tempera-

manufacture, size of sections, heat treat- ture. This mechanism also explains the
ment cycle, etc., it is obvious that much oscillations in stress during straining.
more work must be carried out before an As already mentioned, it was con-
exact knowledge of all possible variables cluded from the evidence in this paper
can be obtained. that the mode of precipitation of iron
carbide is no different from that of mo-
Yield Point and Strain-Age-Hardening: lybdenum or manganese carbide. Never-
It will, no doubt, have been noted that theless, since so little is known about the
most of the steels tested show a well- mode of precipitation in steel, it may
defined upper and lower yield point as well be that Cottrell's "atmosphere" is
indicated by the fact that the elastic simply another way of describing the
limit at room temperature is higher than coherent carbide. Thus, it would appear
the stress for small plastic strains. The that the higher temperature maxima re-
elongation at the lower yield point de- sult from the formation of a double Cot-
creases with increasing temperature until trell "atmosphere" around the disloca-
at about 200 C no yield point can be tions, that is, an atmosphere of carbon
detected. and also of the alloying element. In any
A theory recently put forward by Cot- case, it is evident that all these phenom-
trell (9) explains many of the phenomena ena, namely, yield point, strain-age-hard-
associated with the yield point and also ening, precipitation hardening, are
strain-age-hardening, the latter, of closely related and that a single mech-
course, being responsible for the first anism may be capable of explaining
maximum in stress observed in the pres- them.
ent steels. In brief, this theory suggests
that solute atoms, particularly of the Creep Resistance:
interstitial type, tend to migrate into the Despite the many thousands of creep
vicinity of the dislocations, reducing the tests carried out every year, it is probably
strain energy so that an increased stress fair to say that no serious attempt has
is necessary to move the dislocations; as yet been made to explain the high
that is, the elastic limit is increased. In creep resistance of the commercially im-
steel, carbon and nitrogen atoms in solu- portant alloys. In fact, it is only recently
tion are said to form such an "atmos- that the dislocation theory has been ex-
phere" round the dislocations. Thus, if a tended in an attempt to explain transient
high enough stress (that is, the upper and quasi-viscous creep in pure metals
yield point) is applied to a steel test or metals which undergo no structural
specimen, the dislocations move away changes. Although it is not yet possible
from their atmospheres so that further to explain the creep of commercial steels
movement of the dislocations can take on a fundamental basis, the present work
place at a lower stress, that is, the lower explains some of the effects of alloying
yield point. If a small strain is applied elements on the creep resistance.
the yield point disappears, but if suffi- Some workers contend that high creep
cient time is allowed for the atmosphere resistance depends on the presence of
to migrate back into the dislocations it alloying elements in solution, whereas
reappears. If the temperature is increased others state that precipitation is more
above room temperature the atmospheres important. Having demonstrated in this
re-form more rapidly so that a maximum paper that the tensile properties depend
218 SYMPOSIUM
on the effect of precipitation before and persists to a higher temperature. I t is

