STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS

THE

NATURE
I.E.

OF

BLUE

Dolzhenkov

BRITTLENESS

OF

STEEL
UDC 620.192.49:669.14

During m e c h a n i c a l tests or deformation of steel at t e m p e r a t u r e s where a blue oxide film is f o r m e d

on the s u r f a c e of the metal the strength i n c r e a s e s and the plasticity and ductility d e c r e a s e [1-3]. This
phenomenon is called blue b r i t t l e n e s s . It can now be considered proven that heating and holding steel at
blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e s do not cause any changes in the mechanical p r o p e r t i e s at r o o m t e m p e r a t u r e .
Samples tested at r o o m t e m p e r a t u r e have the s a m e p r o p e r t i e s as the original samples not subjected to
heating. P l a s t i c deformation at r o o m t e m p e r a t u r e or at a t e m p e r a t u r e above the blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e does not cause any anomalous changes in the p r o p e r t i e s . Only strengthening o c c u r s , due to the inc r e a s e in dislocation density.
F i g u r e i shows the variation of the mechanical p r o p e r t i e s of n o r m a l i z e d carbon steels in relation
to the testing t e m p e r a t u r e (Fig. la), rolling t e m p e r a t u r e (Fig. lb), and the t e m p e r i n g t e m p e r a t u r e after
cold rolling with 15% reduction (Fig. lc). It can be seen that blue b r i t t l e n e s s develops only at an elevated
t e m p e r a t u r e (Fig. la). Blue b r i t t l e n e s s is m o s t evident after rolling or in mechanical tests at blue b r i t t l e ness t e m p e r a t u r e s , i.e., as the r e s u l t of the simultaneous influence of plastic deformation and t e m p e r ature (Fig. 1, a,b). With plastic deformation and an elevated t e m p e r a t u r e o c c u r r i n g at different times
(Fig. lc) the blue b r i t t l e n e s s effect is considerably s m a l l e r .
One method of studying the nature of blue b r i t t l e n e s s is to analyze the elongation diagrams and c o m p a r e them with the t e m p e r a t u r e curves, and t h e r e f o r e in tensile tests at r o o m and elevated t e m p e r a t u r e s
the complete diagrams are plotted in coordinates of deformation force vs elongation (deformation). The
intervals between testing temperatures and tempering temperatures amounted to 25-50~
In the process
of rolling at elevated temperatures the total pressure of the metal on the rolls was recorded and then the
specific pressure was determined in relation to the rolling temperature by the method generally used. The
temperature interval in rolling was 50 ~ .
The total and specific pressure of the metal on the rolls varies as the rolling temperature
(Fig. 2) in conformity with the change in ultimate strength.

increases

Figure 3 shows elongation diagrams for steel 40 at different testing temperatures.

The curves for
steels i0 and U8 are of the same general shape. At room temperature the curve is smooth with a distant
yield plateau and "tooth." With increasing testing temperatures the extension of the yield plateau changes
(Fig. 4) as well as the elongation diagram. At 100~ the section of the curve between the yield strength
and the ultimate strength becomes sawtoothed; the height of the teeth increases with the force of elongation. At 125~ and higher the sawtoothed section is broader, the curve becoming sawtoothed not only in
the plateau area but also in the area of hardening before failure of the sample, and the height of the teeth
increasing. The sawtoothed character is most pronounced at the maximum
extension of the yield plateau.
At 175~ the teeth become smaller and gradually disappear; at 200 ~ for steel 40 and 225 ~ for steel i0 sawteeth occur only in the plateau area, and above 275 ~ the curve becomes smooth again.
Thus, at testing temperatures below and above blue brittleness temperatures deformation is monotonic with movement
of slip bands (except for a tooth at the point of yield). At blue brittleness temperatures plastic deformation results from jumplike movements
of slip bands, first in the section of strengthening and then also in the section of initial plastic deformation (in the plateau area).

Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute. T r a n s l a t e d f r o m Metallovedenie i T e r m i c h e s k a y a O b r a botka Metallov, No.3, pp.42-47, March, 1971.
C 1971 Consultants Bureau, a division of Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York,
N. Y. 10011. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reproduced for any purpose whatsoever without
permission of the publisher. A copy of this article is available from the publisher for $15.00.

