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Micrograph 291 and full record

Link to image file for micrograph 291
Micrograph no
291
Brief description
Fe, C 0.4 (wt%) steel, quenched, martensitic and quench cracks
Keywords
alloy Link to MATTER Glossary entry for alloy, carbon, iron, martensite Link to MATTER Glossary entry for martensite, metal, quenching Link to MATTER Glossary entry for quenching, steel Link to MATTER Glossary entry for steel
Categories
Metal or alloy
System
Fe-C-X   Link to phase diagram
Composition
Fe, C 0.4 (wt%)
Standard codes
Reaction
Processing
Quenched
Applications
Sample preparation
Nital
Technique
Reflected light microscopy
Length bar
400 μm
Further information
The steel has been rapidly quenched. This leads to a rapid volume change due to thermal expansion. In this case the steel has been unable to plastically deform to accommodate this change. This leads to the nucleation of cracks in the metal. This is exacerbated by the fact that the quenching of steel promotes the formation of the brittle phase martensite.
Contributor
Dr R F Cochrane
Organisation
Department of Materials, University of Leeds
Date
04/09/02
Licence for re-use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
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