during straining, it is suggested that pre- less well known that manganese is also
cipitation is also one of the most impor- essential to the creep resistance of a mo-
tant factors in creep resistance. lybdenum steel, and it is therefore for-
Pure iron has a low elastic limit and tunate that it is added for other reasons.
tensile strength even at room tempera- For example, if steel H (0.07 per cent
ture and creeps rapidly under low stresses manganese 0.55 per cent molybdenum)
at a temperature not much higher. If a in the normalized condition is tested at
little carbon is added to the iron, the 500 C, the test specimen creeps rapidly in
elastic limit and tensile strength are the initial stages since there is little co-
raised considerably and iron carbide pre- herent iron carbide present at this tem-
cipitates during deformation. Thus, the perature and most of the molybdenum is
steel should have a considerable creep still in solution. During testing, however,
resistance up to a temperature exceeding molybdenum carbide can precipitate so
the first maximum in stress, that is, about that the creep rate slows down. If, how-
200 C. If the steel is not deoxidized with ever, a test at the same stress is carried
aluminum, nitrogen will also contribute out at 550 C, a considerable amount of
to the creep resistance. molybdenum carbide can precipitate in
Regarding the effect of manganese, the the interval before the load is applied.
author has shown in a previous paper (13) This reduces the amount of creep in the
that when this element is added to a 0.1 initial stages of the test below that in
per cent carbon steel the creep resistance the test at the lower temperature. If,
is increased. Most of the benefit is ob- however, the tests continue, the test at
tained by the addition of 0.6 per cent the lower temperature becomes the bet-
manganese, although some increase in ter. In an ordinary commercial steel the
creep resistance is obtained by adding presence of manganese carbide maintains
greater amounts. With manganese pres- the creep resistance until the molybde-
ent, the elastic limit retains a high value num carbide has time to form. I t would
to a much higher temperature than it appear, therefore, that apart from the
does in an iron-carbon alloy. Also, man- stress and temperature of testing the
ganese carbide can precipitate during shape of the creep curve depends on
straining. A third factor, which is absent three factors: (a) the amount and type
in iron-carbon alloys, tends to increase of coherent precipitate present initially,
the creep resistance. If the steel is in the (b) the rate at which further precipitation
normalized or as-rolled condition, the occurs due either to strain or to the tem-
carbide contains less than the equilibrium pering effect of the testing temperature,
amount of manganese. During the creep and (c) the rate of spheroidization of the
test there will be a gradual solution of coherent carbide.
this carbide and a simultaneous precipi- At this stage it is possible to discuss
tation of carbide rich in manganese. The the creep curves in Figs. 1 to 4, an ex-
latter is more coherent, and the creep planation of which was one of the pri-
rate tends to slow down as the test pro- mary objectives of the present work. In
ceeds. Fig. 1 showing creep tests at 550 C and
I t is well known that the addition of 13,440 psi the normalized test specimen
molybdenum to mild steel increases its deformed rapidly in the initial stages
creep resistance. The effect of molybde- because little coherent molybdenum car-
num is similar to that of manganese but bide was present. As already discussed,
GLEN ON STRENGTH AND DVCTILITY OF STEELS 219
the initial deformation would have been the lower temperature of testing (550 C),
much greater if manganese had not been a result similar to that of Fig. 2 would
present. After a few hours sufficient mo- be obtained by increasing the stress since
lybdenum carbide has formed to slow under these conditions the effect of the
down the creep rate considerably. The coherent precipitate present initially is
creep rate continfles to decrease until of less importance than the precipitate
the coherent precipitate is forming as formed during testing.
fast as it spheroidizes. At this stage the The explanation of Fig. 4 is similar to
amount of coherent molybdenum carbide that of Fig. 1 but with the precipitation
and therefore the creep rate becomes con- of coherentvanadium carbide as the con-
stant. When the rate of formation of trolling factor. Figure 3, however, show-
coherent molybdenum carbide decreases ing tests at 550 C and 13,440 psi requires
still further, the creep rate begins to further explanation. At 550 C the rate
increase, that is, the creep curves enter of precipitation of vanadium carbide is
the third stage of creep. The full curve is so slow that even after 2000 hr the creep
shown in Fig. l(a). rate is still quite rapid (curve 1). That
By tempering for 10 hr at 650 C before it is not more rapid is due to the presence
testing, more coherent molybdenum car- of the molybdenum carbide. Even 100
bide is found so that the deformation in hr tempering at 650 C fails to precipitate
the initial stages is less than that for the much vanadium carbide. However, tem-
normalized test specimen. But tempering pering for 1000 hr at 650 C or a few
has reduced the amount of molybdenum hours at 690 C results in the formation
available for further precipitation so that of sufficient vanadium carbide to reduce
the third stage of creep is reached more the creep rate considerably.
quickly than for the normalized test spec- At a service temperature of, say, 1000
imen with the' result that the curves cross F (538 C) the rate of formation of vana-
each other after about 3000 hr of testing dium carbide is even slower. In order to
(Fig. l(a)). By tempering for 50 hr at take full advantage of the creep resist-
650 C the initial deformation of the test ance of the molybdenum-vanadium steel,
specimens is once again less than that of it is therefore essential to give it a suit-
the normalized sample. However, so little able tempering treatment before service.
molybdenum is left in solution and is thus It is, however, advisable to use 0.5 per
available to precipitate as carbide during cent molybdenum steel in the normalized
the test that after about 50 hr the de- condition since tempering will reduce the
formation exceeds that of the normalized creep resistance at the higher service tem-
test. Mter 100 hr tempering practically peratures. Mild steel, however, is much
all the molybdenum is present as sphe- less susceptible to tempering. While tem-
roidized carbide so that the creep rate pering at, say, 650 C spheroidizes the
does not slow down appreciably. excess carbide, it has little effect on the
In the tests at 600 C (Fig. 2) molyb- amounts of coherent iron and manganese
denum carbide precipitates in the nor- carbide formed, since these are precipi-
malized test specimen before testing, and tated at a lower temperature during cool-
the greater rate of precipitation during ing either from the rolling or the temper-
testing insures that this test specimen ing temperature.
shows less deformation than the tem- It would be inadvisable to discuss
pered test specimens at all stages of test- creep testing at greater length without
ing. It is interesting to point out that at presenting more data than has been given
220 SYMPOSIUM
ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF METALS
in this paper. I t is to be hoped, however, constant stress rupture tests are carried
that the evidence is sufficient to indicate out at a higher temperature, diffusion is
the importance of precipitation for creep more rapid and the minimum ductility
resistance. occurs in a shorter time.
If the steel is in the tempered condi-
Ductility at High Te~nperatures: tion, the grain boundary precipitate may
be largely spheroidized so that during
I t has been shown that for each maxi-
testing the elongation at fracture is
mum in stress in the high-temperature
greater than for the normalized steel and
tension tests there is a minimum in duc-
may tend to increase as the time to frac-
tility at a slightly higher temperature.
ture increases.
Near the minima associated with manga-
Tapsell and others (14) have tested
nese and molybdenum, failure was initi-
0.5 per cent molybdenum and 0.5 per
ated by an intercrystalline type of crack.
I t was concluded that the minimum in cent molybdenum, 0.25 per cent vana-
dium steel in the normalized condition
ductility was caused by the precipitation
and their results agree with the above
of carbide at the grain boundaries during
findings.
straining. By tempering to precipitate
Tapsell's work has been confirmed by
and partially spheroidize the carbide, the
the author (S) who also showed that a
ductility at high temperatures was in-
creased since there was less precipitation normalized-and-tempered molybdenum-
at the grain boundaries during straining. vanadium steel has a greater ductility
than the same steel in the normalized
It is well known that in high-tempera-
condition.
ture rupture tests at constant stress the
It is usually stated that intercrystaUine
specimens often fail by intercrystalline
failure at high temperatures is a conse-
cracking after little elongation. It is prob-
quence of a viscous type df flow at the
able that this type of failure results, as
i n the tension tests, from precipitation grain boundaries which gives rise to a
high stress concentration at the junction
at the grain boundaries. That is to say,
of the grain boundaries. However, inter-
in a test on a normalized steel, iron-rich
crystalline failure does not limit the use
carbide is dissolving at the same time as
of metals at high temperatures unless it
carbide rich in alloying elements is pre-
is accompanied by low elongation. A nec-
cipitating. It is to be expected, therefore,
that just as in the tension tests there is a essary cause of such low elongation,
which has so far been neglected, appears
temperature for which the ductility is a
to be precipitation at the grain bound-
minimum, so in rupture tests there would
aries.
be a stress for which the ductility is a
minimum. Since the higher the constant Acknowledgment:
applied stress, the lower is the time to The author gratefully acknowledges
fracture, there would be a certain time the constructive criticism of his col-
to fracture for which the ductility is a leagues in the presentation of the paper.
minimum. I f the time to fracture is He also desires to express his thanks to
shorter, the precipitation at the given Mr. W. Barr, Executive Director and
boundaries is less, being limited by the Chief Metallurgist, Messrs. Colvilles
rate of diffusion. If the time to fracture Ltd., for his continued encouragement
is longer, the precipitate at the grain and advice and to him and his fellow
boundaries is able to spheroidize. In ei- Directors for permission to publish this
ther case the ductility is increased. If the paper.
REFEI%ENCE S
(1) H. J. Tapsell, "Creep Properties of Steels Tensile Test--its Role in Modern Materials
Ufilised in High Pressure and High Tem- Testing," Journal, Franklin Institute, Vol.
perature Superheater and Steam Pipe Prac- 238, p. 111 (1944).
tice, Part 1, Carbon Steels," Proceedings, (9) A. H. V. Cottrell and M. A. Jaswin, "Dis-
Inst. Mechanical Engrs., Vol. 151, p. 54 tribution of Solid Atoms Round a Slow
(1944). Dislocation," Proceedings, Royal Soc., Vol.
(2) A. H. Sully, "Metallic Creep," Butter- 199, p. 104 (1949).
worth, London (1949). (I0) M. Balieki, "A Study of Work Hardening
(3) L. Rotherham, "Creep of Metals," Inst. and Reannealing of Iron," Journal, Iron"
Physics, London (1951). and Steel Inst., Vol. 1, p. 181 (1945).
(4) R. W. Bailey, "Utilisation of Creep Test (11) M. Gensamer, "Strength and Ductility,"
Data in Engineering Design," Proceedings, Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 36,
Mechanical Engrs., Vol. 131, p. 145 (1935). No. 1, p. 30 (1946).
(5) J. Glen, "Creep Properties of Molybdenum- (12) A. H. Geisler, "Property Changes during
Chromium-Molybdenum and Molybde- Ageing," Transactions, Mining and Metal-
num-Vanadium Steels," Journal, Iron and lurgical Engrs., Vol. 180, p. 230 (1949).
Steel Inst., Vol. 158, p. 37 (1948). (13) J. Glen, "Abnormal Creep in Carbon
(6) R. W. Bailey, Discussion on (5) above, Steels," Journal, Iron and Steel Inst., Vol.
Journal, Iron and Steel Inst., Voh 160, p. 155, p. 501 (1947).
147 (1948). (14) H. J. Tapsell, C. A. Bristow, and C. H. M.
(7) N. F. Mott and F. R. N. Nabarro, "An Jenkins, "The Properties and the Mode of
Attempt to Estimate the Degree of Pre- Rupture of a Molybdenum and a Molyb-
cipitation Hardening with a Simple Model," denum-vanadium Steel Judged from Pro-
Proceedings, Physical Soc., Vol. 52, p. 86 longed Creep Tests to Fracture," Proceed-
(1940). ings, Mechanical Engrs., Vol. 146, p. 208
(8) C. W. McGregor, "The True-stress-strain (1941).
DISCUSSION
l
M e . M. J. MANJOlNE.1--The a u t h o r ' s occurs at the higher rates of strain or
curves are reminiscent of those described lower temperatures, zone 4.
in a paper in 1950 entitled " E f f e c t of If the material contains other d e m e n t s
R a t e of Strain on the Flow Stress of Gas which cause metallurgical changes, then
I
;~ 2 -= 3 -i= 4 , ~-!= s ~
i -] -, ~ , I /
I i i X
1 I / /.
I
I I i
/ t<? ..
IA~--IVon_ Ag/}Tg
I I I/..-- or -
] ] J~'-- Pure Metal
I o.<,.,,.o /<O,_.
J Decreasing FailureTime~ , (-Log Tf)
FIC. 28.--Characteristic Flow-Stress Curve for Metals.
T u r b i n e Alloys at 1200 and 1500 F. ''2 the effect will appear on the flow-stress
The characteristic fllow-stress curve for curve. If the diffusion of a particular
metals is given in the accompanying Fig. element is slower t h a n t h a t of carbon, the
28, where the yield stress at a particular effect will appear at a lower rate, such
strain is p l o t t e d as a function of log of as zone 2. For each element present which
the strain rate or of decreasing tempera- causes a metallurgical change, a similar
ture. F o r a carbon steel the aging peak " k n e e " will occur and its relative position
will depend on its rate of diffusion. T h e
i Research Engineer, Westinghouse Research Labora-
tories, East Pittsburgh, Pa. slower the diffusion of an element the
2M. J. Manjoine,Proceedings,Am. Soc.TestingMats.,
Vol. 50, p. 931 (1950). lower will be the strain rate at which its
222
DISCUSSION ON STRENGTHAND DUCTILITY OF STEELS 223
effect will be observed since the time out in collaboration with the De Havil-
available for diffusion increases as the land Engine Co., Ltd., who as early as
strain rate is decreased. In the figure it is 1941 used a Hadfield ferritic disk in their
shown that the abscissa scale can be Goblin engine. In recent years the de-
changed from log strain rate to decreas- velopment of stainless ferritic alloys, the
ing temperature. The characteristic curve expansion of the defense programs, and
with decreasing temperature as abscissa the shortage of strategic alloys has fo-
can then be seen to be the mirror image cussed general attention in Great Britain
of many of the curves given in the paper on this type of alloy. We welcome, there-
by Mr. Glen. fore, this contribution to the study of
MI~. J. GLEN (author).--Mr. Manjoine the mechanisms involved in high-tem-
has quite rightly pointed out that varia- perature deformation of these materials.
tion in the rate of straining acts in the In Hadfields' laboratories a creep test
same way as variation in temperature. I of 1000 hr at 600 C under a stress of
think, however, that this is made fairly 17,920 psi is employed adopting the total
clear in the text of the paper. I would deformation as a criterion of the resist-
like to point out, however, that in study- ance; correlation of the results obtained
ing this problem, temperature is a much on different compositions has indicated
more convenient basis since it is impos- the extreme importance of the amount,
sible to obtain a constant rate of strain- size, and distribution of the carbide
ing up to the point of fracture due to phase. 4 It is also apparent that the par-
necking of the test specimen. The real tition of an added element between the
difficulty, of course, in this whole prob- carbide and matrix phases is of consider-
lem arises from the fact that in the com- able significance, and it is unfortunate
plex steels used in practice several pre- that Mr. Glen does not discuss the influ-
cipitates may form, and since these all ence of manganese and molybdenum on
precipitate at different rates depending the matrix. It is apparent also from our
on the temperature, it would be very work that the best creep resistance is
easy to spend a lifetime studying this obtained where carbides, having a cubic
one aspect of the problem. I am pleased structure of the NaC1 type, are present
to note that the results which Mr. Man- in the steel. It would be of great interest
joine quotes serve to implement the main to see this hot tension technique applied
conclusions of this paper. to titanium, vanadium, and coiumbinm.
MI~. J. R. RAIT~ (by Ietter).--For many Austin, Lindsay, and St. John in their
years Hadfields Ltd., Sheffield, have been paper "Pure Binary Ferrites ''5 show a
producing both austenitic and ferritic clear and marked improvement in creep
alloys for high-temperature service. resistance of ferrite due to the effect of
While the continued search for improved manganese or molybdenum in solid solu-
alloys carried out in their research labo- tion. In unpublished work carried out in
ratories has covered both types of alloy, Hadfields' laboratories on complex fer-
it has always been considered that a rites containing chromium, manganese,
major improvement could be achieved in molybdenum, and silicon, significant
the ferritic type, with its obvious advan- strengthening of the ferritic matrix due
tages of economy in alloys and relative to manganese and molybdenum has been
ease of production. 4 E. W. Colbeck and J. R. Rait, "Creep Resisting Fer-
Substantial progress in this direction ritic Steels," Symposium on High Temperature Steels and
Alloys for Gas Turbines, Iron and Steel Inst., Special
resulted from the pioneer work carried Report No. 43, Feb., 1951,
s C. R. Austin, C. R. St. John and R. W. Lindsay, Tech,
* Local Director, Hadfie]ds Ltd., Sheffield, England. Pub. No. 1837, Am. Inst. Mining and Met. Engrs. (1945),
224 ON STRENCTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
SYMPOSIUM
observed. While ferrite strengthening With regard to the question of ferrite

does not invalidate the conclusions ar- strength, it is admitted that manganese
rived at by Mr. Glen, it is important to and molybdenum in solid solution in-
consider the partition of alloys between crease the strength, but it seems that the
carbide and ferrite phases when consider- increased strengthening effect of these
ing high-temperature properties. elements in solid solution is only of the
In the creep test a further complication second order compared with their effect
may arise due to isothermal reaction in as carbides. However, the presence of
the carbides themselves affecting long- alloying elements in solid solution may
term behavior. However, insufficient have quite a large effect on the rate of
data are at present available to define diffusion of carbon. Thus it is very diffi-
this effect adequately. The three items, cult to make a clear-cut distinction be-
partition of elements between carbide tween the effect of an element on the
and ferrite, effect of added elements on matrix and its effect on the carbide phase.
the hot strength of the ferrite, and iso- The third point raised by Mr. Rait
thermal reactions in the carbide phase, concerns the effect of long time at the
must necessarily be assessed before fore- service temperature on the carbides. It
casting long-term creep characteristics appears, however, to be a general rule
from data provided by this high tension that the carbide which forms at the high-
technique. Nevertheless there are many est temperature on straining is the one
service applications where hot tension which is most resistant to tempering, and
tests can afford a reliable guide to the therefore that it will be the best for
utility of a material and the technique ensuring long-time creep resistance. For
will certainly give a clear and valuable example the creep properties of a molyb-
indication of shorter term behavior. denum steel can be destroyed by pro-
We would close by congratulating Mr. longed tempering at 650 C, whereas a
Glen on a unique and closely reasoned molybdenum-vanadium steel can be tem-
paper which has certainly stimulated our pered at 700 C for many hours and the
thoughts on the subject and we should long-time creep resistance is improved.
be glad to receive his comments on the Prolonged tempering above 700 C is nec-
three factors we have discussed. essary to lower the creep resistance of
MR. GLEN.--Mr. Rait's work shows molybdenum-vanadium steel. Similarly
that carbides with a cubic structure give molybdenum-vanadium steel containing
the best creep resistance. While this may titanium can be tempered at a tempera-
be so, the work we have carried out sug- ture as high as 775 C for 20 hr without
gests that the carbide which forms at the
impairing the creep resistance.
highest temperature is the one which
In conclusion it might be added that
gives the best creep properties. For ex-
the level of strength obtained in a hot
ample further tests carried out by the
tension test is not of itself a reliable guide
author indicate that vanadium has a
strain aging effect at a higher tempera- to long-term behavior, and certainly it is
ture than does molybdenum and that a not implied in the paper that this test
molybdenum-vanadium steel has better can be used for forecasting the long-term
creep resistance. Similarly titanium and creep characteristics. The hot tension
columbium form carbides at a still higher test, however, can be used to determine
temperature and further improve the whether or not a particular element forms
creep resistance, although it is necessary a precipitate at a high temperature. In
to heat treat from a high temperature to this way it is possible to minimize the
get these carbides into solution before number of long-time creep tests necessary
testing. in developing a new creep resisting steel.
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
EFFECT OF SIGMA ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF 25