220

Oh, k g / m m 2

Sk, k g / m m 2

,2

700

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. . . .

20 ~

Sk, k g / m m z

oF-=-~

kg/mrr~ __^

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80

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H 70

i
'0 lZO
I~ 100

4o,

i~

o b, k g / m m 2

~,ot 80

3o

1o ~o

If/k-~2Y;o~,

e~ t " ~
60

~oF T",J J , ~

O0
3ok',,J

l
~

~./~
"

I #0

I~

U~.
ZO IOg 200 Jog 400 500 600 700~
b

Testing temperature
~ X - . ~ : ~X-'--) "~

1oo

~o--" ""~

%, kg/rnm 2

-'x-x

66
#g

zo

25'
20

15

2g
is

Rolling temperature

~0

o_T

~,ol 7o

I ZO
4 ~ .

ZO I00 200 700 #00 500 ~00 700~

oT, k g / m m

6O
~001 50
_,.4U81 00
~iO 3s
gO

[60
t5o

'~

I,~----,~,~"%%4
-

2O

U8 g~

[90

,,,

Fig. i. Variation of mechanical properties of carbon

steels with testing temperature (a), rolling temperature with 15% reduction
(b), and tempering temperature after cold rolling (c).

.10
5
ZO 100 200 300 400 500 Ego 700~
c

Tempering temperature

Comparison
of the temperature curves (Fig. i) with the plots of deformation force vs deformation
(Fig. 3) indicates that the change in mechanical properties at blue brittleness temperatures corresponds
to the appearance, development, and subsequent weakening and disappearance of sawteeth on the elongation curves. The appearance of sawteeth corresponds to the initial increase of the ultimate strength and
decrease of the plasticity. The maximum
development of sawteeth on the elongation curves corresponds
to the maximum
ultimate strength and the minimum
plasticity on the temperature curves. This indicates
that the processes leading to the appearance of sawteeth on the elongation curves induce the development
of blue brittleness. However, the decline of the sawteeth (decreasing number of teeth, narrower sawtoothed section, smaller height of teeth, increasing distance between teeth) still does not lead to a reduction
of the ultimate strength and yield strength or an increase of ductility (reduction in cross-sectional area).
Only after complete disappearance of sawteeth from the elongation curves does the ultimate strength decrease sharply, the yield strength decreasing noticeably and the reduction in area and elongation increasing on the temperature curves. The temperature at which the development of blue brittleness is maximum
is approximately 50-75~ higher than the temperature of the maximum
development of sawteeth on the
elongation curves.
The reasons

for the occurrence

of a tooth on the curves were

discussed in [4].

It can be seen in Fig. 3 that with increasing testing temperatures up to the blue brittleness temperature there is not one but many teeth. The elongation curves become sawtoothed not only in the yield section but also beyond that, up to failure of the sample. The sawtoothed section of the elongation curve is
evidently due to successive pinning and breakaway of dislocations, which is indicated by the identical level

221

P, kglmm 2

,~i

e5

,+

+,

"

8
9

:25

~O I#0 200 ,~OO o00 500 6q0~162

Rolling temperature

Fig. 2. Specific (1) and total p r e s sure (2) of metal (steel 10) on
r o i l s in relation to roiling t e m p e r ature.

of the breakaway stress (upper yield point) on the extension of the

yield plateau and the identical stress level of moving dislocations
(lower yield point). The sawtoothed section on the plateau must result from the following mechanism,
With increasing tensile test
temperatures unimpeded plastic flow occurs briefly after the appearance of the first tooth. The diffusion mobility of impurity atoms
(carbon and nitrogen), which increases with the temperature, permits rapid migration of impurity atoms in the stress fields around
dislocations and leads to pinning of dislocations. The steel becomes
"stagnant, ~ and plastic deformation again changes to elastic deformation. Because of the strong interaction of dislocations with atmospheres and insufficient mobility of atmospheres at blue brittleness temperatures, plastic deformation can occur again only if the
dislocations break away from the atmospheres, which requires application of a force exceeding the pinning force. The deformation force
thus increases.

