The effect of an elevated temperature aqueous environment upon the J-controlled tearing of a low-alloy steel

Monotonic rising-load J-integral tests were conducted on an ASTM A508-2 ste el in both air and low-oxygen water environments at 243 degrees C. The ASTM E1737 multiple-specimen method was employed in order to eliminate any conc erns about corrosion-fatigue interactions that could arise in the unloading -compliance method. The onset of stable tearing, J(IC), was unaffected by t he environment, but post-J(IC) tearing in the water environment was charact erized by "pop-in" events. It is postulated that the pop-in events may be a ssociated with quasi-cleavage events near MnS inclusions and dynamic strain aging in the steel. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.