Microstructural dependence of anisotropic fracture mechanisms in cold-drawn pearlitic steels

The anisotropic fracture behavior of cold-drawn pearlitic steels was analyzed up to a true strain of 1.6. The structures were analyzed and quantified by scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. The aspect ratio Λ was defined to describe the fracture mechanism based on statistics pertaining to major axis and minor axis of pearlitic colonies, and the fitting formula was established as follows: Λ=0.4exp(2x)+0.65. At Λ ≤ 2.75, the fracture mechanism shifts from cleavage to quasi-cleavage fracture due to dislocation generation, as the measured parameters of interlamellar spacing (ILS) showed no obvious decrease. At values of Λ > 2.75, ductile fracture mechanism becomes dominant due to a drastic decrease in ILS. The <110> ferrite fiber microtexture formed during the cold drawing process and the component exhibiting a gradient distribution from the surface to the central regions increased gradually with drawing. The crack propagation path was then deflected and formed a 'V' shape at ε ≤ 1.5. However, as carbon migrated from cementite to the ferrite near the interphase, the fracture path deflected again. Furthermore, two reasonable models were formulated to explain fracture crack forming and anisotropic fracture behavior. In addition, this study illustrated that the relative crystallographic orientation of the ferrite and cementite components followed the Bagarytski relationship. With increasing strain, the cementite layers transformed from single crystals into nanostructured polycrystals and even evolved an amorphous structure at the interface at strains above 1.5.