Cr, 20 Ni STEEL
BY G. V. SmxHt~ Am)E. J. DtrLIsI
SYNOPSIS
Sigma in 25 Cr, 20 Ni austenific stainless steel causes moderate strength-
ening at room temperature, severe loss in toughness even at temperature as
high as 500 F, and moderate loss of creep-rupture strength at 1300 F.
The vast majority, and perhaps all, the latter microstructure? Or, if a metal
.of commercial metals undergo changes may be expected to harden by precipi-
in metallurgical structure during service tation during service, why not apply it
at elevated temperatures. Some changes in this condition rather than overage it
may be seen in the microstructure, others before putting into service, assuming
not. Among the readily visible changes that. other properties are suitable?
in steels are precipitation of carbide, Unfortunately, it is not always simple
carbide spheroidization, carbide graphi- to assess the effect of microstructural
tization, precipitation of sigma, and re- changes in service, especially on elevated
crystallization. These changes may be temperature strength. It h a s become
expected, in general, to alter the prop- fairly common practice to make room
erties of the metal. temperature tests of mechanical prop-
The occurrence of metallurgical erties of metal which has been exposed
changes during service has long been at elevated temperatures either under
recognized, and observations are often stress as in creep test or without stress.
made of their character and extent. Such studies reveal the effect of exposure
Further, it has often been claimed that on room temperature properties only,
structurally stable metals are superior which, although of interest, have little
to unstable ones in service at elevated bearing on the properties at the exposure
temperatures. That this is necessarily temperature. Similarly one could make
true is not self-evident; in other words, short-time elevated temperature tests
there is no logic in wanting stability for of exposed metal for comparison with
its own sake. Thus, for example, if a unexposed metal, but such tests, al-
certain steel in service at elevated tem- though more meaningful than room
perature can support a higher stress for temperature tests, still cannot appraise
long-time service behavior. The diffi-
a given expected life when it has a fine
culty in evaluating for such service the
carbide dispersion (relatively unstable
effect of metallurgical changes must lie,
microstructure) than when it has a coarse therefore, in the fact that the appro-
carbide dispersion (more stable micro- priate test of strength for other than
structure), why specify the steel to have short-time service at elevated tempera-
tures, is itself one which is time-de-
' Research Laboratory, U. S. Steel Co., Kearny, N. j'. pendent. Not only may it be expected
225
Copyright
Copyrightby9 ASTM by
Int'lASTM
(all rights reserved); Friwww.astm.org
Intemational Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011
Before Exposure After Exposure
FIG. 1.--Microstructures of Test Specimens Before and After 7500-Hr Exposure at 1300 F ()<500).
Etched in Solution of Picric and HC1 Acids in Alcohol.
SMITH AND DULLS ON EFFECT OF SIGMA 227
that the unexposed comparison material ductility of 25 Cr, 20 Ni austenitic

will undergo metallurgical changes dur- stainless steel; they also supplement
ing test but previously exposed material and extend the results of Guarnieri and
may, in general, undergo further change. associates2 who found sigma to he dele-
Thus, to take an example, if one is in- terious to creep-rupture strength in
terested in 1000-hr rupture strength, it relatively short-time tests (100 hr).
T A B L E L - - R E S U L T S OF ROOM-T E M P E R A T U R E H A R D N E S S A N D T E N S I O N T E S T S ( I N D U P L I C A T E ) .
Elongation
Diamond Yield Strength in l i n . Reduction
Pyramid Tensile Strength, (0.25 in. of Area,
Treatment a Hardness, (0.2 per cent psi
off-set), psi diam.), per cent
20-kg load per cent
knnealed 1700 F; unexposed 198 49 900-51 600 102 400-104 600 40-36 s~-54
knnealed 1700 F; exposed. 265 57 600-58 000 116 100-117 700 b-ll -11.6
knnealed 2000 F.; unexposed. ..! 142 36 000-36 300 85 000- 84 500 58-59 80-80
~-nnealed 2000 F; exposed . . . . . . . 279 56 800-56 600 116 500-118 500 5-5 5.3- 5.6
knnealed 2300 F; unexposed . . . . . . . 130 30 600-31 400 77 500-77 500 61-68 80-82
~nnealed 2300 F; exposed .... 287 58 000-54 400 92 500e-76 500c 1- 0.5 0.6- 1.6
a Initially cold-worked 35 per cent. Annealing involved heating 1 hr at temperature and water quenching. Exposure
was for 7500 hr at 1300 F.
b Fractured at gage point.
e See comment in text on disparity between duplicate tests.
T A B L E I I . - - R E S U L T S OF C H A R P Y K E Y H O L E MATERIAL
N O T C H - I M P A C T TESTS.
t e m p e r - Impact, The chemical composition of the 25

ature, ] ft-lh
Treatment deg l(duplicate Cr, 20 Ni steel studied in this investiga-
Fair / test_.~ )
tion is given below:
Annealed 1700 F; unexposed . . . . . . . 500 ] 34-31
Annealed 1700 F; unexposed . . . . . . . . 78 23-18.5 Carbon, per cent ................... 0.07
Annealed 1700 F; unexposed . . . . . . . . --315 16-17 Manganese, per cent ................ 1.81
Annealed 1700 F; exposedat 1300 F. 500 4.0-3.5 Phosphorus, per cent ............... 0.024
Annealed 1700 F; exposed at 1300 F. 78 3.0-3.5 Sulfur, per cent .................... 0.013
Silicon, per cent .................... 0.53
Annealed 2000 F; unexposed . . . . . . . 78 86a-91 a
Annealed 2000 F; unexposed . . . . . . . . --315 65-73 Copper, per cent ................... 0.10
Chromium, per cent ................ 27.24
Annealed 2000 F; exposed at 1300 F. 500 3.0-3.0 Nickel, per cent .................... 22.20
Annealed 2000 F; exposed at 1300 F. 78 2.5-2.5
Vanadium, per cent ................ 0.01
Annealed 2300 F; unexposed . . . . . . . . 78 92a-94 a
Annealed 2300 F; unexposed . . . . . . . . --315 78a-83 a
It will be noted that the chromium and
Annealed 2300 F; exposed at 1300 F. 500 " 3.0-2.0 nickel contents are slightly greater than
Annealed 2300 F ; exposed at 1300 F. 78 2.5-2.5
the American Iron and Steel Institute
a Incomplete fracture.
standard limits for type 310 (26 per cent
and 22 per cent maximum, respectively).
hardly seems appropriate to compare
The steel is the same as one which
metal which has been previously ex-
was studied in a previous investigation
posed with metal not previously exposed,
of the effect of prior treatment on pre-
since the former undergoes an addi-
tional 1000 hr of exposure during the cipitation of sigma phase. 3 This pre-
comparison tests.
The tests, reported herein, were under- 2 G. J. Guarnieri, J. Miller and F. J. V~wter, " T h e Effect
of Sigma Phase on the Short-Time n i g h Temperature
taken in an effort to further elucidate Properties of 25 Chromium-20 Nickel Stainless Steel,"
Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 42, p. 981 (1950).
this question. They are concerned with G. V. Smith, E. J. Dulls and H. S. Link, "Effect of
Prior T r e a t m e n t on Precipitation of Sigma P h a s e , " The
the effect of sigma on the strength and Welding Journal, Vo]. 30, pp. 385s-396s (1951).
228 SYMPOSIUM O N S T R E N G T H AND DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
vious publication describes the proce- 1700 F, and is free of these phases when
dures for differentiating sigma and quenched after heating 1 hr at 2300 F;
carbide phases, and also shows the effectsome undissolved carbide is noted after
of time on precipitation of sigma. heating at 2000 F. Grain size increased,
as expected, with increase of annealing
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION temperature. On heating for 7500 hr at
The microstructures after heating at 1300 F, considerable sigma precipitates
1700, 2000, and 2300 F for 1 hr and no matter what the initial treatment,
quenching, and also after heating at although its distribution is more uniform
1300 F for 7500 hr, are shown in Fig. 1. for the higher annealing temperature.
The predominant grain sizes (ASTM) 4 Approximately the same amount of
300
"r 27,5 i ~
r~ 250 ~,~r Hardness
~" 200
c 175
'1- 150
125 ~ . = 120000
o.
~o - ,oo
- 90
~" 40 Yield ~
" 30 .Strength Tensile . 80000
20000 - - ' ~ - - '- 8 0
60 se~ ---'--'~ - 60 --
o~ 40 ~ r_longohon Reduction - 40 o8
r (I in Gage) ofj Area $
n
0 Iin Creep Rate 0.001% : , p- 0
'~ I0000 ~-per hr I0000 N
5000 - 5000 .'-

Rupture, I O 0 0 h r r
J
17OO 2000 2300 17OO 2000 2'300
Prior Annealing T e m p e r a t u r e , d e g Fahr
Fro. 2.--Effects of Annealing Temperature and Sigmatizing Exposure on Tensile (80 F) and
Creep-Rupture (1300 F) Properties.
as quenched from 1700 F, 2000 F, and sigma precipitated in each case, some
2300 F were respectively 7, 1, and 0. 30 per cent, as estimated visually.
Corresponding room-temperature me- The differences in microstructure re-
chanical properties are given in Table I. sulting from increase in annealing tem-
Notch-impact test results are given in perature and from subsequent sigma-
Table I[. tizing exposure are reflected in the
As previously observed, 3 this steel mechanical properties, Tables I and II,
contains sigma as well as undissolved and Fig. 2. With increase of annealing
carbide 5 when quenched after 1 hr at
6Not differentiated in the photomicrographsof Fig. 1
* Standard Classificatioa o[ Austenite Grain Size on because no single etehant doing this was available. See
Steels (E 19-45), 1949Book of ASTM Standards, Part 1, Smith, Dulis and Link, however, for means of effecting
p. 1271. such differentiation.
SMITH AND DULIS ON EFFECT o F ' S I G M A 229
temperature from 1700 to 2300 F, the suggested that the Specimens possessed
hardness, yield, and tensile strength de- a duplex grain size, with one specimen
crease whereas the elongation, reduction having more coarse grains than the
of area, and notch-impact toughness in- other; microscopic examination, how-
crease, all owing to increase in grain size ever, disproved this, for there was noth-
as well as solution of carbide and sigma. ing unusual in the microstructure.
The precipitation of sigma (and carbide) Although the proportional limit or
on exposure at 1300 F results in inelastic limit is not recorded in Table I ,
creased hardness and strength and owing to the uncertainty of a precise
50000 _ li,~; i i Erl[r~ I r , JllflJ] f i JIfrlr I J r IIrL~

