Grain-Boundary Segregation of Phosphorus and Inter-Granular Fracture Behavior under Low Tensile Stresses

The present work is an effort to provide experimental results focusing on segregation behavior of phosphorus at grain boundary and the intergranular fracture behavio under low tensile stresses. AES (Auger electron spectroscopy) experiments and dynamic analyses on the non-equilibrium grain-boundary segregation (NGS) of phosphorus and the SEM photos of intergranular fracture in Auger specimens in 12Cr1MoV steel were carried out in this paper. The variation of phosphorus segregation level in grain boundary under different low tensile stresses and at different temperature were obtained. Results show that NGS of phosphorus occurred in the experimental steel while subjected to low tensile stresses. Maximum values of phosphorus segregation level were obtained at the critical times. SEM photos of intergranular fracture in Auger specimens of the test steel show that the intergranular fracture rate increased with increasing concentration of phosphorus. The intergranular fracture behavior is accordant with the segregation behavior of phosphorus at grain boundary.