Fracture of polycrystalline Fe−2.3%V−0.12%P alloy

Fracture experiments on a polycrystalline Fe–2.3mass%V–0.12mass%P alloy show that the fracture mode is directly related to the grain boundary segregation of phosphorus. Comparison of the experimental data with theoretical simulations showed that intergranular fracture spreads along those grain boundaries, which contain more than 17 at.% of segregated phosphorus.