After a s t r e s s is attained sufficient for the dislocations to b r e a k away from a t m o s p h e r e s (upper

yield point) the dislocations a r e again freed f r o m their a t m o s p h e r e s and begin to move under the influence
of the applied s t r e s s . The deformation f o r c e d e c r e a s e s to a level sufficient to maintain the movement of
the dislocations, and a new tooth is f o r m e d on the elongation curve.
Evidently t h e r e is no substantial i n c r e a s e of the dislocation density in the section of the yield plateau
during plastic deformation, the sawteeth r e s u l t p r i m a r i l y from the s u c c e s s i v e pinning and unpinning of
existing dislocations, and the m a x i m u m and m i n i m u m flow s t r e s s e s do not change for a given testing t e m perature.
The extent to which dislocations a r e pinned b y a t m o s p h e r e s i n c r e a s e s in p r o p o r t i o n to the development of plastic deformation. A substantial percentage of the dislocations pinned in the p r o c e s s of plastic
deformation at the blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e r e m a i n pinned in the course of further deformation [5, 11].
The critical s t r e s s r e q u i r e d to renew plastic deformation will i n c r e a s e for this reason.
After the s t r e s s e s r e a c h a c e r t a i n magnitude, new F r a n k - - R e i d s o u r c e s emit a quantum of dislocations that g e n e r a t e s dislocation rings and loops which expand in the slip planes and c r e a t e slip bands that
propagate with r e l a t i v e ease; the deformation f o r c e d e c r e a s e s and a tooth is f o r m e d on the elongation
curve. However, the f r e s h dislocations r e m a i n unpinned only a short time. Cottrell a t m o s p h e r e s are r a p idly f o r m e d around them, the steel b e c o m e s "stagnant" again, the slip bands cease to expand, and the
deformation force increases again.

P, kg

3200

p" r

24001
2000

1600
1200
8##

'

t
t

/'

7o

l&

--..

#00
8 100 z o 6' #Al,mm
g g 4, 6 8 0 2 4 6 0 2 4 0 0 g ~
Fig. 3. Deformation f o r c e vs absolute deformation in tensile tests
of steel 40 with i n c r e a s i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s : 1) testing t e m p e r a t u r e
20~ 2) 100~ 3) 125~ 4) 150~ 5) 175~ 6) 200~ 7) 225~ 8) 275~ 9)
300~ 10) 500~ 11) 600 ~

222

%
~ 2,o
~.~_.o~
9,~. ~ 1 , 5 , \ ,5
9

-~

o,5o

50

100

"X
"

150 20g

Testing temperature

The r i s i n g s t r e s s e s t r i g g e r the operation of existing and new

F r a n k - - R e i d s o u r c e s , which emit another quantum of moving dislocations, a new tooth is f o r m e d on the elongation curve, etc. The m o s a i c
block boundaries [6], g r a i n boundaries, and a g g r e g a t e s of cementite
[7] m a y act as F r a n k - - R e i d s o u r c e s . Due to the e m i s s i o n of m o r e and
m o r e new dislocations by F r a n k - R e i d s o u r c e s the dislocation density
m u s t i n c r e a s e during plastic deformation at blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r atures.

Fig. 4. Extension of yield plateau

as a function of t e m p e r a t u r e in
tensile t e s t s . The steel n u m b e r s
a r e given on the c u r v e s .