- (A) ;tress Versus Minimum Creep Rote ] > ~
d IO=
z
5 000
~ / F M~eep Rote, percenlper hrJ
0('01 0.01 , I, O.r ~ ,, I.O r f I i ~,LO
50000
c= 0• o Anneal F
IO _-
=n
w
5
e * m Exposed171BO)O~tr ~ r~ eu : !ira!e ~ ~
$
2000 Test Discontinued
! F',I I II '' , I: . . . . I ', ,! : =, '~!'~
S"~E
c m i
_o._o 50 =--O"=='~ "- . . . . . -- -- -- -- .~Jl'- -- --~.~-~ ReductionJ
20
c=o . (C) Elongationm..-
and Reduction of Area at RuptureI
- - - - "r-- - - -- - - [3--- "-'~- ~ -- D ~--'~'~ = c~
I Area I
_o~ Versus Rupture Time J Rupture Time, hrl
i.,JlZ.,r I , i. I0 . , ~ I0 I00 , 000 LI0000
~ ' i '
5o000
// I . . . .
(D) Stress Versus Average Rate of Creep
|
I ~
20
I 11rl 111~tIL]
O.Ol O.i i.O I0 tO0
RatIo of Elongationof Rupture to Time at Rupture, per cent per hr
FIe. 3.--Properties at 1300 F of 25Cr - 20Ni Steel as Annealed at 1700 F and After Subsequent
Exposure for 7500 hr at 1300 F.
severe loss in ductility and notch tough- determination, it was obvious from ex-
ness. The notch toughness remains at amination of the recorded stress-strain
the low level of 3 to 4 ft lb even when curves that the stress at which plastic
the test temperature is raised to 500 F. flow began was not greatly altered, or
The disparity between the tensile was even slightly depressed, by sigma-
strengths of the duplicate tests of metal tizing, indicating that the effect of sigma
annealed at 2300 F and exposed at 1300 in increasing hardness and strength
F is probably to be attributed to the (yield and tensile) in this steel, at least,
brittleness, which generally causes scat- arises because this phase results in a
ter in strength. The fracture surfaces greater rate of strain-hardening.
230 SY~l~OSlU~tO N STRENGTH A N D D U C T I L I T Y OF M E T A L S
Creep-Rupture Tests: note, however, that the curves for unex-

The results of the creep-rupture tests posed metal are apparently more likely
are charted in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and the to show "breaks" than those for the
derived stress for a minimum creep rate exposed, that is, more than one straight
of 0.001 per cent per hr (1 per cent per section, or possibly to be curved within
1000 hr) and for rupture in 1000 hr is the limits examined.
given in Table I I I and plotted in Fig. 2. In comparing the exposed with unex-
The individual curves 8 of Figs. 3, 4 and posed metal, it is important to note that
5 are, in general, similar in character- whereas the precipitation of sigma and
50 000
20
-y, 5 000
50
d 2O
m
t0
.~ 50
'i ~ ~ . . _ I .... i ' :i ~ ~I 9
o ~ c]Anneoled ol 2000f ~ i Elongation~
~ 20
eA 9 Exposed 7500hr ot 3000F ~ / .
o tO
o~
gff 5 (C) Elongotion ond Reduction of Areo ot I
Rupture Versus Rupture Time J Reduct/on Area
co 2 i '
Rupture Time, hr i
, ,:lO , , : , 0 , , 100 , 000 , r 0000
50000
' J i ' 'J , ' '! I " ' ' '!'::
20
I0 - -C ~ h o r ~ t s "[~ See,ion
~ (A, ~ ]~~
~"
03 5 "~ [ (D) Stress Versus Averoge Rote of Creep ]
' ' ' ~ I i ;: I
2000 [ : .I, :, ! ,; ~,i I i Jill! I 1 irl]~l , ill
0.001 O.Ol 0.1 I 0 IO I00
Rofio of Elonqotion ot Rupture to Time ot Rupture, percent per hr
Fro. 4.--Properties at 1300 F of 25Cr - 20Ni Steel as Annealed at 2000 F and After Subsequent
Exposure for 7500 hr at I300 F.
istics to those previously observed at carbide has largely been completed i n

this Laboratory. 7,s I t is of interest to the exposed metal, these phases are
s The plots of stress versus average creep rate, D of actually precipitating during test of the
Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are useful for estimating ductility for unexposed metal 9 and thus complicate
rupture times longer than experimentally observed (see
Smith, Dulis and Houston 7 and Smiths). the evaluation, as explained previously.
7 G. V. Smith, E. J. Dulls and E. G. Houston, "Creep
and Rupture of Several Chromium-Nickel Austenitic Bearing this in mind, it will be noted
Stainless Steels," Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 42,
pp. 935-980 (1950). The rate at which precipitation occurred during test
8 G. V. Smith, "Properties of Metals at Elevated Tem- of the unexposed samples was lower the higher the prior
peratures," McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, N. Y. annealing temperature, in confirmation of previously
0950). reported observations s for unstressed metal.
SMITH AND DULIS ON EFFECT OF SIGMA 231
that previously exposed metal is weaker creep rates or short rupture-times. It

than unexposed, that is, creeps faster or may also be noted that in several cases,
fractures sooner, within the limits exam- at least, the curves for the exposed and
ined, with the exception that for prior unexposed metal appear to be merging
50 0 0 0 ,
,,
,
i
O A D Annealed Ot 2300F
[
J
I I ii;
~
,
I
r
I ;
I
, , I
~
t
-
'
I 13
2O
d I0
~ 5
50 0 0 0 -
2O
50
g
20
:g
mo I0
o~
go- 5
:~
c 2
!
o ] Rupture Time, hr
5 0 0 0 0 I LI l ili '[ =~ , : F~
, ;to 1 i i
i~F
-~ 201
,o" 10
5 ) Stress Versus Average ~ete of Creep ] -~
2 000 L_
0.001 0.01 0.1 1.0 I0 I00
RO t i p o f E l o n g a t i o n at R u p t u r e to TJole a t R u p t u r e , per cent per hr
FIG. 5.--Properties at 1300 F of 25Cr- 20Ni Steel as Annealed at 2300 F and After Subsequent
Exposure for 7500 hr at 1300 F.
T A B L E I I I . - - S U M M A R Y OF C R E E P - R U P T U R E
T E S T R E S U L T S , 1300 F. together at long rupture-time. Further
tests, which we hope to make, are de-
IStress f0r I
Minimum Stress sirable to confirm this trend, but, assum-
Creep I for
Treatment Rate of [ Rupture ing that it is established that exposed
0.001 per in 1000
cent per Hr, psi and previously unexposed metal tend
.... psi ,I toward the same properties at long time,
Annealed 1700 F; unexposed . . . . . . . .
Annealed 1700 F; exposed at 1300 F. I
I 3500a
3100a
6 000
6 000
there is apparently little if any merit in
Annealed 2000 F; unexposed . . . . . . . . ]
I
9200 10 000
studying pre-exposed metal in the hope
Annealed 2000 F; exposed at 1300 F [ 6000a 9 500 of evaluating strength for long-time
[
Annealed 2300 F; unexposed . . . . . . [ 9800 8 800 service at elevated temperatures. Evi-
Annealed 2300 F ; exposed at 1300 F.] 8100 7 400
dently the effect of the structural changes
a By extrapolation.
occurring during test are integrated into
annealing at 2300 F, the exposed metal the observed results, so that extrapola-
appears very slightly stronger at fast tion gives the same result (at sufficiently
e~
cl
Fzo. 6.--Longitudinal Sections Through Fractured Ends of Creep-Rupture Specimens. (X 20).

(a), (c), and (e) initially Quenched from 1700, 2000, and 2300 F and R u p t u r e d in 1449, 6940 and 2653 hr, respectively; (b), (d) and (J') Annealed a t 1700, 2000, a n d
2300 F, respectively, and exposed at 1300 F for 7500 hr Prior to Test; R u p t u r e Times--(b) 1003 hr, (d) 702 hr, and (f) 1173 hr.
o
FIG. 7.--Longitudinal Sections Through Fractured Ends of Creep-Rupture Specimens Initially Quenched from 2000 F (X 20). Rupture
Times at 1300 F; (a) 5.1 hr, (b) 192 hr, (c) 1190 hr, (d) 6940 hr. r
234 SYm'OSlVM ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
long time) whether the metal has been sible owing to a shortage of stock. At
pre-exposed or not. some lower temperature, sigma would
The ductility of the specimens having be expected to exert a strengthening
a prior annealing at 1700 F either ex- effect, particularly at short rupture
posed or not, was quite good, even at times, since such a strengthening is
the longest test times. With increase of observed at room temperature. Possibly
the prior annealing temperature, the the temperature at which this strength-
general trend was for ductility to di- ening is first observed would correspond
minish, and the long-time tests of metal to that at which, for a given strain rate
prior-annealed at 2300 F showed less (rupture time), the fracture type be-
than 5 per cent elongation or reduction came transgranular.
of area for either exposed or unexposed
SUMMARY
metal. The controlling variable here is
doubtless the austenite grain size. The Samples of 25 Cr, 20 Ni austenitic
austenite grain size also affects the creep stainless steel, initially cold worked
or rupture strength as may be observed some 35 per cent, were heated at 1700,
in Table III or Fig. 2; the stress for 0.001 2000, or 2300F for 1 hr and water
per cent per hr minimum creep rate in- quenched, then exposed for 7500 hr at
creases steadily with increasing anneal- 1300 F to promote the precipitation of
ing temperature, and thus increasing sigma phase. The metal thus sigmatized
grain size (see preceding text), for either was then compared with unexposed
unexposed or exposed metal, but the metal. In room-temperature tension
1000 hr-rupture strength passes through tests, sigma caused increased yield and
a maximum when prior-annealed at tensile strength and reduced elongation
2000 F. or reduction of area for all annealing
Examination of longitudinal sections temperatures, that is, 1700, 2000, and
through the fractured ends of the creep- 2300 F. Most pronounced loss in duc-
rupture specimens showed all of the frac- tility was observed for annealing at
tures to be intergranular regardless of 2300 F for which elongation and re-
the rupture time or previous treatment. duction of area were reduced from some
Fractures after the longest times to 65 per cent and 80 per cent, respec-
rupture of both the exposed and unex- tively, to about 1 per cent. The presence
posed specimens are shown in Fig. 6. or absence of sigma was more important
The number of cracks in the matrix than difference in grain size.
behind the fracture appears to decrease The precipitation of sigma also re-
for comparable rupture times, as the suited in severe loss of notch impact
grain size increases, that is, coarse grain strength within the test temperature
material has less grain boundary area to range of --315 to +500 F.
form cracks. Number of cracks also Creep-rupture tests at 1300F, the
increases with increasing time to rup- exposure temperature, showed the pres-
ture (decreasing strain rate) as shown in ence of sigma to be slightly deleterious
Fig. 7 for the steel initially annealed at to strength, in terms of either the mini-
2000 F. mum creep rate or stress for rupture in
It would have been desirable to ex- a specific time, except at a very short
plore the effect of sigma on creep-rupture rupture time or fast creep rate in the
strength at other temperatures than case of metal initially annealed at
that investigated, but this was not pos- 2300 F. The trend of the results indicate,
SMITH AND DULES ON EFFECT OF SIGMA 235
however, that at sufficiently long test ance of P. R. Malenock in making the

