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Science 23 May 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5879, pp. 1057 - 1060
DOI: 10.1126/science.1156084

Reports

Inverse Temperature Dependence of Toughness in an Ultrafine Grain-Structure Steel

Yuuji Kimura,* Tadanobu Inoue, Fuxing Yin, Kaneaki Tsuzaki

Materials are typically ductile at higher temperatures and become brittle at lower temperatures. In contrast to the typical ductile-to-brittle transition behavior of body-centered cubic (bcc) steels, we observed an inverse temperature dependence of toughness in an ultrahigh-strength bcc steel with an ultrafine elongated ferrite grain structure that was processed by a thermomechanical treatment without the addition of a large amount of an alloying element. The enhanced toughness is attributed to a delamination that was a result of crack branching on the aligned {100} cleavage planes in the bundles of the ultrafine elongated ferrite grains strengthened by nanometer-sized carbides. In the temperature range from 60° to –60°C, the yield strength was greater, leading to the enhancement of the toughness.

National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kimura.yuuji{at}nims.go.jp

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)