Geometrical Shielding Produced by Intergranular Crack-Tip Branching in Fe–V–P Alloy

Abstract

The geometrical shielding produced by intergranular crack-tip branching in the fracture toughness tests of the Fe–V–P alloy is quantitatively assessed particularly with respect to the contribution of crack splitting. This process was evaluated by an identification of secondary intergranular cracks visualized on metalographical samples perpendicular to the fracture surface. The analysis of mixed trans/intergranular fracture revealed no special influence of triple-point branching (splitting) on the total crack tip shielding in cases of such highly spatially tortuous crack fronts. Thus, the previously reported results taking only the effect of crack tip kinking and meandering into account were proved to be correct.