time, the unexposed and exposed metal test exposures, of E. G. Houston in per-
may have similar properties, but further forming the creep to rupture tests, and
tests are required to prove this. of W. B. Seens and W. L. Jensen in
Acknowledgment: making the notch-impact and tension
We gratefully acknowledge the assist- tests.
DISCUSSION
MR. J. W. Ft~Em~AN.~--In a paper parity between hardness and tension re-

presented by C. L. Clark and the writer sulted from some other factor not ex-
in 19472 it was reported that altogether plained, according to the text of the
different microstructures developed in paper, by microstructure. Did the grain
25-20 steel than that reported by the boundary phase so prominently shown in
authors. An extensive new phase ap- Fig. 1 for the aged 2300 F sample have
peared during testing and during prior anything to do with this embrittlement?
heat treatment in the temperature range Since all the carbon was in solution at
of 1200 to 1500 F. In our samples it ap- 2300 F, though not after the preliminary
peared as separate grains, which were 2000 F exposure, it was all precipitated
subsequently identified as sigma phase at grain boundaries upon heating at 1300
by other investigators. The material was F for 7500 hr.
very ductile at room temperatue and MESSRS. G. V. SmT~ AND E. J. DuLIs
at high temperatures in the rupture (authors) .--In the absence of certain ex-
test. At temperatures above 1200 F there perimental details, such as amount of
was much greater loss in strength than prior cold work and etchants employed
the authors have shown. Do the authors for the photomicrographs, in the Clark-
know why there was the difference be- Freeman paper, it is difficult to do more
tween the properties of your alloys and than speculate that the most probable
the alloys we tested? The material we reason for such differences as exist be-
tested had been heat-treated at 1700 F. tween the microstructure and properties
Mg. F. B. FoLE~?--Figure 2 shows an of their steel in comparison with ours, is
increase in hardness with increase in the probably a greater amount of" sigma
temperature of preliminary treatment be- forming in our steel.
tween 1700 and 2300 F, but there is a In reply to Mr. Foley, we should first
marked decrease in the tensile strength state that only the hardness of the sub-
after the 2300 F exposure rather than an sequently exposed material increased
increase which the higher hardness would with increasing temperature of prior an-
indicate. Since there was no greater nealing. In contrast to the increase of
amount of sigma produced as a result of hardness, the tensile strength for prior
this preliminary 2300 F heating, the annealing at 2300 F decreased, contrary
marked embrittlement shown by this dis- to expectation. This, we attribute to an
I Research Engineer, Department of Engineering Re-
embrittlement which caused "prema-
search, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. ture" fracture. In turn, it seems proper
C. L. Clark and .]'. W. Freeman, "The Apparent In-
fluence of Grain Size on the High Temperature Properties to ascribe the embrittlement both to the
of Austenitic Steels," Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals,
Vol. 38 (1947). precipitation of sigma and to the coarse
8 Consulting Metallurgist, The International Nickel
Co., Inc., Bayonne, N. J. grain size.
236
STP128-EB/Apr. 1953
T H E S T R U C T U R E AND P R O P E R T I E S OF STAINLESS STEELS A F T E R

E X P O S U R E AT E L E V A T E D T E M P E R A T U R E S
BY A. B. WILDER1 AND E. F. KETTERER2
SYNOPSIS
A number of ferritic and austenitic stainless steels were exposed at tempera-

tures of 900 to 1200 F for periods up to 34,000 hr. Microstructure of the weld
heat-affected zone and parent metal, tensile and creep rupture properties of the
parent metal are discussed.
The tensile properties at ambient temperature of several steels were changed
after exposure for 10,000 hr. The creep rupture strength at 900, 1050, and 1200
F in certain steels was changed after 10,000 hr exposure at the elevated tem-
peratures. Ductility in rupture tests of the ferritic steels increased and in the
austenitic steels decreased when compared with the tension test results at ambi-
ent temperature. Sigma was observed in all the ferritic steels except 12 Cr free
machining (FM) and possibly 12 Cr-A1 after 34,000 hr exposure at 1200 F.
Sigma was observed after exposure at 1200 F in all the austenitic steels except
25 Cr-12 Ni which was only exposed for 5000 hr.
The stability of ferritic and austenitic solution of the problems encountered in

stainless steels after long periods of ex- the use of the thirty or more standard
posure at elevated temperatures is being stainless steels. These steels are employed
studied in an effort to evaluate their be- in many different applications. Only a
havior. A number of well-known steels limited amount of data on the structural
used in the manufacture of tubular pro- stability and properties of stainless steels
ducts have been exposed at 900, 1050, has been reported for conditions of long
and 1200 F without stress for periods up periods of exposure.
34,000 hr. The investigation will be com- In the present investigation a study
pleted after 100,000 hr of exposure. has been made of weld and parent metal
Stainless steels are used over a wide microstructures, tensile and creep rup-
temperature range and exhibit many in- ture properties. X-ray diffraction meth-
teresting characteristics depending upon ods and magnetic measurement were used
the type of alloy and conditions of service in the study of parent metal structural
encountered. Recently, certain austenitic changes. In the report of a previous in-
alloys, because of their high-temperature vestigation (1),3 data were presented on
strength, have been used for steam power the internal structure, impact strength,
plant piping at temperatures exceeding
hardness, and oxidation characteristics of
1050 F. Experience, supported by ap-
stainless steels after 10,000 hr exposure
propriate technical data, is required for
at elevated temperatures.
I Chief Metallurgist, National Tube Division, United
States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Chief Metallurgist, National Tube Division, Lorain t The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to the list
Works, Lorain, Ohio. of references appended to this paper, see p. 246.
237
Copyright by 9
Copyright ASTM Int'l
by(all rights reserved);
ASTM Fri Dec 30
Intemational 20:48:29 EST 2011
www.astm.org
238 SYMPOSIUM
MATERIALS electrode by using 100 amp at 24 v and

Chemical composition and deoxidation an arc travel speed of 10 in. per minute.
treatment (final additions) of the steels Results in this investigation are only re-
exposed at 900, 1050, and 1200 F are ported for the small weld bead deposited
shown in Table I. The phosphorus was with a {-in. diameter electrode. No pre-
0.035 per cent max. and sulfur 0.015 per heating or postheating was employed.
cent max. except in the free-machining The electrodes used are shown in Ta-
(FM) steels. The 12 Cr-FM steel con- ble II.
tained 0.336 per cent sulfur, and the A transverse section of the weld bead
18-8 FM steel contained 0.146 per cent samples was examined microscopically.
phosphorus. Heat treatment of the ma- The weld heat-affected zone and unaf-
terial prior to exposure and type of elec- fected parent metal were studied.
trode used for the bead welds are shown
in Table II. The steels were melted in a Metallographic Practice:
commercial basic electric furnace, rolled The technique employed in this in-
TABLE L--CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, PER CENT, OF TEELS.
Type N .Deoxidation
. . . I .C Mn
. Si . Cr . N i Mo AI N Other
No. 46 . . . . 12 Cr (410) one 10.100.35,0.7412.7~ 0.38 0.03 0.006 0.039

No. 47 . . . . 12 Cr-A1 (405) 19 lb A1 per N T a i0.07 0.34'0.28[12.9,~ 0.21 0.05[0.270 0.034
No. 48 . . . . 12 C r - ~ Mo (410 3.8 lb Si per N T as CaSi ~0.07,0.40 0.30 12.2r 0.27 0.49 0.004 0.029
Mo)
No. 53 . . . . 12 Cr-FM (416) 6 61b S i p e r N T a s Z r S i 10 11]0 73]044113 3 ~ 0 2310 03!0 007 0.029
No. 49 . . . . 17 Cr (430) 2:8 Ib Si per N T as CaSi ]0:09 0:4110:24]16:8i 0:15]0102,0:004 0.078
No. 50 . . . . 27 Cr-N (446) 12 lb per N T - - 7 7 % FeSi -[-13 lb 0.24 0"89 0.55 26.4.~ 0.48 0.04 0.003 0.222 I
per S T - - 5 0 % FeSi r ] I I r
No. 23 . . . . 18-8 (304) None io 05 0.53[0.61 18 5! 10.72 0.07,0.005 0.028'
No. 24 . . . . 18-8 T i (321) 1.2 lb A1 per N T [0.07 0.52[0.39 17.9; 10.4010.07t0.069 0.011 t 0.58 Ti
No. 25 . . . . 18-8 Cb (347) 6.6 lb per N T - - 7 7 % FeSi ]0.06 1.4310.44 17.8( 11.16i0.08fl.010 0.027[ 0.77 Cb
No. 51 . . . . 18-8 Mo (316) 2.8 lb per N T - - 7 7 % FeSi ;0.07.1.32i0.32 18.2; 10.5912.16,0.009 0.030 i 0.16 Cu
No. 54 . . . . 18-8 FM (3O3) 2.4 lb per N T - - 7 7 % FeSi 10.09 0 77,0 26 18.31 8.98 0 04 0 005 0.029! 0.16 Se
No. 71.. Stainless W 4.2 lb AI per N T + 2.0 lb per'0 06 0.50 0 54 16.62 7.62 0.10 0.170 0.0101 0.19 Cu
N T - - 7 7 % FeSi i I ] I I I , 0.58 Ti
No. 88.. 25-12 (309) 14.8 lb per N T - - F e S i + 3.1 i0 10 1.50,0.36 22.00 14.06 0.08 0.003 0.044] 0.22 Cu
lb per N T - - C a S i [ ! [ I [ ]
No. 89.. 25-20 (310) 19 lb per N T - - F e S i + 3.5 lb 0.10 I. 72 0.83 25.76 20.35 0.06 0.040 0.043[ 0.36 Cu
per N T - - C a S i I I I I [ ]
aNT = N e t ton of molten steel.
TABLE II.--PRIOR HEAT TREATMENT AND

