Tensile failure of austenitic iron at intermediate strain rates

The basic failure behavior of austenitic iron has been established for the temperature range 950 to 1350°C and the strain-rate range 2.8 x 10^-5 to 2.3 x 1(10^-2 s^-1. Failure in zone-refined iron is determined solely by plastic deformation, leading first to multiple necking, continuing by the exclusive growth of a single neck, and concluding by separation at a point within that neck. With the increasing impurity content of electrolytic iron, Fe-0.05 C and Fe-5.2 Mn, this failure process is interrupted at the lower temperatures by fracture at either second-phase particles or grain boundaries. The regimes of these two fracture modes have been determined as functions of strain rate, deformation temperature, and annealing temperature. Recrystallization is prevalent during the plastic deformation of austenitic iron and influences the necking process to some extent. Recrystallization is more influential as a means of stabilizing arrays of intergranular cracks, thereby allowing the cracks to undergo appreciable plastic deformation during the final stage of failure. The concept of failure diagrams is introduced as a simple means of representing the complex interposition of plastic instability, recrystallization, and fracture during the failure process.