Effect of Boron on Delayed Fracture Resistance of Medium-Carbon High Strength Spring Steel

The delayed fracture behavior of medium-carbon high strength spring steel containing different amounts of boron (0. 000 5%, 0. 001 6%) was studied using sustained load delayed fracture test. The results show that delayed fracture resistance of boron containing steels is higher than that of conventional steel 60Si2MnA at the same strength level and it increases with the increase of boron content from 0. 000 5% to 0. 001 6%. The delayed fracture mode is mainly intergranular in the boron containing steels tempered at 350 °C, which indicates that the addition of boron does not change the fracture character. However, the increase of boron content enlarges the size of the crack initiation area. Further study of phase analysis indicates that most boron is in solid solution, and only a very small quantity of boron is in the M3 (C, B) phase.