intobillets, forged into 1 by 1-in. bars, WELDING ELECTRODE.
and surface ground prior to exposure.
H e a t T r e a t m e n t Prior Welding
Type to Exposure a Electrode
TEST ~.V[ETHODS
12 Cr (410) . . . . . . . 1525 F Furnace Cool to T y p e 310
Exposure Furnaces and Weld Bead Tests: 1100 F
12 Cr-AI (405) . . . . 1423 F Air Cool T y p e 310
The electric furnaces employed for ex- 12 Cr-~-~ Mo (410
M o ) ........... 1450 F Air Cool Type 310
posing the specimens at 900, 1050, and 12 C r - F M (416).. 1450 F Air Cool Type 310
17 Cr- (430) . . . . 1425 F Air Cool Type 310
1200 F have been described (2). 27 Cr-N (446) . . . . 1600 F Water Quench Type 310
Two 6-in. weld beads with different 18-8 (304)....... 1900 F Water Quench Type 308
18-8 T i (321) . . . . . 1900 F Water Quench Type 347
heat inputs were deposited on opposite 1500 F Temper
18-8 Cb (347) . . . . . 1900 F Water Quench T y p e 347
sides of each bar (2). The weld beads were 1500 F Temper
Type 316
18-8 Mo (316) . . . . 1950 F Water Quench
deposited at the United States Steel 18-8 FM (303). 1950 F Water Quench Type 308
Stainless W . . . . . . 1900 F Water Quench Type 347
Corp. Research Laboratory with auto- 25-12 (309) . . . . . . . . 1985 F Water Quench Type 310
25-20 (310) . . . . . . . 1985 F Water Quench Type 310
matic welding equipment. The small weld
bead was deposited with a -~-in. diameter a Held~at temperature 1 hr.
WILDER AND KETTERER ON STAINLESS STEELS 239
vestigation was essentially the same as tested before and after 10,000 hr of ex-
that reported in a previous paper (1), posure without stress at 900, 1050, and
except that an additional etching re- 1200 F. Tension tests were made at am-
agent, Glyceregia (20 ml HC1, 10 ml bient temperature. The creep rupture
HNOs, arm 30 ml Glycerol), was used to tests were made at 900, 1050, and 1200 F,
identify sigma in the 25-20 stainless steel. in accordance with procedure and facili-
The metallographic method of disclosing ties which have been described (3). Rup-
sigma in the specimens under study was ture values in Table VII for 10,000 and
carried out as follows. 100,000 hr were obtained by extrapola-
Vilella's reagent was first used to de- tion. Most of the rupture data were based
velop the general structure. In the aus- on tests of several hours duration to ap-
tenitic steels Murakami's reagent was proximately 1000 hr.
employed to etch the carbides. An elec- Several types of material which had
trolytic chromic acid etch was then used been previously exposed under stress at
to reveal the presence of sigma phase.
TABLE III.--SIGMA IN FERRITIC STEELS,
The ferritic steels were given an electro- METALLOGRAPHIC METHOD.
lytic chromic acid etch subsequent to re-
Exposure
g~ Temperature a
OO
o* 'od o Z
6 vl6X 14 U-S. S t d
"- ,~ ~,~ . Threod \ Type 10soFF _ 1200
_ F
60 deg ~ 5 ~ ,~ \
Centers ~ ~ Lo "~ )
[ P e r cent Per cent
-- T / o o ~ _-'-"t .. / . . .
12 Cr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 I
12 Cr-A1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 ?
'~ 7/ i n ~ . 7 2 i n . 12 Cr-]~ M o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1
12 Cr-FM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 0
17 Cr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ] i 1
Fie. 1.--Test Specimen. 27 Cr-N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 10
Stainless W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ 5 10
I
polishing following the etch with Vilella's a Results are for parent metal. Sigma was not observed
at 900 F except a trace in the 27 Cr-N steel. T h e percentage
reagent. All samples with the exception of sigma is approximate. T h e Stainless W Steel was ex-
posed 10,000 hr; the other steels were exposed 34,000 hr.
of the 25-20 steel were given an electroly-
tic sodium cyanide etch to differentiate
1050 F for 10,000 hr were also tested in
between carbides and sigma.
creep rupture at 1050 F. These tests were
X-ray Diffraction Technique and Mag- made to show that material reported in
netic Measurements: this investigation and exposed for 10,000
hr without stress may be expected, in
Sigma was identified by the X-ray dif-
most instances, to be similar to material
fraction method in representative metal-
exposed with stress under similar condi-
lographic specimens. Also, several metal-
tions of time and temperature. The
lographic specimens of austenitic material
amount of stress was based upon the
were selected and the presence of ferrite
ASME Code for Power Boilers.
was determined by magnetic measure-
ment. The X-ray diffraction and mag- RESULTS AND DlSCUSSlO~
netic measurement methods used are de-
scribed by Dulls and Smith (4).
Structural Changes in the Ferritic Steels:
A general coalescence of carbides has
Tensile and Creep Rupture Test: taken place between the time of the first
The tension and creep rupture speci- examination, 10,000 hr (1) and the present
men is shown in Fig. 1. Specimens were exposure, 34,000 hr. The particle size in-
240 SYMPOSIIY~ ON STRENGTH AND DUCTILITY OF METALS
creased with exposure temperature. No stantially similar to the amount shown

consistent pattern of carbide distribution in Table IV. In the 18-8 Mo steel it is
was observed. In the 12 Cr and 12 Cr- quite possible that epsilon is present.
FM steels massive carbides were associ- It will be noted that sigma was present
ated with the grain boundaries. In the in the stabilized steels exposed'at 1050 F.
other ferritic steels random distribution This confirms observations which were
of massive carbides was noted. considered questionable on the 10,000
Sigma was identified in the unaffected hr samples (1). The 18-8 and 18-8 FM
parent metal and the weld heat-affected and 18-8 Mo steels contained sigma when
zone in all of the ferritic steels after exposed at 1200 F for 34,000 hr, whereas
34,000 hr exposure at 1200 F with excep- these steels appeared free of sigma when
tion of the 12 Cr-A1 and 12 Cr-FM grades. examined after 10,000 hr exposure (I).
The metallographic results for the parent The presence of sigma in the 18-8 Ti and
metal are summarized in Table III. In 18-8 Cb steels after exposure at 12000 F
the weld heat-affected zone substantially TABLE IV.--SIGMA IN AUSTENITIC STEEL
the same results were obtained as shown METALLO( ',RAPHIC M E T H O D .
in the table. In the report covering Exposure

10,000 hr exposure (1), sigma was observed Temperature s
in only the 27 Cr-N grade. The 27 Cr-N Type Exposure I

hr. 1050 F 1200 F
and stainless W in the present study
showed the greatest amount of sigma. Per cent Per cent
The presence of sigma in the 27 Cr-N
steel was confirmed by X-ray diffraction 18-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34000
18-8 T i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34 000
methods. The presence of sigma in the 17 18-8 Cb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34 000
J4 000
18-8 Mo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cr material was not confirmed by X-ray 18-8 F M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 000
diffraction due to the small amount pres- 25-12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii 5 000
25-20 5 000
ent. Sigma in the stainless W steel after . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
q0,000 hr exposure at 1200 F is shown in a Results are for parent metal. Sigma was not observed
at 900 F. The percentage of sigma is approximate.
Fig. 4, Sigma,was also observed in stain-
less W steel after 10,000-hr exposure at was observed metallographically and con-
1050 F. firmed by X-ray diffraction.
The presence of a ferromagnetic con-
STRUCTURAL CIIANGES IN AUSTENITIC stituent in the 18-8 Ti steel exposed at
STEELS
1200 F has been detected by magnetic
No marked change in the general struc- permeability tests. The presence of this
ture of the austenitic steels was noted in constituent m a y be due to slow cooling
comparison with the structures obtained from 1200 F, but this has not been estab-
at 10,000 hr exposure (1). Carbide precip- lished. The samples exposed at 900 F and
itation at the grain boundaries was very 1050 F were not examined by the mag-
evident in the case of the unstabilized netic permeability method. Completely
grades. The 18-8 Mo steel which showed austenitic steels have a magnetic perme-
only partial carbide precipitation at 900 ability close to 1.003. This would indicate
F after 10,000 hr exposure, showed a com- that the 18-8 and 18-8 Ti steels contained
plete network after 34,000 hr. The a trace of ferromagnetic constituent be-
amount of sigma observed in the parent fore exposure. The 18-8 Ti steel was sig-
metal of the austenitic steels is shown in nificantly ferromagnetic, while the 18-8,
Table IV. In the weld heat-affected zone 18-8 Cb, and 18-8 Mo steels contained a
the amount of sigma observed was sub- trace after exposure. The following tabu-
WILDER AND KETTERER ON STAINLESS STEELS 241
]ation shows the ratings of the steels heat-affected zone of the 18-8 steel after
tested before and after 34,000 hr exposure 34,000 hr exposure at 1200 F is shown in
at 1200 F: Fig. 4.
Magnetic Permeability TENSILE AND CREEP RUPTURE

Type PROPERTIES
Before Exposure After Exposure
Several types of material were investi-
18-8 . . . . . . . . 1.0044 I. 0044 gated in order to determine if the tensile
18-8 Ti . . . . . 1.0049 1.0170
18-8 Cb . . . . . 1.0027 1.0040
18-8 Mo . . . . 1.0035 T A B L E V I . - - C R E E P R U P T U R E P R O P E R T I E S AT
1050 F OF S E V E R A L STEELS EXPOSED U N D E R
STRESS BEFORE CREEP RUPTURE TESTING.
T A B L E V.--TENSILE P R O P E R T I E S O F S E V E R A L
S T E E L S E X P O S E D U N D E R S T R E S S A T 1050 F A N D Stress for Rupture at 1050 F, 1000 psi
THEN TESTED AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE.
= ~ I000 hr i0,000 hra

Type of Steel
Condition ~c~ -- ~ o ~ u<
~o ~o m ~a ~m
C-~ Mo
C- 89 . . . . . . . i 19.5 I2,9 12.9 12.21 9 . S l 9.g
Unexposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 46 73 32 64 ICr - ~Z'Mo. . . . . 185 1 111 0 11.5 10.5 I1.0
Exposed 10,000 hr without I
stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 42 65 36 71 18Cr - 8Ni . . . . . . 2 .0[ 2901 20.5 122.9 ] 2 2 . 0
Exposed I0,000 br with 2900 I
psi stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ! 45 66 37 71
1 Cr- 89M o Reduction of Area at 1050 F,

per cent
Unexposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ 55 I 75 36 74
Exposed 10,000 hr without Type of Steel Exposed Exposed
stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exposed 10,000 hr with 3850
psi stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[ 43
I 42
73
73
18 Cr-8 Ni
I 34
34
76
76
.,
v~
10,000 hr 10,000 hr
exU=n'-duu~c at 1050 F at 1050 F
without
i Stress
with
Stress
C - ~ Mo ............... 0.27 [ 73 I 7I
Unexposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ 34 82 72 81 1 Cr - ]/~WIo. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exposed 10,000 hr w i t h o u t [ 18Cr - 8Ni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 87 63 77
Exposed 10,000 hr with 8000 psi = Values obtained by extrapolation.
stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 88 70 78 b Material exposed at 1050 F without stress for 10,000
hr before creep rupture testing.
c Material exposed at 1050 F for 10,000 hr with stress
of 2900 psi for C-]4 Mo, 3850 psi. for 1 C r - ~ Mo, and 8000
A constituent believed to be delta fer- psi for 18Cr - 8Ni before creep rupture testing.
rite has been observed metallographically
in very small amounts in the 18-8 Ti and and creep rupture properties are changed
18-8 Cb steels exposed at 1050 F. This by exposing materials under stress for
constituent was similar to that observed 10,000 hr. One inch square bars were ex-
in the samples exposed at 1200 F. One posed under stress at 1050 F for 10,000
would expect most of the delta ferrite to hr. The maximum allowable working
transform during exposure to sigma in stresses at 1050 F in the 1950 ASME
the austenitic steels. Ferrite was not dis- Code for Power Boilers were used. After
cernible under the microscope in the re- exposure for 10,000 hr under stress the
maining austenitic steels investigated. It bars were removed from the furnace and
has been observed by some investigators machined (Fig. 1) for tension and creep
to form during cooling in the 18-8 steels. rupture testing. Specimens in the un-
The appearance of sigma in the weld stressed and unexposed conditions were
242 SYMPOSIUM ON S T R E N G T H A N D DUCTILITY OF M E T A L S
also tested. The tension and creep rup- exposed for 10,000 hr in the unstressed
ture results for the three types of steel and stressed conditions.
are shown in Tables V and VI. Very little The tensile and creep rupture proper-
difference was observed between the bars ties have been determined for eight of the
Key
Yield Elongation . . . . . . .
Tensile~-~ Reduction-
Exposure Temperotur~e,deg Fahr
70 900 1050 1200
120000~ ,t I2CR (46) |
80 0 0 0 ~ . -:
40 0 0 0 ~ , ~ - - - = - - ~ - - = - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - . . . . . ----='=I
~" 120
12 CR-AL (47) 1
.................... 80
~ ~ 40
120 0 0 0 , ~"
[: 1....~..._....-f....,.,=,
7 _ ---... CR (49) '~8
80 000 t "/I -~ ~"
40 ooo -----=-
Q" , ,/ ~ 120 '~
~'._ [ l e C R - 8 m (23) |
-~ ~_-- ...__. . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . -+8O
8
4o
"~ 120 000, J' I re