M e a s u r e m e n t s o f the coercive f o r c e and m o s a i c block size of

carbon steels in relation to the rolling t e m p e r a t u r e showed [2] that
plastic deformation at blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e s causes a substantial i n c r e a s e in the coercive force and a d e c r e a s e of the block size.
Since the dislocation density is directly proportional to the square of the coercive force and i n v e r s e l y p r o portional to the square of the block size [6], the i n c r e a s e of the coercive force and the d e c r e a s e of the
block size at blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e s can be explained by the i n c r e a s e of the dislocation density. It
was shown by t r a n s m i s s i o n e l e c t r o n m i c r o s c o p y [8] that in l o w - c a r b o n steel the dislocation density inc r e a s e s with the t e m p e r a t u r e up to 200~ and then rapidly d e c r e a s e s in the region of jumplike plastic deformation.
Thus, the sawtoothed elongation curves for carbon steels tested at blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e s ,
and consequently blue b r i t t l e n e s s , are due mainly to rapid pinning of moving dislocations during d e f o r m a tion and the consequent high dislocation density. At testing t e m p e r a t u r e s above 250-275~ the elongation
curve is smooth throughout.
I m p u r i t y atoms acquire such high mobility that pinning of dislocations by a t m o s p h e r e s no longer
controls plastic deformation.
As the sawtoothed c h a r a c t e r of the curve d e c r e a s e s , the effect of blue brittleness on the t e m p e r a t u r e
c u r v e s does not d e c r e a s e . At testing t e m p e r a t u r e s 50-75~ higher the ultimate strength continues to inc r e a s e and the reduction in a r e a to d e c r e a s e . Thus, blue b r i t t l e n e s s continues to develop for some time
after the pinning of dislocations by a t m o s p h e r e s declines as the r e s u l t of i n c r e a s i n g t e m p e r a t u r e . The
further development of blue b r i t t l e n e s s evidently r e s u l t s f r o m the formation of finely d i s p e r s e d p r e c i p i tates on dislocations. The possibility that p r e c i p i t a t e s r e s u l t f r o m plastic deformation at blue b r i t t l e n e s s
t e m p e r a t u r e s needs further investigation. With a high density of the a t m o s p h e r e s (over 10 atoms) the
solute atoms a r e m o r e strongly bound to dislocations than to o r d i n a r y carbides or nitrides. Consequently,
the f o r m a t i o n of precipitates at blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e s , where the dislocation density i n c r e a s e s intensely, is not v e r y probable [9]. According to [10], the formation of e carbide during t e m p e r i n g of steel
quenched to m a r t e n s i t e and then cold worked is t h e r m o d y n a m i c a l l y disadvantageous, since the interaction
of carbon with defects is s t r o n g e r than with iron atoms in the carbide lattice.
If it is a s s u m e d that the precipitation of finely d i s p e r s e d nitrides on dislocations begins at t e m p e r a t u r e s corresponding to the still uudescending section of the t e m p e r a t u r e curves (see Fig. 1), i.e., at t e m p e r a t u r e s where blue b r i t t l e n e s s is fading, then on the t e m p e r a t u r e curves one would expect a second
peak (low point) c o r r e s p o n d i n g to the t e m p e r a t u r e of the m a x i m u m development of the formation of p r e c i pitates on dislocations and outside of dislocations, which in fact was not observed in our work (Fig. 1) or
in the work of other investigators [1].
However, it was shown by t r a n s m i s s i o n e l e c t r o n m i c r o s c o p y in [8] that in tensile tests of l o w - c a r b o n
steel at blue b r i t t l e n e s s t e m p e r a t u r e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y steel with a high nitrogen content (about 0.024%), FeiGN2
p r e c i p i t a t e s are f o r m e d on dislocations. This indicates that blue b r i t t l e n e s s m a y be due not only to an inc r e a s e of dislocation density but also to the formation of finely d i s p e r s e d precipitates on dislocations.
Besides blue b r i t t l e n e s s , the t e m p e r a t u r e curves (Fig. 1) show a reduction of the plasticity in the
p r e r e c r y s t a l l i z a t i o n t e m p e r a t u r e range.

LITERATURE
I.

2.

CITED

G. I. Pogodin-Alekseev,
Dynamic Strength and Brittleness of Metals [in Russian],
Moscow (1966).
I. E. Dolzhenkov, Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Metally, No. 4 (1966); No. 5 (1966).

Mashinostroenie,

223

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
I0.
Ii.

224

I.E. Dolzhenkov, Metal. i Term. Obrabotka Metal., No. 6 (1967).

A.H. Cottrell, Dislocations and Plastic Flow in Crystals, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1953).
Ekspress-Informatsiya,
Metal. i Term. Obrabotka Metal., No.44, Ref. 211 (1963).
S.D. Gertsriken et al., Physical Basis of Strength and Plasticity of Metals [in Russian], Metallurgizdat, Moscow (1963).
Fizika, No. 9 (1967); Abstract 9E446.
B. Brindley and J. Barnby, Aeta Met., 14, No. 12 (1966).
J. Baird, Iron and Steel, 36, No. 8 (1963)--~
M.L. Bernshtein and R. I.~ntin, Metal. i Term. Obrsbotka Metal., No. ii (1967).
A.H. Cottrell, in: Structure and Mechanical Properties of Metals [Russian translation], Metallurgiya, Moscow (1967).