[C 18 CR-8 NI-TI (24)
&
80 ooo .--_
o 4o G o a t . 1 =
.,, ,120 =
~- 18 CR-8 NI-CB (25) | 0
-- --T- ........ 7--- "8o 7,,
. . . . .
4"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -L 4o
120 000 t .t 18CR-8 NI- MO (511
I,
800001
40 0 0 0 ~ ....
I 4"
~" ......... . ~ 120
- 18 CR-8 NI-FM (54) :~80
. . . . z= ----__ _ ~ _ _--2__--=_
__~ 4~
Fzo. 2.--Tensile Properties Before and After 10,000-hr Exposure.
WILDER AND KETTERER ON S T A I N L E S S STEELS 243
TABLE VII.--CREEP RUPTURE STRENGTH.

fourteen steels in Table I. In addition,
Exp osureb Stress for Rupture, psi.
the creep rupture strength of the 27
Cr-N steel is reported. Tests are being
and Test- I r
ing Tern-I 1000 10 000 100 000 -^^^ h I 10 0001100 000 conducted on the remaining steels. The
~e2tU~er,, hr ~i hrO I h ~_~ rIh _ hr~ .... I ~
tensile properties shown in Fig. 2 for
Before Exposure ] After Exposureb several of the steels were changed as a
12 Cr (46)
result of 10,000 hr exposure. The tensile
strength was increased in the 17 Cr steel
900 24 000119,001 15 ~001 24 0001,8 800/,5 000 at 900 F, the 18-8 Mo steel at 1200 F,
1050 11700 / 8 7 0 0 1 6 5 0 0 ~ 1 2 0 0 0 1 9 1 0 0 [ 6800
13001200 42500900121500700[1500 4800 3400 2500 and the 18-8 FM steel at 1050 F, with a
1400 1200 600 [ corresponding decrease in ductility. The
12 Cr-A1 (47) increase in tensile strength of the 17 Cr
steel exposed at 900 F was 35 per cent.
900 25 0001 22 000[ 19 500[ [ 6300 The rupture properties of the 12 Cr
1050 9 200[ 6400[ 4 400 9 000 4 400
1200 3 800[ 2 500[ 1 700 3 600[ 2 400 1 600 and 12 Cr-A1 steels shown in Table VII
1300 2 100 1 400
1400 1 200 700
J were not appreciably changed after ex-
posure. The rupture strength was in-
17 Cr (49)
creased in the 17 Cr steel at 900 F and
900 30000[ 25500[ 22000] 4000013350012~ 000
1050 12000 9000 6800 14500 10000 000 the 18-8 Mo steel at 1050 F. A decrease
1200 5000 3400 2300 5000 3400 2400
was observed in the 18-8 Cb steel at 1050
18 Cr-8 Ni (23) F and 1200 F, in the 18-8 Ti steel at
900 F and 1050 F, in the 27 Cr-N steel at
900 49 000' as 0001 2967001 55 0001 500
1050 27 000 21 500 16 300 29 500 22 000 16 500 900 F, and in the 18-8 FM steel at 900 F.
1200 14 000] 29 900 900 17 200 12 9 100
Other changes of less significance may be
18 Cr-8 Ni-Ti (24) observed in Table VII. With the excep-
900 1 32
1050
49 000[ 4a 0001 599ooor 47 0001 a4 ooof 21~,00~~176tions noted, the rupture strength of the
000 27 000 23 500 27 800 20 800 15
1200 18 000 13 000 200 17 20O 12 50O 300 steels tested was not appreciably changed
by the 10,000-hr exposure at elevated
18 Cr-8 Ni-Cb (25)
temperatures. In the 18-8 FM steel a
900 52 500[ 0 0 0 5 3 000 T high rupture strength, compared with
1050 40 000 37 28 800 34 500 27 000 22 000
1200 26 000 22 000 20 000 19 700 14 800 11 700 ordinary 18-8 steel, was observed before
exposure. When this condition is encoun-
18 Cr-8 N i - g o (51)
tered in certain steels of the same grade,
900 67 0001 000 500 71 000[ the rupture strength is generally de-
1050
12oo 40200032
25 16 500 2511700 44227o5716 00070033000 13000 creased after long periods of exposure,
18 Cr-8 Ni-FM (54) and this may be associated with a lack of
stability in the unexposed steels. It is
900 7oooo] 000
1050 57 800 ao 24 000 4160000[ 470001 37000 significant that the rupture strength of
800 52 5| 25 800
1200 23 800 19 000 15 500 21 500 17 0(0 13 500 many of the steels shown in Table VII
25 Cr-20 Ni (89) was not appreciably changed after ex-
posure, as these steels are extensively
900 68 5001 62 500 I
1050 38
2~ 500 31 1~ oool used in high-temperature service.
1200 800 000
1800 9001 200 Ductility in the rupture tests shown in
Fig. 3 was increased in the 18-8 steel after
27 Cr-(50)
exposure at 1200 F, in the 18-8 Mo steel
900 _ 4600014~ 500[ 3~ 0001 50 0 ~ 38500[ 2~ 500 after exposure at 1050 F and 1200 F,
1050 142100 400 800144 10100 300
1200 600 3100 2100 500 100 2000 and in the 18-8 FM steel after exposure
a Values obtained by extrapolation. at 1200 F. A decrease in ductility was ob-
b Material exposed without stress for 10000 hours be-
creep rupture testing. served in the 18-8 FM steel after exposure
244 SYMPOSIUM
ON S T I ~ E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF M E T A L S
at 900 F. Ductility of the rupture speci- is significant to observe that ductility of

mens, with the few exceptions noted, was the ferritic steel rupture specimens tested
not appreciably changed after 10,000 hr at 900, 1050 and 1200 F was at a higher
of exposure at elevated temperatures. It" level than the tension test results at
Exposure.Ternperofures, deg Fohr

900 1050 1200
120[ 12 CR (46) tl20
o
' 40
12CR-AL (471 ~ 11204080

80
40
120 ITCR (49) ]120

~ Bo
o. 40
o"
~ ~2o =8 CR-BN= (23) 1~20
80 BO
I40 ,~
3
.~ 4 0 ~
~ 120 ,8 CR-BN,-T,(24) ]120
80
9~ 4 0 .
o
r c
o 120 18CR-BNI-CB(25) ]120 o
~ 80 BO
_o 40-
tLI t40 ~
o
~2o] 18 CR-8NI-MO (51) 112080

~ 4o
12o[ ,~ CR-~N,-~M (~4) J,20
oot
, ~
1
80
4o
[] Creep Tested Before I 0 0 0 0 Hr Exposure-Elongation percent in I-in.
[] CreepTested BeforeI0000 Hr Exposure-Reductionof Area per cent
[] CreepTested After I0000 Hr Exposure-Reduction of Area per cent
Q CreepTested After I0000 Hr Exposure-E(ongotionpercent in I-in.
FIo. 3.--Creep Rupture Elongation and Ductility.
t~
t~
:Z
r~
(a) Sodium cyanide etch 1 8 C r - 8 N i . T h e dark color of sigma (b) Stainless W after 10,000-hr exposure a t 1200 F.
in 1 8 C r - 8 N i is due to the longer etching time employed. (304)
after 34,000-hr ex-~osure at 1200 F.
FIG. 4.--Sigma Phase in Weld Heat-Affected Zone.
t,o
Carl
246 SYmPOSiUM
ambient temperature. Ductility of the 5. Sigma was identified metallograph-

austenitic steel rupture specimens was at ically in the stabilized anstenitic steels
a lower level compared with the tension exposed 34,000 hr at 1050 F and 1200 F
test results, particularly in the 18-8 Cb and was confirmed in the 1200 F sample
and 18-8 FM steels. by X-ray diffraction methods. The un-
stabilized 18-8 steels, which did not show
CONCLUSIONS
sigma occurring after 10,000 hr exposure,
1. Tensile properties at ambient tem- revealed the presence of sigma after
perature of the steels tested, except the 34,000 hr of exposure at 1200 F. Sigma
17 Cr at 900 F, 18-8 FM at 1050 F, and was not observed in the 25-12 steel but
the 18-8 Mo at 1200 F, were not ap- was observed in the 25-20 steel after
preciably changed after 10,000 hr of ex- 5,000 hr exposure at 1200 F.
posure at 900, 1050 and 1200 F. 6. Magnetic permeability measure-
2. Rupture properties of 17 Cr at 900 ments showed the presence,of a ferro-
F, 18-8 Ti at 900 F and 1050 F, 18-8 Mo magnetic constituent after 34,000 hr of
at 1050 F, and 18-8 Cb at 1050 F and exposure at 1200 F in the 18-8 Ti steel.
1200 F were changed with 10,000 hr of A constituent believed to be ferritic was
exposure at 900, 1050 and 1200 F. The observed metallographically in the stabil-
other steels tested in creep rupture were ized steels exposed at 1050 F and 1200 F
not appreciably changed. and in Stainless W at all three tempera-
3. Ductility properties of the rupture tures.
specimens were, with few exceptions, not
appreciably changed with 10,000 hr of Acknowledgments:
exposure at 900, 1050, and 1200 F. Duc-
The authors wish to express their ap-
tility in rupture tests of the ferritic steels
preciation for the assistance received
increased, and in the austenitic steels
from the management and operating per-
decreased when compared with the ten-
sonnel of National Tube Co. They are
Sion test results at ambient temperature.
4. Sigma phase was identified metal- particularly indebted to Mr. D. B. Coll-
lographically in all of the ferritic steels yer of Lorain works for the metallo-
with the exception of the 12 Cr-A1 and graphic work, to Mr. D. T. Boughner of
12 Cr-FM after 34,000 hr of exposure at National Tube Research Laboratory for
1200 F. Confirmation of sigma in the 27 the tension and creep rupture data, and
Cr-N steel was made by means of X-ray to Mr. E. J. Dulls of the United States
diffraction methods. Sigma was also ob- Steel Corp. Research Laboratory for the
served in the 12 Cr-89 Mo, 17 Cr, and 27 X-ray diffraction and magnetic perme-
Cr-N steels at 1050 F. ability studies.
REFERENCES
(1) A. B. Wilder and J. O. Light, "Stability of Bulletin 26, National Tube Company, Pitts-
Steels at Elevated Temperatures," Transac- burgh, Pa. (1952).
tions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 41, p. 141 (4) E. J. Dulls and G. V. Smith, "Identification
(1949). and Mode of Formation and Re-Solution of
Sigma Phase in Austenitic Chromium-Nickel
(2) A. B. Wilder and J. 1). Tyson, "Graphitiza- Steels," Symposium on the Nature, Occur-
tion of Steel at Elevated Temperatures," rence, and Effect of Sigma Phase, Am. Soc.
Transactions, Am. Soc. Metals, Vol. 40, p. Testing Mats., p. 3 (1951). (Symposium is-
233 (1948). sued as separate publication A S T M STP
(3) "Steels for Elevated Temperatures Service," No. 110).
DISCUSSION
MR. A. M. HALL.l--We have been fol- some susceptibility toward sigma forma-
lowing, with a great deal of interest, the tion when the carbon or nickel is lower
course of Mr. Wilder's extensive investi- than normal or when the silicon or chro-
gation of the stability of steels at elevated mium is higher than normal.
temperatures. When it is finally com- MR. RUSSELL FRANI(S2 (presented in
pleted, I understand, it will cover a span written form).--The work done by
of about ten years. Messrs. Wilder and Ketterer in develop-
It was not too long ago that we felt ing the data given in this paper will be of
that the relatively low chromium aus- high value in the application of stainless
tenitic steels were immune to sigma for- steels to elevated temperatures. They
mation. Mr. Wilder was one of the first have indicated that although a good
to present ,information that such was many of the stainless steels develop some
not the case, that sigma could be found sigma phase on exposure to temperatures
even in the 18-8 type alloys. in the range 1050 to 1200 F during long
"Sigma" is a bad word to many of us, periods of time, the presence of this con-
but perhaps unnecessarily so. I think that stituent does not destroy the utility of
the effect of sigma upon mechanical prop- the steels. The results are particularly
erties depends a lot upon the circum- pertinent in view of the work of Subcom-
stances under which it is formed and also mittee VI of ASTM Committee A-10
upon the quantity formed. which concerns the identification of the
The individual particles of sigma can sigma phase by etching methods. It is
assume a variety of shapes and sizes encouraging to note that the authors have
during formation. The temperature of ultimately relied upon X-ray diffraction
formation seems to be important in this for final identification of the sigma phase
regard. Small amounts of sigma, in the and have used this procedure in conjunc-
form of relatively equiaxed particles, may tion with etching technique.
have little or no effect on many of the It is of great interest to note that the
mechanical properties of the alloy. sigma phase constituent was not identi-
I note with interest that the paper fied in the 12 per cent chromium-alum-
presents evidence of sigma formation in inum and the 12 per cent chromium free
the 25-20 type of alloy. We have in- machining grades of stainless steel after
formation confirming this finding. It re- 34,000 hr at 1200 F; in the case of the
lates to cast alloys where the carbon con- unstabilized 18-8 steel the presence of
tent is considerably higher (running 30 sigma was detected after a similar period
points or more) than it is in comparable of exposure to the same temperature.
wrought alloys. This type of alloy shows Ordinarily aluminum acts to promote fer-
lMetallurgist, Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, t Manager, Development, Electro Metallurgical Co.,
Ohio. Pittsburgh, P a .
247
248 SYMPOSIUM
rite in the plain chromium stainless steels, 4 close enough to the type 308 weld metal
and it may be that the presence of the used so that composition changes have
aluminum stabilized the ferritic constitu- occurred in this area from the weld metal
ent to such an extent that it did not de- deposit?
compose into the sigma phase. The opin- The relative lack of change or loss in
ion of the authors on this point would be desirable properties exhibited in general
helpful in further explanation of why this by this group of stainless alloys after
particular steel did not develop the phase 10,000 hr of exposure at the three ex-
when other steels of the same chromium posure temperatures studied should be
content did succumb to sigma phase very heartening to those who use these
formation. It is of interest to note that materials in long-time applications within
they observed a ferromagnetic constitu- this temperature range.
ent in the 18-8 steel after exposure to Mg. A. B. WILDER (author).--I should
1200 F, and it is wondered whether the like to thank Mr. Hall for his comments
authors were able to photograph this and to say that we feel the same way
constituent since its appearance might be about this matter of sigma. We have
a valuable addition to the paper. seen it in our exposed samples. We re-
Mx. W. C. CLAXKE, Jl~.3 (presented in ported our observations. Sigma may not
writtenform).--The information obtained be too objectionable in the steels in-
in this paper concerning the properties of vestigated.
alloys after very long exposure at various Mr. Clarke states that in their work,
temperatures is all too rare and cannot aluminum has always appeared to be a
fail to be of significance to engineers in strong sigma phase promoter. We are in-
applying the materials being investi- clined to agree and therefore plan to
gated. expose additional samples of 12Cr- A1
With respect to the structural changes steel from other heats.
noted in the straight chromium steels it In 18-8 stainless steel sigma shown in
seems amazing that the type 405, 12 Fig. 4, was also observed outside the
Cr-A1 steel was found to contain no sigma heat-affected zone. The point that Mr.
phase after 34,000 hr exposure at 1200 F. Clarke makes is a good one with regard
In our work aluminum has always ap- to change in the composition of the base
peared to be a strong sigma phase pro- metal due to contact with the weld metal.
moter, yet here, taking all other factors We have observed in some of our speci-
in the analysis into account, such as cor- mens that constituents were present at
rected chromium values allowing for the the parent metal--weld metal interface
chromium tied up with carbon, the data due to diffusion. This condition was not a
indicate an opposite conclusion. Perhaps factor in the 18-8 material examined.
the authors would like to comment on Mr. Clarke also points out the desir-
the matter in view of the question mark able properties of the stainless steel after
in the second column of Table n I .
long periods of exposure. It is this phase
With reference to the sigma phase
of the investigation which appears to be
formation reported in the type 304, 18-8
alloy and shown in Fig. 4, two questions most significant.
would seem to be in order. Is this sigma With regard to Mr. Frank's remarks,
noted elsewhere than in the weld heat- the properties of the stainless steels in-
affected zone? Is the zone shown in Fig. vestigated were as Mr. Franks points out
not adversely affected by the long periods
s Senior Research Engineer, Research Laboratories,
Armco Steel Corp., Baltimore, Md. of exposure.
DISCUSSION ON STAINLESS STEELS 249
We have had considerable success with case of the 12Cr- A1 steel. We plan to
the metallographic method for identifica- closely examine these steels for sigma af-
tion of sigma. Careful etching technique ter longer periods of exposure.
is required. The method simplifies the We were unable to observe under the
procedure for evaluating the internal microscope, the ferromagnetic constitu-
structure of the materials studied. ent which was present in the unexposed
Sigma was not observed in the 12Cr - and exposed 18-8 steel. The constituent
A1 and 12Cr- FM steel. We were sur- is apparently difficult to detect in very
prised at these results particularly in the small quantities.

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Copyright by ASTM Int'l (all rights reserved); Fri Dec 30 20:48:29 EST 2011

Presented at the Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting

A S T M Special Technical Publication No. z2S

Printed in Baltimore, Md.

The papers and discussions in the Symposium on Strength and Ductility

SYMPOSIUM ON S T R E N G T H AND D U C T I L I T Y OF METALS AT

BY J. D. LUBAHN1 AND G. V. SMITHs

Glen's investigation consists in making steels. These suggestions furnish much

A SURVEY OF E M B R I T T L E M E N T AND NOTCH SENSITIVITY OF H E A T

The phenomenon of embrittlement ERIBRITTLEMENT OF STEEL BOLTS

Cr-l~ steel ~___ ~ ~

0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 9400 2800

clearly reveal the embrittlement and indicated embrittlement only in the

I Chemical Composition, per cent j

0 102 103 lO IO5 i0 2 103 104.

E o----o Without reheot

I01 10 2 lO 3 104 102 I 0:3 104 I05

%, iO2 103 10 4 I02 103 104 is

until a relatively large fraction of its I00

been further analyzed in Fig. 9, using

The type of simple behavior repre- INFLUENCE OF NOTCHES IN STRESS-

previously discussed retained impact Switzerland to determine the influence of

ooo 900 - 32C

0.01 0.I I I0 tO0 I000

ductility recovers at very long times to Some recent experiments conducted at

for a Cr-Mo-V alloy (Timken, "17-22A" GENERAL EFFECTS OF TIME

narrow range of temperatures. The of the metal occurs progressively during

Alloying elements which cause a insensitive to notches at 932 F (500 C).

p e r m a n e n t damage to the material which 7. I t is not known definitely w h a t

Unfortunately it is difficult to obtain larly true if the part contained sharp

ceived commercial heat treatments) at a German papers reviewed by Brown and

TABLE L--COMPOSITION, HEAT TREATMENT, AND HARDNESS OF ALLOYS TESTED.

Composition, per cent Hard-

,,+ I_" 3"

(a) Unnofched Specimen

190 000 A Notch tests

160 000 ... ~'-. \ .

O oIOI O,J J tO I00 I000 I0000

120 00( "'~ " ~

100 000 '

0O.01 0.I I I0 I00 I000 I0000

100 000 o Unnotch Tests

if it is in the secondary instead of the reveal the presence or absence of inter-

4 ______k_l II I I I I? l-"-k4 II r'~F~ I ~.I

'0.01 O, I I I0 bOO 000

rupture times, and the slope of the notch- Austenitic Alloys:

at 1350 than at 1425 F. Both this notch DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

whenever the notch rupture-strength with the exception of Inconel X. In order

001 0,1 I Io I00 IuuO

0.01 0.1 I 10 100 I000

served for the heat-treated low-alloy Mecluznism of the Embrittlement:

~22-~" "" 12. " ' ' f

Test Ternperoture , deg Fahr

ture-strength ratio is plotted as a func- rupture these quantities first increase

Also noticed is a decrease in magnitude temperature range from 1350 to 1500 F.

[ [ Rupture Time IO00Hr (

40 000 :~. - ',4 ~ " ' Ix J "

0 900 I000 I100

to higher temperatures in conformance of a time-temperature dependent precip-

20000 J-'--'-.~- ~ "i i I00 I

phenomena which occur during creep b y George Sachs, consultant to NACA,

MR. C. L. CLARK1 (presentedin written be misunderstood as being something

The term "progressive intercrystaUine In answer to Mr. Manjoine, we wish